Dear Friends,

On behalf of our Staff and Board of Directors, we are so grateful for each of you as we celebrate this season of giving thanks for those important in our lives. Each of you play an important role in our community as we all work together to move the mission of Apraxia Kids forward. As we wind down these last two months, we remain committed to ending our year strong as we plan for 2024.

On October 19th, members of our staff, Board and Professional Advisory Council joined the Royal College of Speech Language Therapists and Mikey Akers from Mikey’s Wish at Parliament in London in his efforts to educate Parliamentarians and change the terminology used in England from verbal dyspraxia to childhood apraxia of speech. What an amazing opportunity to bring further awareness to childhood apraxia of speech and to support Mikey as he works to make a difference in the United Kingdom. During our time together, we had the opportunity to meet therapists and families on their apraxia journey, share stories, and support one another. We are thankful for our relationship with Mikey’s Wish and look forward to growing our partnership.

We are so excited to bring our 2024 National Conference back home to Pittsburgh July 11-13. Call for Papers for the Conference is now open. We will be looking for presentations that cover a wide range of topics related to childhood apraxia of speech across all age ranges, diversified populations, severity, and comorbidities; focusing on the whole child. We invite parents, therapists and researchers to share their expertise! More information about scholarships and registration will be shared in the new year so continue to follow our emails and social media so you can be the first to know!

Although many of our in-person Walk for Apraxia events have already occurred, you can still register for the Virtual Walk if you missed your local Walk event. We want to ensure all of our Apraxia Stars are recognized and celebrated so we encourage you to register today! Walk fundraising remains open until December 31st so you still have time to earn incentive prizes including the official Walk for Apraxia shirt.

Our Speech Tablets for Apraxia program application remains open through Monday, November 6th. We encourage you to apply if you have a need and to share this along with our Parent Portal and IEP Road Map with families that might not be aware of the services Apraxia Kids has to offer. Programs like these are provided free of charge to our families and would not be possible without the continued commitment and generosity of our community.

We are also excited to announce the launch of free bilingual modules for professionals on our Virtual Education Series page. The “Bilinguals with CAS: You’ve Got This” series was recorded by Dr. Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann for the 2023 National conference and gives SLPs introductory information on foundational information about bilingualism, assessment, and treatment for children with CAS whose first language is not English. These modules offer ASHA DEI CEUs for professionals who complete the quizzes.

Thank you for being a part of our organization and sharing our vision, a world where every child with apraxia of speech reaches their highest communication potential. Your ongoing support is crucial in helping us realize this vision and furthering our mission.

Please mark your calendar for Giving Tuesday on November 28th. Your gift, no matter the size, is an investment in the voices of tomorrow. We hope you will consider supporting Apraxia Kids during this season of giving.

With endless gratitude,

Angela Grimm
Executive Director