Volunteer/Program Spotlight: Welcome New LMNOP Leader, Emma!
Language Music N' Our Peeps (LMNOP) is an interactive and engaging program designed to guide parents and young children through learning basic sign language and other forms of communication while using music and language-based activities. This program is recommended for ages pre-natal to 36 months. Emma Robustelli Tell us a...
May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month!
According to InnoCaption, a company that launched the first captioned phone service for the deaf and hard of hearing community, National Speech-Language-Hearing Month is "more than an awareness campaign—it is a movement to foster inclusion, empathy, and connection. Observed each May, it underscores the essential role that speech, language, and...
Program Best of All
DESTINATION DISCOVERY: OPEN PLAY Wednesday mornings at GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park are THE BEST! Our Destination Discovery: Open Play program was special this week - it was our friend Izzy's last day before summer, as she is going to start preschool! Such a big milestone; we are SUPER excited for...
Participant Best of All
We love celebrating our participants at GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park! This month, we introduce you to Holly Dertz! Tell us about yourself! Holly Dertz is 31yrs old. She loves music and spending time with her friends at Gigi’s What programs do you participate in at GiGi's? Holly participates in GiGi's...
Spotlight: Diane Husar, Author
Diane Callaghan Husar, the founder of GiGi’s Playhouse Tinley Park, who continues to volunteer AND participate as a parent at our Playhouse, is now a published author! Diane has written and self-published a memoir: Missionaries, Mercenaries, and Misfits: A Woman, an Island, and Life's Big Lessons. Her book was released...
Volunteer Spotlight: Maureen Schmitt
Meet Maureen Schmitt, our amazing leader of the Amina Grace Speech and Language Program! Maureen is the clinical supervisor for two graduate students providing speech and language services for our participants. Therapy is provided in areas such as augmentative and alternative communication, fluency, improving receptive and expressive language skills, improving...
Participant Best of All
We love celebrating our participants at GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park! This month, we introduce you to Christian Kruczak! Tell us about yourself! Hi, my name is Christian Kruczak and I'm 11 years old and in the 5th grade. I love playing Roblox and Minecraft. I also love sports, especially football,...
Parents Need Programs Too!
This post is for the parents of our amazing participants at GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park. While we pride ourselves on offering amazing programs for individuals with Down syndrome, it is also part of our mission to serve the entire family. So....we have planned an outing for moms and an outing...
February is American Heart Month
February is Heart Month in the United States. Children with Down syndrome have about a 40-50% incidence of congenital heart disease (CHD). Here at Gigi's Playhouse Tinley Park, many of our participants have congenital heart defects. There are families here to support other families, provide resources, and relate to the complexities of...
Welcome our New Intern Abbie!
Abbie and Izzy! Meet our new intern Abbie Pacyga, who is studying Child Life and Family Studies, and minoring in ASL at Ball State University! Abbie will be interning with us at GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park through December as she works towards her Family Studies credential. She will be assisting...
Best of All: GiGi B
We wanted to share some awesome "Best of All" moments from one of our Playhouse participants, our very own Tinley Park GiGi! At GiGi's Playhouse, Best of All is the philosophy to do a little better than you did the day before. GiGi B definitely exemplifies this in all her...
Thank you Tri-State Disposal!
Tri-State Disposal recently presented us with a very generous donation of $6,000 from their "Dump the Junk and Lift a Life" Fundraiser! Between April-June of this year, they made a donation every time a customer rented a roll-off dumpster. We are so grateful for the support from this family owned...