Helping Children Communicate One Small Step At A Time

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Helping Children Communicate One Small Step At A Time 〰️

Ryker

We are most honored that we were selected and am greatly appreciative of the greatest sacrifice that Staff Sgt. Marc J. Small has made for our country and his continued contribution to life.

 Without Small Steps, Ryker would never had the opportunity to improve and learn new skills to help continue his growth.  The parent training along with the parents interaction and engagement helped tremendously in gaining new insight and tips on how to continue the carryover after camp is priceless.

 All the caring members at Small Steps and the support from teachers to therapists at Speech Pathways have made a lasting impression on our family.

 We truly hope that Small Steps continue to get the fundings and donations needed to help other families see the potential in their child and letting families know that there is hope, and light at the end of the journey.

 Dad, Mom, and Ryker

Nia

Dear Staff and Donors of Small Steps In Speech,

    My name is Nia and I have a 5 yr. old son with autism. I first stumbled upon Small Steps in Speech through my son’s speech therapy provider. My son Kai has been receiving therapy since he was about 2.5 yrs. old.  Kai was pretty much non-verbal until was about 3.5 yrs. old. The Small Steps in speech grant has been a Godsend. I cannot express how thankful I am for my son being able to receive speech therapy services especially in our home; it’s priceless. For children on the spectrum as many others, time is of the essence, so I was more than appreciative to receive the services when we did. When we moved to Charlotte is was hard to get around as we do not have a car so having the services be provided in our home helped tremendously. Being a parent of a child with special needs can be overwhelmingly demanding especially the financial portion of things so I am beyond grateful for the Small Steps Grant helping us. Kai is doing so much better! I will be forever thankful. Thank you to the donors and Staff you are very much appreciated

 Warmest Regards, Kai’s Mom, Nia

Ronan

My preschooler has severely impaired intelligibility. Most strangers can’t understand him at all, and as his mom, I usually only understand half of what he says. He attends a special needs preschool, where he is seen three times a week by a speech pathologist. I was so worried that his progress would stall, or that he would even regress during the summer, when he did not have the support from his preschool speech pathologist.

Thanks to a grant from Small Steps in Speech, our family was able to bring him to a private speech therapist twice a week throughout the summer. Instead of regressing, he made huge strides in his communication abilities. His preschool teacher and speech pathologist were so excited to see how much he had improved when he resumed preschool in August!

Thanks to Small Steps in Speech, we were able to help my son receive the early intervention he needed!

Mialynn was seen at Nature’s Edge Therapy Center for a speech-language pathology evaluation. She was referred by her physician and family due to a difficulty understanding Mialynn’s speech. When I first met Mialynn, she appeared to have difficulties with answering wh-questions (who, what, where), following directions was only producing 3-4 word sentences. Mialynn waqs understood in context with this SLP approximately 60% of the time, without context it was approximately 50%. There were many multiple articulation errors noted within conversation and Mialynn appeared to have difficulty formulating sentences and understanding what was being asked of her. Mialynn’s goals have consisted of mixed expressive/receptive language, as well as increasing her intelligibility to others. Mialynn has made significant progress towards her goals and I could not be more thankful to your organization for the funding in providing speech therapy. Mialynn is now using 4-5 word sentences and her intelligibility has increased from 50-60% to 80%. Mialynn is less frustrated in making her needs known and understanding more of what is being asked by others. Mialynn is enjoying school in which she is making friends, talking about her day, and is better understood by friends, family and teachers. You have made a significant impact in this family’s life and we all could not be more appreciative.

Courtney, MS, CCC-SLP

I want to thank Small Steps in Speech for the grant money. Because of the grant money Mialynn has improved tremendously in her speech. More people are able to understand Mialynn when she is talking to them. Mialynn is able to ask thos “wh” questions. Not only has her speech improved be her overall language has improved too. Mialynn was only able to form 2-3 word sentences, but now Mialynn can form 4-5 word sentences. This grant money has helped Mialynn improve so much.

Kaitlyn, Mialynn’s mom

We've always known that our son needed more intense speech on a more frequent basis. As a single income household, paying for therapy out of pocket (and for a few years paying for weekly OT sessions as well), this was monetarily out of reach. Despite all of our efforts and all of the wonderful things we've done together, knowing we weren't able to provide him as much therapy as he needed was heartbreaking.

