Posts by jmeyers

   Charlie is nine-years old and has been coming to the Playhouse for almost two years now. He is a regular and participates in literacy one-on-one and also has been participating in the Amina Grace speech and language program and works with an intern from the Rehabilitation Psychology Department. He comes to the Playhouse almost…

My sister attended last year’s gala where our key note speaker, Rob Snow, the parent of a child with Down’s syndrome recounted the story about the birth of his son. Rob talked about an incredible coincidence…the nurse that assisted during the birth of his son happened to have a child with Down syndrome. When Rob…

During October (Down syndrome awareness month), the adult program groups at GiGi’s Playhouse – Madison are celebrating throughout the month. Last Saturday’s theme for the S.M.A.R.T. Adult group was “Celebrate 21.” We had rotating activities created my our volunteers to challenge our adults: “Bag Toss” to collectively get 21 points by tossing beanbags at or…

Check out this wonderful article by Melissa Shutwell https://www.lissyaileen.com/single-post/2017/11/09/Digging-Deeper-Into-31-Facts-for-Down-Syndrome-Awareness-Month  

   M. is four years old, and he loves to watch Sesame Street. He also loves GiGi’s Playhouse. But would GiGi’s Playhouse be able to compete with Cookie Monster? At our wonderful program “Leaps and Bounds,” his mother told me that when she was about to leave for the program, M. was in the middle…

“My 3-year old daughter, Alyssa, has worked with Kayla Kristensen at the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program at GiGi’s Playhouse during the past year. Kayla provides high-quality services and resources while connecting with my daughter in a meaningful way that transcends speech and language. Alyssa is full of delight during the speech sessions! She…

   Special Olympics Young Athletes is a very popular program at GiGi’s Playhouse Madison. During this eight-week program our two to seven year old participants practice to balance, jump, run, throw, catch and kick a ball. Last week, one of our two-year-old participants, learned to kick a ball for the first time. A Best of…

We had the most amazing five weeks at Club GiGi! Our adults bonded so well with the Mandela Washington Fellows and the interns voted GiGi’s Playhouse THE BEST volunteer place! Francis from Nigeria, Rose from Uganda, Bertha from Tanzania, Silomo from South Africa, and Bridget from Ghana were part of Club GiGi for five wonderful…

   Ben and group of his American Family interns became acquainted with GiGi’s through their participation in the American Family Share Tank Competition. As a part of this competition, American Family sends 19 groups of interns to non-profit organizations, and their mission is to volunteer their time and learn about the organization. Later, all 19…

Meet Zoë  Zoë came to us via the Edgewood College Graduate Child Life Program. She had participated in a volunteer orientation for a group of nursing students. Zoë immediately stood out because she immediately decided to take the literacy tutor class the following weekend … we are talking about a four-hour class and started tutoring…