February Speech Participant Spotlight!

“Amelia’s speech has exploded since we started the Amina Grace 1-on-1 Speech and Language Program at GiGi’s Playhouse. She was always eager to talk, but her quiet speed, low volue, and not clear sounds made her difficult to understand by others. You could almost see her improvement from session to session. She loves working with Taylor and learning new things. Now, she is able to talk with her peers and not only people who know her, but strangers can understand her too. It’s a huge thing because it took a lot of frustrations away. She cannot only communicate her needs, but she is also so much more confident in her speech… she’s trying more and is even telling jokes lately! It’s so amazing to see her growth. We will be forever grateful for the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program that GiGi’s Playhouse has given us.” – Amelia’s Mom, Sylwia

Our participant spotlight for February is on Amelia! This little one sure shines both in and out of the speech room. Amelia has been a participant in the GiGi’s Playhouse 1-on-1 Amina Grace Speech and Language Program since its pilot in Summer 2017. Therapy has been targeting Amelia’s understanding of wh- questions following a story read aloud, use of complex prepositions, decreasing rate of speech, production of the /f, v, th, and s/ sounds, and improving core and jaw stability. Amelia is working through the bite block hierarchy designed by TalkTools and is always bringing a great attitude and work ethic to therapy.

Amelia’s mom is wonderful about carrying over therapy and implementing home practice, which has resulting in Amelia’s huge gains! Amelia is beyond receptive to a variety of interventions in both a play-based and structured manner. Whenever Amelia comes to speech, we make sure there are dolls, cards to play go-fish, books to read, food to “cook” and corners to play hide-and-seek in, as these are a few of her favorite motivators! Amelia is increasing her accuracy of answering wh- questions to nearly 80% accuracy with minimal cues, producing the /f/ and /v/ sound in sentences with minimal cues, labeling complex prepositions such as behind, under, above, etc., and is speaking at a slow rate with pacing cues which greatly improves her clarity. Here at GiGi’s Playhouse, we hope to continue to help Amelia achieve her goals and shine a little brighter every day.

To find out more about the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program, visit our website at gigisplayhouse.org/hoffmanestates/amina-grace-speech-and-language-program

-Taylor Kent-Kowalski