August 2018 Participant Spotlight!

The Amina Grace Speech and Language Program sees amazing kids and incredible progress every single day. Here’s our spotlight participant for August!

“We are forever grateful and apreciative of what GiGi’s Playhouse and the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program have provided to our son, Joey. Since he joined the speech program in June, Joey is now signing eight words, and has said his first words, ‘hi’ and ‘Dada’. This was music to our ears! To see our son acheive so much in his first few sessions has made us firmly believe that anything is possible. With this extraordinary organization and program, we know we are giving our son THE BEST! To our wonderful therapist and the staff at GiGi’s, we have two words: Thank You!”

-Michelle, Joey’s mom

You will ALWAYS be greeted with a nice, loud “HI” and a big grin from this guy! Joey is our youngest participant, a recently turned two-year-old, who is brand new to the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program. He enrolled for the first time in Summer 2018. Joey loves balls, a variety of silly play, flash cards, bubbles, music, and most importantly, his family. When he isn’t in the speech room, you can find him roaming the Playhouse, making new friends as he goes! Joey has made remarkable progress in his speech and language skills in a short period of time. During speech, we’ve been working on his understanding and use of language (receptive and expressive), play skills, oral motor skills (specifically tongue posture), and engagement/attention. Joey is eager to engage and play in the activities introduced in therapy.

Joey’s parents are very involved in observing sessions and carrying over activities and strategies into their daily lives. Their involvement and receptiveness to the parent empowerment aspect of this program has played a major role in Joey’s progress. He is now consistently identifying pictures, actions, and items by function, following simple and abstract one-step directions, imitating actions and gestures, using signs to communicate wants and needs, producing animal and environmental sounds, and starting to use early sounds and words. The Amina Grace Speech and Language Program at the Hoffman Estates Playhouse is committed to increasing Joey’s speech and language skills so he can actively communicate with his family and peers with reduced frustration. Look out, world! Joey is going to do BIG things!!

-Taylor Kent

To learn more about the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program, check out our website: https://gigisplayhouse.org/aminagrace