Dear Friends,

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. Leaves are changing, the air becomes crisp, and Apraxia Kids celebrates our Stars through our Walk for Apraxia events. So far this season, 34 local communities across North America individually recognized their Apraxia Stars, with many more events taking place through the middle of November. There is still time to register for the remaining in-person Walks, as well as the Virtual Walk for Apraxia to raise awareness in your community. No matter where you are, we would LOVE to acknowledge all of your Star’s hard work and accomplishments. Remember, registration is free!

October also kicks off AAC Awareness and Acceptance Month. Our Speech Tablets for Apraxia Program is now accepting applications through November 4th. This program provides an iPad and protective case for a child with CAS to use as a speech communication device and to practice speech targets. Donations from our community have supported this program for the last 12 years, providing over 850 tablets to children across North America. Apraxia Kids also offers a free App Guide on our website that provides information about a variety of apps for communication and learning.

For the third year in a row, thanks to the family and friends of Kristin Johnson, Apraxia Kids is honored to award scholarships to second year graduate students who are studying to become speech-language pathologists and who have an interest in working with pediatric patients with apraxia. See our website for more information and the application which opened October 1st and will be due by December 1st.

October also means Halloween and Trick-or-Treating. We have added some new merchandise to the store, so we encourage you to check out these items and order today before they are gone! Additionally, we have our Halloween downloads that your Apraxia Star can share while they are out celebrating. Just download, print, and cut out!

As we enter the final months of 2024, we want to remind you of the many ways to give! One of the ways to help your donation go even further is through your employer. Many employers offer a donation matching program, meaning your generous donation could be DOUBLED! It is one of the easiest ways to give back to Apraxia Kids and allow your employer to also support our mission.

Thanks to the support of you and of our entire community, Apraxia Kids is able to offer many of our programs, resources, and services for free including our Insurance Advocacy Guide and IEP Roadmap. As we enter into this season of giving, we hope you will consider adding us to your gift plans so we can continue giving hope to all our Apraxia Stars of today and tomorrow.

Best,

Angela Grimm
Executive Director