A Great Night’s Sleep is Possible!
Sleep is important for any child, but for your little one with Down syndrome, it’s especially important! Sleep is actually a vital process for brain growth and development. It’s your child’s time to process, organize and store all the information they learned that day. In addition, sleep is vital for...
Kindness can be found Everywhere
Anne and Jeff were so very excited while they were expecting their first child, Holland Elizabeth. They learned their daughter had Down syndrome and immediately turned to GiGi's Playhouse for support, but the excitement never faded. Unfortunately at 38 weeks in her mother’s womb, Holland passed away before she could...
New Year, New Career Skills!
It’s hard to believe that 2018 is almost over and 2019 is right around the corner! And with 2019 comes a new batch of students leaving their high school transition programs. While completing the transition program is an exciting time, it can also be full of unknowns with a lot...
Winter Themed Language Boosting Activities!
With the onset of winter in the Chicagoland area, you’re probably trying to find activities both indoors AND outdoors! Luckily, there's a flurry of activities to work on speech and language skills in your home, across the many sceneries of the holiday season, outdoors (if you dare!), and in your community! Below are five winter-themed language activities that you can work...
A Very Special Visitor
At GiGi's Playhouse, we are lucky to get the most amazing people walk through our doors on a daily basis. John Manley, who is a longtime friend of GiGi's and was on the board for the Special Olympics, came to visit us. His son, Charlie, had Down syndrome, coined the...
November Participant Spotlight!
" The Amina Grace Speech and Language Program has helped turn my daughter into a social butterfly! Through her speech therapy sessions, Louise has gained a large vocabulary, along with much-needed conversational skills. These achievements have led to a huge boost in her confidence and she is more outgoing amongst...
What are you Thankful For?
GiGi U is Thankful It’s that time of year when everyone is asking, “what are you thankful for?” This week, I asked GiGi U participants that very question and their answers truly made me realize how much of a difference we make here at GiGi’s Playhouse! I was pleasantly surprised...
Navigating the Early Intervention Program
Here is your Parents' Guide to Navigating the Illinois Early Intervention Program Early action yields best results! Each state has an Early Intervention program tailored to providing services and support for babies and young children with developmental delays and disabilities and their families. These services include, but are not limited to, speech and...
The Life of an Amazing Volunteer!
GiGi's Playhouse is very fortunate to have the dedicated hard work of some amazing volunteers to keep us going strong! One of these volunteers is Lauren Abry. We had one of our GiGi Professionals, Brian Rogala, interview her in our new GiGi Professional space to find out more about her....
October Participant Spotlight!
"Cristina has been in the GiGi's Playhouse Amina Grace Speech & Language Program for only four months. However, within that short amount of time, her speech and clarity has improved immensely. Cristina has worked with Taylor on a speech she gave to over 75 people in early October. We had...
GiGi University in the House!!
Have you even come into the Playhouse on a Monday, Wednesday, or a Friday and seen a group of adults working incredibly hard while having the time of their lives? Working out? Or working incredibly hard in the classroom? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you...
Why is Speech Therapy Important?
Why is speech therapy important? I get this question quite often. The answer is VERY! The importance and value of speech in all individuals cannot be underestimated. Do you remember playing the game of telephone as a kid? Hoping the message wouldn’t get garbled up along the way? You wanted...