The Orange Effect Foundation recently awarded $34,878 to 19 children and young adults across the United States with speech disorders. Grants are awarded after a thorough review process by dedicated members of the Orange Effect Board of Directors. The grants awarded in this first quarter of 2024 support weekly speech therapy, speech camps, and speech device purchases. These grants are made …
special needs
Orange Effect Foundation Awards Grants for Fourth Quarter 2023
The Orange Effect Foundation (OEF) recently awarded $24,289 to 11 children and young adults across the United States with speech disorders. This quarter’s grants were awarded after a thorough review process by dedicated members of the Orange Effect Board of Directors. “We’re delighted to announce the recent allocation of grant funds by the Orange Effect Foundation to support children and …
Why and How Tech Could Be the Future of Speech Language Therapy
Communication is an essential part of the human experience. Being unable to do so rids a person of passing on information, expressing their ideas and feelings, and understanding others' thoughts. Unfortunately, Medical News Today's article on communication disorders reveals that about 5–10% of Americans experience difficulties communicating that prevent them from receiving, processing, sending, …
Grateful Hearts, Shared Stories: The Orange Effect Foundation’s Impact
At the Orange Effect Foundation, we find it easy to be grateful, and we have 388 compelling reasons for it. Since December 2015, we’ve had the privilege of touching the lives of 388 children across the country. We provided them with 100 speech devices and an impressive 7,248 hours of speech therapy. Our impact is undeniable, and it’s all thanks to our generous sponsors and individual donors! In …
Hard Work Can Pay Off
You’ve heard the expression, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’. But you’ve probably also heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Put those two things together and you have quite a conundrum. For the past few years we ran a fundraising campaign asking people not to talk for 24 or 12 …
Part Two: “Meditation and Mindfulness: Practical Techniques for Kids with Speech Disorders”
Welcome back to Part Two of our exploration into the world of meditation and mindfulness for children with speech disorders. In this installment, we'll delve into the practical aspects of meditation and mindfulness and how to introduce these practices to children. You'll discover that meditation is not about sitting cross-legged on a mountaintop in silence but can be incorporated seamlessly into a …
Artistic Expressions by Persons with Autism
As a university professor in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders, I conduct various research studies. For several years, I included the study of people with autism who are visual artists in my research agenda. Cleveland State University funded my research with a Faculty Scholarship Initiative grant, and I was able to travel to interview working artists and see exhibitions of artwork, …
Orange Effect Team Member Spotlight: Krissy Leskovec
We're thrilled to introduce Krissy Leskovec, the Program Director at Orange Effect Foundation. Krissy's strong commitment and deep passion for making a positive difference in the lives of kids with speech difficulties have played a crucial role in the foundation's achievements. Today, we're taking a break from our usual topics to let Krissy guide us through some fantastic places to explore and …
Keeping a New Year’s Resolution: Does it Count if You are Having Fun?
In 2022, I was looking for a way to become more involved in Cleveland’s arts and cultural scene, probably as a volunteer. I was also considering how to keep a New Year’s resolution that I had been recycling for a few years, that being to experience more live performances of classical music and to learn more about different styles of music. My good friend had been volunteering at the Maltz …
ORANGE EFFECT FOUNDATION AWARDS GRANTS FOR THIRD QUARTER 2023
The Orange Effect Foundation (OEF) recently awarded $42,270 to children and young adults across the United States with speech disorders. This quarter’s grants were awarded after a thorough review process by dedicated members of the Orange Effect Board of Directors. “OEF is thrilled to announce that we have just awarded $42,270 to children and young adults across the nation who are bravely …
Why a Night at the Races?
We’ve written before about fundraising. It’s tough. Many organizations have a staff person dedicated to it, because fundraising needs time and attention to be successful. For the past couple of years here at The Orange Effect Foundation, we’ve done an event called Silence for Speech. We asked people to go a day without talking to learn what it's like to be a person with a communication …
Eyes?
My oldest (who is autistic) just returned from a weeklong trip going to theme parks on the East Coast with the goal to ride as many roller coasters as possible! Not my idea of a great time but something they’ve been looking forward to for a long time. The trip made me a little sentimental. First off, my baby was covering over 1000 miles of driving on their own and second managing all the things …