There have been generations of people with a message God gave them that the world never heard. Children who seemed voiceless on the surface but had powerful voices inside. Caregivers, parents, and teachers who didn’t yet have all the tools needed to help the voiceless find their voices. The Autism Theater Project is working to change that.
Singer, The Voice Inside actress, guitarist, and composer Kaylah Taylor performs her original song “Autism Speaks” at the South Beach Jazz Festival. Credit: Zachary Hoaglund
The arts are especially powerful for people on the spectrum, because they do what so many of them crave: express the unspoken. Music is universal, and movement tells a story everyone can understand. A painting speaks to you in your own language. Our loved ones can speak to us through art even when their mouth can’t say the words. And sometimes, what they create helps their mouths say the words better. In the Autism Theater Project’s early drama workshops, I’d come across kids who seemed nonverbal at first and then started to reveal more speech over the course of our 8-week sessions, as they became more comfortable with expressing themselves.
Believing in a person and creating a safe environment makes an incredible difference when it comes to unlocking their potential. I first discovered this helping raise my little sister. I believed in her, she believed in me, and in some ways, we helped raise each other.
For both of us, the arts were a bridge. When my sister was in elementary school, she had very few words, but through dancing, listening to music, and just her smile, she communicated so much. Music helped her connect with people when conversations were hard. Drawing helped her show me how she saw the world. And the more she felt connected, believed in, and understood, the more she found confidence in her own forms of communication.
In high school, my experience with my sister led me to the Friendship Circle, where I met another friend with autism who showed me the power of communicating through the arts. I’ll call her Elizabeth for the sake of this article. On the first day we met, Elizabeth had us start creating stories. I got to know her through stories we made up on the spot about a princess. At sixteen, she said she feared other people would think her habit of making stories was childish. I told her it could be a career path.
Fast forward ten years later, a bunch of young adults who refused to grow out of making up stories were determined to turn that passion into a meaningful career. Determined to inspire the next generation, the Autism Theater Project filmed the first episode of our TV series, The Voice Inside. My co-writer, Matteo Esposito, worked with me religiously for years to tell his success story through The Voice Inside and provide a platform for others to tell their own. Everyone has a voice. Everyone has the power to be resilient. The key is just to know that you have it.
The Voice Inside composer and keyboardist Michael Gaspari performs his original music at the South Beach Jazz Festival, with the ATP Voices Trio. Credit: Zachary Hoaglund
The courage of my collaborators inspired me to become more courageous myself. I found myself part of a group of artists who were determined to show the world how “our limits make us limitless,” onscreen and off. And I knew I had to live that out.
That’s the impact our South Florida PBS series has had, and will continue to have, as we take our artists from childhood dreamers and accomplished apprentices to professionals with careers that can change the world.
While doing research to develop The Voice Inside, I have met so many people who found ways to unleash their “voice inside” no matter their circumstances. I met the mother of a boy with no speech and epilepsy who overcame his fine motor limitations to type and uncovered his incredible gift as a writer. I met the mother of a young adult who struggled with speech but had a unique artistic eye thanks to his ability to see emotions and feelings as colors.
I met an actor who defied doctors’ predictions and became an exceptionally eloquent speaker. I met someone who overcame a guardianship battle to become the first Florida State Representative candidate with autism. I got to know an actor whose ability to memorize camera angles helped me become a better director.
The world needs the absolute best of every individual born into it to become a better one. Everyone has their own unique form of genius. The Autism Theater Project is so excited to continue to inspire people to unleash theirs.
We would love for you to join us on this journey! Check out our website www.autismtheaterproject.org to learn more about our work. We’d love to see you at our next event on Tuesday May 12th, 2026, at Actor’s Playhouse in Coral Gables, FL, where you can watch The Voice Inside, watch a musical performance, and hear from the inspiring people who created the series.
Gena Sims is the Founder and Executive Director of the Autism Theater Project. For more information, visit www.autismtheaterproject.org.
