Getting and giving gifts can be exciting but hard for some individuals. Preparing for this time of the year helps to make everyone’s celebration special.
Continue readingHow to Prepare for Gift Giving & Receiving
Playground Communication Board Funding: 6 Ways to Finance
Playground Communication Board Funding: 6 Ways to Finance Accessibility
Communication boards give non-verbal individuals and those with speech differences a voice to build relationships in public spaces. However, bringing a playground or pool communication board to your local park can feel challenging due to upfront costs.
Fortunately, you don’t have to carry the financial load alone. Today, we’re breaking down six practical ways to secure playground communication board funding for your school, park, or community center.
Proven Sources for Playground Communication Board Funding
1. Apply for Disability Grants and Foundations
Many non-profit organizations offer dedicated grant funding for AAC boards and assistive technology. Look into national disability organizations or regional community foundations that support inclusion initiatives. Applying for these specialized grants is often the most direct route to secure full project funding.
2. Pitch Local Corporate Sponsorships
Local businesses love supporting projects that directly impact their immediate community. Create a simple pitch deck showing how outdoor communication signage makes local spaces inclusive. Pitching a local business owner with a tangible goal (e.g., “$1,500 sponsors one board”) can secure quick funding in exchange for their logo on the sign.
3. Launch Crowdfunding Campaigns
Platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe allow you to collect smaller donations from many community members. When setting up your campaign:
Share personal stories about why inclusive play matters.
Detail exact costs so donors know where their money goes.
Ask local community groups to share the campaign link.
4. Host Community Events and Fundraisers
Organize local events like a 5K fun run, a charity bake sale, or a community walk to raise awareness while collecting donations. Partnering with local schools or parks departments for these events helps get more people excited about funding accessible play equipment.
5. Research Government Grants and Civic Programs
Municipal, state, and federal grants frequently allocate funds for park improvements, ADA compliance, and public accessibility projects. Check with your local city council or parks and recreation board to see if existing public improvement funds can be applied to communication signage.
6. Partner with Educational Institutions
Reach out to local universities, colleges, or school districts with special education or speech-language pathology programs. Educational institutions often have access to unique departmental grants or student research funds that can be co-applied toward public accessibility projects.
Securing Playground Communication Board Funding for Your Community
Finding playground communication board funding requires exploring a mix of local and institutional resources, but the payoff is immense. By combining local business support, grants, and grass-roots fundraising, you can give non-verbal children and adults a voice on every playground.
Ready to start? We are here to help. Contact us or Request a Quote today!
Yours in Speech,
Resources at Lakeshore Speech
Improving Inclusivity in City Parks
Playgrounds are loved by young and old. Playground communication boards play an important role in creating a sense of inclusivity, support and community in city playgrounds.
Continue readingHow to Celebrate Childhood Apraxia of Speech
What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is some degree of disrupted speech motor control.In other words, a child diagnosed with CAS experiences difficulty rapidly and accurately moving and sequencing the tongue, lips and palate for the required movements for continuous and intelligible speech production. While the data on incidents of CAS in children is lacking, the estimates of some sources indicate that CAS is low incidence with perhaps 1 – 10 in 1000 children affected or 3 – 5 % of speech-impaired preschoolers.
What does this look like at home, one the playground, in preschool?
A child with CAS may experience a limited number of vowel sounds, difficulty imitating mouth movements and/or words/sounds, or a variety of errors that may be unusual or idiosyncratic. Children with CAS may or may not experience receptive language deficits. Depending on the child, negative behaviors associated with not being understood may also be evident.
What does a parent do? Where do you go?
An experienced Speech-Language Pathologist in the area of CAS can help navigate families and children through the CAS journey. As a parent/caregiver, do not feel intimidated asking if your SLP has experience in the area of CAS. The therapists at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC. are happy to answer your questions about CAS as well as provide specific therapeutic interventions.
February is CAS awareness month. If you would like more information, please feel free to ask your Speech-Language Pathologists as well as visit The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America.
Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.
How to Use Coupons to Build Communication
Coupons can help create communication
Junk mail, inserts in the Sunday papers….those shiny glossy teeny tiny piece of paper worth $.25, $.50, $1!!!!! If you are savvy shopper your coupons are organized and ready to go with every shopping trip. If you are not the organized savvy shopper, your coupons are a crumpled at the bottom of your purse or better yet in a pile on the kitchen counter, never to see the inside of a store.
Coupons are not just for saving a few pennies! Coupons open the door for communication! There are a number of easy – and fast – ways to not only create a mode of communication for your child, but to help she/he practice specific sounds, increase story telling, turn taking, and the list goes on!
How to Use Coupons to Create a Communication Board
Coupon Communication Board: use coupons or the adds surrounding the coupons to make a simple communication board for your child. Cut the object on coupon object out and tape or glue it in a grid form on a piece of paper. The next time you are playing 20 questions trying to figure out what your child would like for a snack, a drink, breakfast, lunch or dinner simply pull out your “Coupon Communication Board” and have she/he point to the choice.
Expanding Communication
Coupons expand communication: not only can coupons create a wonder communication board, but those glossy adds make for wonderful ‘stories’ to talk about. What do you see? What is that? Who is that? What are they doing? Should a doggie be allowed to play with toilet paper? Does candy really talk? Touch something blue. Do you see anything that flies? The number of questions to elicit and expand communication is endless!
No need to go crazy trying to find that ‘just right picture’, they’re right under your nose. Coupons are for communication!
Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.
How to Incorporate Daily routines to Increase Language
The routine of the day creates wonderful opportunities to continually work on language development.
“The Power of Using Everyday Routines to Promote Young Children’s Language and Social Skills”
Learn How Reading Can Improve Language Skills
Reading with and to your child is a great opportunity to develop language skills as well as promote literacy skills. Pick up a good book and practice some of these techniques.
