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 …
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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 …
Schools and Parents Don’t Always Agree On the Best Route for Kids: What Can You Do?
In this final post in our series, we ask the experts a really tough question and they do not disappoint with their answers. It is important to note in this post that procedures for diagnosing a child as well as getting help in school may vary by state, or in some cases, even by school district so it’s important to talk to someone local! What can you do when your child's school does not agree …
#GivingTuesday – Ways to Give to Fight Speech Disorders
This year the #GivingTuesday movement is expected to deliver almost $500 million in funding to amazing charities all over the world. At Orange Effect Foundation, we’ve been surprised how critical #GivingTuesday has become for our little organization. Even a donation of $50 has a major impact on a child dealing with a speech disorder (in general, one hour of speech therapy is between a $50 and …
Being Grateful For the Little Things
We at the Orange Effect Foundation find it easy to be grateful. We have over 100 reasons to be thankful. In 2018, we have funded speech therapy for over 100 children across the United States. We are making a difference. We are grateful to all our sponsors who help make this happen. To show how far the gratitude goes, here is what some of our Orange Effect grant recipient families are thankful …
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 …