Small Steps in Speech to the rescue! With the grant they awarded our son, we were able to pay for an additional therapy session on a weekly basis for a few months. Within this window, we've seen some major gains. The best one being something someone else pointed out -- our son now makes more attempts if a listener doesn't understand him, whereas before, he would shut down if he wasn't understood. This shows us he's more confident in his own voice, and his ability to be understood. We couldn't ask for a greater gift for our son. (Telling our son that SSIS believed in his potential so much that they awarded him a scholarship also helped him believe in himself.)

Any organization lucky enough to be affiliated with SSIS, know you are helping make magic happen for individuals and their communities. For the families lucky enough to be awarded a grant through SSIS, get ready for miracles!

-SHR, New York

Parent of Grant Recipient

We would like to thank Small Steps in Speech for the generous grant money last year. We were completely shocked and grateful to receive the grant. Getting an autistic and developmental delay diagnosis-particularly in speech and communication-is extremely overwhelming as a parent. It is even more difficult to find out that our insurance does not cover services for autism at all. This grant gave us hope and so much relief.

By the end of Rowan’s first full year of integrated preschool and therapies, his therapists and teachers were floored at his progress in vocabulary and being able to communicate his needs with a major decrease in his frustrations. Through speech therapy, we have all learned how to teach and encourage language through play and everyday situations. Rowan is now able to make a couple of friends and maintain those friendships. Since his ability to communicate has increased we are now able to calm him when he is frustrated by using communication and techniques that work specifically for him. Rowan went from a maximum of twenty words to speaking in full sentences and doing multiplication in one year!

Rowan is growing in the right direction to help him succeed in so many milestones that children experience. Again, thank you so much for the Small Steps in Speech grant. Because of the grant, we were able to receive on-going speech therapy at a crucial time in Rowan’s development and we are able to provide other needed therapies (like OT) for him.

Most grateful,

Rowan’s parents

SSIS is helping Ava tremendously in her speech and language development. Ava has been working with a PROMPT trained SLP who has been essential in Ava learning proper jaw and oral movement to create phonetic sounds. Ava has even mastered how to blow bubbles! Ava also has much more functional language due to SSIS. She frequently requests for items saying “I want..” or “Can I have…” and has learned how to answer yes/no questions. Now Ava is working on “and” and “wh” questions. Having access to the right interventions is essential for a child to thrive. Thanks to SSIS Ava will continue to improve and flourish. Thank you so much to SSIS and all the donors.

Ava’s mom

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving Ari the Small Steps in Speech grant.  How does a mother thank someone sufficiently for giving her child the gift of communication? Ari is a sweet nonverbal five year old with limited communication. After six weeks of intense block therapy Ari gained two new signs. Ari learned a sign for "help" and a sign for "no." These two signs are life altering for Ari. Ari also learned how to combine signs. He now signs "eat that" or "more eat" All of Ari's therapists are blown away by the tremendous gains Ari made from his speech block. Ari's gains are thanks to you. May Marc's beautiful legacy live on through your generosity and all the lives you are changing.

Our daughter Gianna has experienced speech delays due to being born prematurely at 30 weeks. Thanks to the help of Small Steps in Speech we have been able to afford more speech therapy sessions with our local speech pathologist and have continued to see vast improvements in Gianna's speech and language skills. The work that SSIS does makes a significant difference in the lives of children like Gianna, and the parents of children with speech issues. Any contributions made to SSIS will make a positive impact on the lives of those affected, and a positive impact on those who contribute. Knowing their contributions help many gain the language skills needed to live healthy and productive lives.

Emmitt was able to attend AAC camp this past summer with his speech therapy provider thanks to the Small Steps in Speech grant. I was grateful for him to get to spend some extra time with his therapist, who was already very familiar with him. We visited a couple of new places around our city which we hadn't previously been to and he practiced communicating his observations with the team. This was awesome because normally we're only able to focus on expressing wants and needs in public places. Thanks again so much!

