Cleveland, Ohio- The Orange Effect Foundation (OEF) welcomes two new members to its executive board. Dr. Monica Gordon Pershey, an associate professor at Cleveland State University and Craig Coffey, director of marketing communications at Lincoln Electric will help OEF continue its mission of empowering children and young adults with speech disorders by providing the therapy and technology they …
Gift Guide for Children Who Struggle
Thank you to Connecting for Kids for creating and sharing this wonderful resource! Many families whose children struggle face difficulties in suggesting or choosing gifts for their child. To help out this year, we asked Connecting for Kids families for their favorite gift ideas along with suggestions on how the gifts may have been modified or used to help their children learn or …
12 Commonly-Used Speech Therapy Terms
Confused by some of the terminology you hear from your child's speech language therapist? Thankfully, The Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center breaks down the terminology for us. Take a moment to learn some general terms used by speech language pathologists that will help you during your therapy visit. Expressive language is a broad term that describes how a person communicates their wants …
Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities
Thanksgiving is almost here! Now is the time to start doing some Thanksgiving speech and language activities with your child to help him/her get ready. Activity #1: Thanksgiving Taste Test This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving speech and language activities, though maybe that’s because I enjoy eating! For this activity, tell your child that you are going to do a taste test of all of the …
Recipient Spotlight: Anthony
Anthony is a kind, caring teenager who is challenged by autism and stuttering. Fortunately, he discovered FACETime Summer Camp at the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center. This special summer speech camp is designed for older children and younger teens who stutter. Camp provides a safe environment where speech skills are practiced in real-life situations at restaurants and other public locations …
Autism and Speech Devices: Helping Kids Advance Skills As They Mature
We think this article from Autism Speaks about autism and speech generating devices is so valuable, we thought we'd share it with you. ------ A parent asks, “Our son is 6 years old, minimally verbal and on the spectrum. We’ve seen him make progress with a speech-generating device – a touch screen with pictures that produce single words. How can we use this approach to keep him making …
Make Halloween a Better Experience
By its very nature, Halloween is scary. Everything from the decorations, horror films, costumes, and the inflated cost of candy. However, perhaps the scariest part of Halloween is trying to understand it through the eyes of our kids with autism. So how do we make this spooky night less of a nightmare? BOO! Take out the surprise factor Talk about Halloween ahead of time so your child will know …
Lean In to the Uncomfortable
Katie Hill has a genetic disorder that affects her movement and speech. Before she entered 7th grade this year, a friend made this video to introduce Katie to the hundreds of students at her new middle school. We think this video does a great job of showing how a speech generating device works and how using one can open up the world to a child. https://youtu.be/H9nluhqzu3s In this …
Spreading The Orange Effect Across The United States
CLEVELAND - Sept. 25, 2018 - PRLog -- Recognizing that some children must go without necessary speech therapy because of their family's financial limitations, the Orange Effect Foundation has responded. At a recent meeting, board members for the Orange Effect Foundation awarded nearly $50,000 in grants to needy children and young adults across the United States. These grants will fund speech …
10 Tips for Parents of Children Who Have Just Started Talking
Michelle Foye, Director of Speech & Language Services of the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center offers ten useful tips for parents of children who are just beginning to speak. 1. Be face to face with your child Get down to your child’s physical level whenever possible. When you are face to face with your child, he is likely to communicate more as he sees you are right there with him, …
Is Delayed Speech More Common in Boys Than Girls?
Speech Buddies takes a closer look at whether speech delays occur more frequently in boys. Ahh, the weekly playgroup! Another situation where you realize that every single toddler in the room seems to be speaking in clear sentences except for your son? Of course, the reasoning side of your brain is telling you NOT to compare your child to others, but the emotional side tells you that it’s hard …
What To Expect In Your Child’s First Speech Therapy Session
If you are a parent who has not had any experience with speech therapy services for your child, the process can seem quite overwhelming. From the moment you begin having concerns about your child to finding a site for services to having an evaluation completed, there are many questions to answer. After you have navigated through the above steps, the next part of the journey is the speech therapy …
