Introducing the Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program Sponsored by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Foundation

At GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans, we are always striving to bring innovative and impactful programs to our local community. This Fall 2024, we are thrilled to introduce a groundbreaking initiative—the Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program Pilot, generously sponsored by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust. This new program is set to offer a transformative experience for individuals with Down syndrome, enhancing their communication skills and boosting their confidence.

The GiGi’s Amina Grace Speech and Language one-on-one program provides children and adults with Down syndrome greatly expanded opportunities to refine and practice 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.  GiGi’s speech program sessions are provided by licensed speech language pathologists.

The program is named after Amina Grace, a young girl with Down syndrome who passed away in 2014 at the age of five.  Amina Grace’s parents, Maura and Munawar Ali, founded the Amina Grace Memorial Fund to help start the 1-on-1 speech therapy program at GiGi’s Playhouses across the country.  You can learn more about the program in the video here: Amina Grace Memorial Fund (youtube.com)

Sponsored by Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust

The Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust believes in GiGi’s mission to provide free, educational and therapeutic-based programs to individuals with Down syndrome and their families and has provided two generous donations of $15,000 to pilot the Amina Grace Speech Therapy program at GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans.  This major gift, along with the support of many donors from our community, will fund speech sessions with Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) to provide free speech therapy to our participants in our beautiful GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans Down Syndrome Achievement Center location.

Meet our local Playhouse SLPs

Emily Kramer Leonhard, MCD, CCC-SLP, founder of Southern Oaks Pediatric Therapy, is a private speech therapist with over five years of experience in autism centers and acute care hospital settings. She specializes in helping children reach their communication and feeding goals as they go about their daily lives. She also works alongside parents to maximize her clients’ outcomes.  Emily is dedicated to supporting the needs of neurodivergent children as they navigate a world that was not designed with them in mind. Her goal is to educate, advocate, and offer tools to help her clients successfully engage with the world around them.

Lydia Curdts is a speech language pathologist and founder of Playful Speech NOLA. She has experience in both private practice and school settings, primarily working at autism and behavioral and mental health centers. She specializes in DIRFloortime therapy and augmentative and alternative communication. She believes that communication is an essential right for all people and works closely with clients and families to build treatment plans that reflect their values and goals to ensure that every client can find their voice. She also works closely with the Families Helping Families’ Prism Project and loves getting involved in the community. She is excited about the opportunity to get to know the individuals and families at GiGi’s playhouse! 

Key Features of the Program

1. Personalized Therapy Sessions

Each participant will undergo an initial speech and language evaluation and subsequently benefit from personalized therapy sessions crafted to meet their individual needs. Emily will work one-on-one with each participant to address specific speech and language goals. By focusing on the unique strengths and challenges of each participant, we aim to create a supportive and effective learning environment.

2. Family-Centered Approach

We understand that family involvement is crucial in the success of any therapy program. Our program includes resources and support for families, offering guidance on how to reinforce therapy goals at home and create a positive, encouraging environment for their loved ones.  Practicing speech and language skills at home is crucial to make progress.

3. Integration with GiGi’s Playhouse Activities

The Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program will be integrated with the existing activities at GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans. Participants will have the opportunity to practice their skills in a variety of settings, including group activities and social events, promoting real-life application and boosting confidence.

Logistics

The Amina Grace Speech Program sponsored by Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust will be offered for the Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions, each for a period of 10 weeks after an initial evaluation.  Like the 1-on-1 Literacy and Math tutoring programs that GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans offers, speech therapy program sessions will be on the same day at the same time every week at GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans Down Syndrome Achievement Center.

We ask families to let us know as soon as possible whether they will need to cancel a session due to travel or illness.  An effort to schedule a makeup for missed lessons will be made as much as possible, but makeup lessons are not guaranteed.  If three lessons are missed or cancelled without proper notice (24 hours), the participant will be withdrawn from the program for the rest of the session.

GiGi’s Playhouse does not bill families or insurance for participation in the Amina Grace speech therapy program.  This program is provided for free through the generosity of GiGi’s Playhouse donors and volunteers.

Eligibility to apply

The Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program is open to individuals with Down syndrome of all ages.  To be eligible to be matched, families must have completed all hold harmless, photo release, and demographic information forms.  If you complete a speech therapy program application and any of the information is missing, the GiGi’s Playhouse staff or speech program volunteer will contact you to complete the requirements.

Matching is based on availability.  After the first pilot session, priority is given to matching participants who have not been enrolled in the speech therapy program before.

Application

Families can apply for the Fall 2024 pilot session of the Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program sponsored by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust here: Program Application (tfaforms.net)

Get Involved

As we prepare to launch the Amina Grace Speech Therapy Program, we invite our Playhouse families and community to get involved. This program is provided for free through the generosity of our donors and volunteers.  You can learn more about volunteering or donating on our website: GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans | Down Syndrome Achievement Center (gigisplayhouse.org)

Whether you’re interested in volunteering, donating, or simply spreading the word, your support helps us continue to provide valuable programs to make a difference in the lives of individuals with Down syndrome and their families and spread the message of acceptance for all in our community!