  • A Message From Flora's Parents

    We are so thankful for your organization and to be able to give back to it. The grant we received was a gift we will never forget. It allowed us to begin the private speech therapy process with a SLP that was trained in Apraxia. Flora had been receiving therapy at her preschool with very little progress. During the time we had the grant we were able to see her make substantial progress using a technique that was unlike what we had seen before. I cried at that first session and instantly knew we had found the right SLP and approach. This was such a boost to our family and eventually we were able to qualify for county funding. Words cannot express the difference targeted, consistent therapy has made in her speech, well being and the relationships within our family. Flora continues in her 8th year of therapy but we see the light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to her eventual graduation. Thank you for what you have done for our family and many others.

  • A Message From Grant Recipient, Flora

    Hi, this is Flora. I am 11 years old in 2022. My mom recently told me about this organization, and I thought it was really cool. When I was younger, speech was really hard. It still is, but before I didn’t have the best care. The donation that you gave to me and my family was practically life-changing. I now get proper care, and a lot of people say they see a huge change. I hope you continue to change kids’ lives.

Adriel has a diagnosis of Autism and when he first came to the office of Speech Pathway, he wasn’t using a lot of functional communication beyond repeating a few words he heard in videos. He has made progress since that time, but attending Camp Communicate made a significant difference for him and his family. Prior to attending Camp Communicate, Adriel would often get frustrated when he attempted to communicate with others. With help from the grant from Small Steps in Speech, he attended Camp Communicate for two weeks and has made a huge improvement in communicating his frustration and expressing more calmly via his device when he is upset. Adriel is now more successful with his device and communicating a more clear message. He is able to use an AAC device to assist with his communication and his user competency after attending camp has greatly improved. Adriel is also now using more verbal communication; he can express one to two word phrases to request. He can also express 3-5 word phrases/sentences via his device that more clearly indicate exactly what he wants/needs. Through the help of Camp Communicate and Small Steps in Speech, Adriel is now able to communicate more clearly and consistently with his friends and family.

Amy, SLP

The Place for Speech Therapy would like to give a warm thank you to your organization for all the help is has provided to one of our patients. Our patient has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, who initially demonstrated difficulty expressing himself due to his limited verbal speech and overall communication skills prior to therapy. He is now independently responding to his name, imitating play actions, and communicating his personal wants and needs through American Sign Language, pictures, and vocalizations. His therapeutic team has reported an increase in his communication skills and ability to interact with his peers and family.

As our patient’s speech-language pathologist, it brings me joy knowing all the progress he has made which would not have been possible without the help of your organization. We are very please with his progress in therapy and excited for the progress there is to come.

Thank you, Small Steps in Speech, for the generosity and assistance you have granted our client and his family. We appreciate you for servicing the children in our community!

Raquel, SLP

I am so thankful for the help of the Small Steps in Speech grant. The improvements in Matthew’s ability to communicate have been amazing. Sometimes he will say a complete sentence or ask a question and it makes me so happy it brings me to tears. Many parents complain when their children go through the WHY stage. Hearing Matthew say why is the greatest thing ever. I have been loving answering all of his questions and having actual conversations with him. This was something he could not do a year ago. He is a very friendly kid. He loves that strangers understand what he says now most of the time. The improvements in the last 2 years of speech therapy have been so fantastic. 6 months of that is thanks to the people at Small Steps in Speech. Thank you so much for helping us pay for speech so he can learn and grow.

Matthw’s Mom

Thank you for generously gifting our daughter Ella a grant. The grant that you provided paid for 10 sessions of speech therapy at Nature’s Edge Therapy Center. This allowed Ella to get the highest quality care from an amazing group of people who has changed her life for the better.

Ella was diagnosed with childhood apraxia at age 3. She struggled to communicate not only with her friends at daycare but also her family. She knew what she wanted to say but had difficulty creating sounds into syllables into words. It was heartbreaking to watch her struggling and being frustrated.

This grant has greatly impacted Ella’s day to day life. In almost a year of therapy, she can produce words and communicate in 3-5 worded sentences at a time. She can say her ABC’s, count 1-10, she can sing along to nursery rhymes, say her colors, point out all kinds of animals and objects in books, and tells you what she wants to eat. She has gained confidence in daily activities and tends to participate more in a group setting.

Thank you for this gift. We truly appreciate it more than you know.

