The Amina Grace Speech and Language Program

Amina Grace Speech & Language program dates:

2025

  • Spring Session:  February – April (10 weeks)
    Applications are open 12/9/24 - 1/5/25
  • Summer Session: June – July (5 weeks)
    Applications open 4/21/25 - 5/12/25
  • Fall Session: September – November (10 weeks)
    Applications open 7/21/25 - 8/11/25

Application typically opens 1-2 months prior to the session start date.

For more information regarding the Amina Grace Speech and Language program, please contact the playhouse at (608) 709-1411 or madison@gigisplayhouse.org.

Please help us keep our amazing Amina Grace Speech and Language Program at GiGi’s Playhouse Madison. During the past five 10-week sessions we provided one-on-one speech and language therapy for 38 individuals with Down syndrome and their families at no cost to the families. Our participants, from toddlers to teens to adults, expanded their communication skills using speech, signs, symbols, and speech generating devices to meet fundamental rights of communication. Communication is all about connection, and we thank you for supporting our passion for using language to connect with others.

In order to keep this program, we will need $20,000 a year. Please help us reach our goal and donate today to give the gift of speech!

The GiGi’s Amina Grace Speech and Language one-on-one program provides youth, teens and adults with greatly expanded opportunities to evolve and refine their speech and language skills. Effective enunciation, clarity of speech, word order and message meaning are paramount to fostering greater self-confidence, comprehension, problem-solving, school readiness, social skills, independence, and overall quality of life.

Goals

  • Increase clarity of speech and enunciation through a hierarchical approach of repeated exposure and practice of target sounds, focusing on accurate placement of oral articulators.
  • Improve word order and message meaning through focused exercises targeting various parts of speech, including: verb tense, word choice, sentence completion and more.
  • Increase comprehension through the use of various visual models and tasks targeting functional level-appropriate targets.

Benefits

  • Increase self-confidence through positive reinforcement and various forms of appropriate supportive methods, including: verbal, visual and tactile.
  • Improve school and social readiness through activities and goals geared towards preparing participants for skills required within their age-leveled school grade, thereby, increasing their chances of improving social skills of blending with classmates.
  • Increase independence and overall quality of life through confidence-building activities, self-help skills and a positive-reinforcing approach to therapeutic targets.

The GiGi’s Amina Grace Speech and Language program came to be by the generous donation of Munawar Ali and Maura Cullen in honor of their daughter Amina Grace.

Since the inception of the GiGi's Amina Grace Speech & Language 1:1 program we have served over 2,100 individuals with Down syndrome! We have hosted over 75,000 hours of FREE speech lessons! These numbers continue to grow each day!

The GiGi's Amina Grace Speech & Language 1:1 program is open to individuals with Down syndrome of ALL ages and runs 3 sessions throughout the year. This program, like all others at GiGi's Playhouse, is provided completely FREE OF CHARGE to all of our participants and families!

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