How Reading Dogs Can Open Books For Children With Speech Disorders A recent study has shown that man’s best friend may also be a child’s best friend when it comes to reading. The presence of dogs during reading has been shown to reduce stress levels and improve reading performance. With only a third of American students reaching a proficient level in national reading tests, the use of reading …
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Valentine’s Day Activities for Speech and Language
It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day means telling the people you love how much you care about them and eating lots of chocolate! Here are some fun Valentine’s Day activities you can do with your child to celebrate Valentine’s Day and work on his speech and language skills at the same time. Valentine’s Day Activities #1: Make Valentines: Naming Familiar People, Making Requests, …
Our Journey With Apraxia: This Is What I Have Learned
Many of our grant recipients are challenged by Childhood Apraxia of Speech. We're sharing a great article written by a mom who knows firsthand what parenting a child with apraxia is all about. People often ask me to describe what I’ve learned as the parent of a child with apraxia. It isn’t always easy to put into words. In fact, lately I have been struggling on this journey — and it is a …
How Do I Know if My Child Has Autism?
The short answer from a behavioral psychologist Q: How do I know if my child has autism? A: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. We diagnose it by identifying deficits in two primary areas: Socio-communication, which includes deficits in communication as well as using communication to engage socially. That may involve not using eye contact in a typical manner …
The Future of Digital Voices
The Future Of Digital Voices 46% of Americans use digital voice assistants, allowing them to keep their hands free to talk naturally while typing. It’s a technology that can benefit people with speech impairments, aiding their communication. Speech synthesizer technology has enabled many people to communicate more effectively, but it’s still in its early stages. Several major companies are …
Anticipation: Changing the Way We Think about Stuttering
Many people who stutter are able to identify a moment when they know they are about to trip up on a word or phrase. According to Eric S. Jackson, assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, that moment can be characterized as “anticipation” and is largely invisible to other people in conversation with someone who stutters. Jackson has conducted …
AAC Device Guide
Children with severe speech or language disorders may benefit from an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. With so many different types of AAC devices available it can be confusing. Below is a list that will help you learn more. It is by no means exhaustive but will hopefully provide insight into what is available. Special thanks to Ashley Wortman, a Speech and Hearing student …
Orange Effect Foundation Announces New Board Members
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 …
Autism, Speech Therapy and Minecraft
Today a photo popped up in my Facebook memories that actually caused me to have a true emotional gasp! Look at the big genuine smile on those boys! That’s Adam on the left, and Joshua on the right. The photo was taken 5 years ago at Minecon - yes, that is right - the convention for Minecraft! Minecraft had a lasting impact on our family - so much so that one of my husband’s most popular …
To Declare or Not to Declare a Disability
Joshua, the subject of many blog posts, and driving force behind the building of the Orange Effect Foundation, applied for an internship for next summer. I’m super excited about it, although I think the position is for college students and he is only in high school - but still, take a shot, right? During the application process Joshua had to do several things including write a poem - pictured …
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 …