Ella’s Mom

We would like to thank Small Steps in Steps in Speech for their generosity of their grant to help fund a portion of Jackson’s speech therapy. Your generosity helped provide needed speech therapy for Jackson who as been diagnosed as autistic non-verbal. Being non-verbal, Jackson has struggled to communication. Jackson is 8 years old and gets frustrated when he cannot tell you what he wants or how he feels. This past year we were able to receive funding for a communication device, a Tobi Dynavox, that Jackson has been learning to use through his speech therapy. Jackson also has a feeding tube and does not eat orally at this time. Jackson has severe hearing loss in his left ear (right ear is fine). Given Jackson’s medical diagnosis, medical bills tend to pile up and some therapies had to wait, speech was one of them since his school system provides it but not to the degree he needs. Because of your grant Jackson has been able to start a speech therapy regiment that meets once a week for an hour. During this hour, the therapist works with him on speech therapy needs and teaching him how to use his communication device which has been named “talker”. Jackson has begun to use his “talker” more at home, at school and even at church during Sunday School. One story I will relate is that we were coming home from church and Jackson was in the back seat of the car with his “talker”. I missed a turn and had to take a different route home. A few moments later, I hear the “talker” say, “I don’t understand”. I told Jackson that Daddy missed the turn and we had to take a different route home. It was so fantastic to have a conversation with my son!!!!!

Again, our family greatly appreciates your generosity and the help that you provide, not just our family but all families with children who are in need of speech therapy.

Jackson’s family

Through the grant given to us by Small Steps in Speech, our son, Carter, has been able to continue his speech therapy with wonderful therapists at Better Learning Therapies.

Carter’s progress at the clinic has been amazing. This has also given him the opportunity to do so well in his 2nd grade class.

We are so grateful that you could make these funds available to us. We see a bright future for Carter.

Carter’s mom

Read about Evelyn and hear her own words of thanks

Thank you for making it possible for my daughter to receive speech therapy. When my five year old daughter was diagnosed with Apraxia of Speech last year, I was overwhelmed. The therapy she was able to receive for the past 8 months has greatly improved her speech. She was only 25% intelligible and now she is 80% intelligible! This makes a huge difference in her life. Because people can understand her now, she has more confidence and less frustration. Evelyn can even go to school now with other children! We are grateful for your contribution that makes it possible for Evelyn to receive speech therapy!

Evelyn wanted to tell you thank you herself so she recorded the attached video.  

Many blessings to you,

Evelyn’s mom

I am the Director of Speech for The Therapy Spot. I had the pleasure of working with Evelyn, who received a grant from your organization, Small Steps in Speech. When Evelyn first began receiving speech therapy at our facility, she had significantly reduced intelligibility, particularly at the sentence and conversational level. Evelyn has made huge improvements throughout her therapy services, the were received thanks to your organization. As a result of her intelligibility improving her willingness to engage in play and conversations has also increased. Thank you for partnering with speech language pathologists and clients around the world to provide these services that so greatly increase individual’s ability to safely and independently communicate.

Jessica, SLP

I am writing on behalf of my husband I to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generous contribution to our daughter’s speech therapy fund. We have three beautiful little autistic girls (and two other children besides) who have severe expressive language disorders. They have collectively been taking private speech therapy lessons twice a week for 4 years now and still going. I am very proud of the progress they’ve made in communication but I think you all now how costly these therapies can be, especially considering the length of time that most children with similar disorders have to engage in speech therapy in order to catch up to where they need to be. Well, thank God for generous donors like you who have the compassion and generosity to assist parents and guardians like my husband and I to help these disabled children to meet their goals.

You guys are the best!

First, I would like to thank Small Steps in Speech for the grant awarded to our son Jakob to assist with speech therapy. It is an honor to be supported financially in the memory of Staff Sgt. Marc J. Small. We would like to thank you and his family for his service and sacrifice to this great nation.

Our son Jakob is a 17 year old young man with Down Syndrome. He is still struggling to develop speech and needs continuous therapy to help him achieve even small steps! Dr. Thomas Layton has been working with Jakob over the last year and has stated that some progress has been made. Our prayer is that this will continue. Without the financial assistance of Small Steps in Speech this would not have been possible.

Thank you again and we pray that you will have much success in the future with your fundraising.

Jakob’s parents