I struggle with communication. For the last almost 30 years (!) I have made a living as a professional communicator, yet here I am, admitting my struggle. It’s not all audiences that I struggle with. In fact, it’s an audience of one. One 12-year-old girl that happens to be my daughter. It seems to me that lately that it’s impossible to connect with her. She never seems to understand what I’m …
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Silence for Speech 2021
It is officially fall and it’s officially time to mark your calendars for this year’s Silence for Speech event! After a successful 2020 fundraiser, we are excited and hopeful for another successful event. Founder and Executive Director, Pam Pulizzi, recalls, “We learned last year that most of the participants in Silence for Speech know someone with autism, apraxia, or other speech …
The Orange Effect Foundation Assists Families as a Funder of Last Resort
$30,000 in Grants Awarded to Fund Speech Therapy and Speech Devices for Needy Children Across the United States By: The Orange Effect Foundation CLEVELAND - Sept. 27, 2021 - PRLog -- The Orange Effect Foundation strives to empower children and young adults with the tools they need to communicate effectively. Continuing a generous quarterly grant award program that began in 2015, recently …
Teaching and Learning With Masks On
I had an amazing lunch with Dr. Lauren Calandruccio, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, who specializes in all things audiology. I learned fascinating things. For example, when she has one of her typical students try out a cochlear implant simulator in class, and she is teaching with a mask on, some students comprehend as little as FIVE PERCENT of what she is saying. I was shocked. We …
Learning How to Read: Free Online Materials for Children and Adults
For some children and adults with autism or other special needs, learning how to read can require time, patience, and support. Many caregivers, including parents and family members, teachers, tutors, and speech-language pathologists, can contribute to teaching children and adults to read. One of the questions that caregivers may ask is, “Where can I find good materials for teaching reading and …
I Have No Idea what AI Is, But It’s Great
I had the pleasure of hearing it in an-person (wow!) presentation by my super smart friend, Paul Roetzer. Paul is the brains behind the Marketing AI (Artificial Intelligence) Institute. In his presentation, Paul talked about some amazing things you can do with AI. For example, AI can learn when people are more likely to open an email from you based on your previous habits. AI can almost …
Back To School Tips For Special Needs Kids 2021
What will school look like this year? After last year, many parents are wondering what school will look like for our kids this year. I think there will be few virtual options, as many schools have shut their virtual options down. It looks like we will be returning to school in person. It also looks like we are returning to in-person school without masks. Vaccine Info There are some …
Overcoming Obstacles While Traveling With People Who Have ASD
For many people, an out-of-town trip can be refreshing and invigorating. Experiencing a new place together as a family offers the chance to make lasting memories outside your normal routine. But for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), traveling brings a host of unique challenges. New sights and sounds paired with the disruption of their usual daily routine can make it difficult to …
A Golf Social Story
The Orange Effect Foundation just completed their 15th Annual Golf for Autism outing. It was a huge success and one of their two big golf fundraising events that provide funding for children who need speech therapy. I am not a golfer but volunteered to help out for this event – you know, selling raffle tickets, taking pictures, and of course, serving beer – things I know very well how to …
Is it Ever Too Late For Speech Therapy?
This post originally published on the OEF blog on October 4, 2018. Due to its usefulness we are reposting it here for you. Continuing in our series of blog posts answering some of the frequently asked questions that we get here at The Orange Effect Foundation, we have reached out to our experts to find out if you are ever too old to start speech therapy. We started the series last month by …
Four Reasons to Use the 4 Square Writing Approach in Speech Therapy
Speech therapy is such a broad field that it needs to be based on reliable methods combined with creativity. Children struggling with speech delays or any kind of communication issues need their parents and teachers to use innovative methods to help them overcome these issues. This is why speech therapy experts and teachers should always strive to try out new approaches to conducting speech …
Growing Up Without Technology
I’m a Gen Xer. Darn proud of it too. I am one of those who feel that we had the best childhood growing up. I’ll save that tirade for another post though. What I do appreciate, is that there wasn’t any social media when I was growing up. I was reminded of this yesterday, when I got to see a major league baseball game. It was my first time back in a really large crowd since the pandemic hit …
