Put Another Dollar In

and

“LISTEN FOR A CHILD TO SPEAK”

During the past five years I have been privileged to work part-time at the Long Beach Scottish Rite.  One of the California Childhood Language Centers is located in our building, and each day we see mothers, fathers, and grandparents coming into our facility to participate in therapy and training programs for their children who have speech and language problems.

Our particular Center is geared for pre-school children, and as we are all aware, children can really tug at your heartstrings.  We have watched these children begin their programs, some not able to speak very many words at all, and by the time they have completed their 18-months, their vocabulary is unbelievable.  Some come to the Center with a range of speech and language problems, and although we do not hear them speak as others do, somehow we believe they leave with a little gleam in their eye. 

We have watched very dedicated Clinicians work with these children and they tell us stories about a child who finally said one word at their session today, or we can hear all of the chatting and fun happening at the group session being held, and know that progress has been made with all of these children.  They leave with their special projects all completed and ready to be displayed on the refrigerator, and one little girl proudly shows us the sticker she has earned at each session. 

You must be able to tell that all of these children have touched a special place in my heart, and I have selected the California Scottish Rite Childhood Language Centers as my special project for 2006.  Our Chairman for this project will be Sister Pat Caceres, Past Matron of Silver Spray Chapter No. 59, Napa, and Silverado Chapter No. 189, St. Helena.  Sister Pat has been a teacher for many years and knows the importance of helping children communicate.

We have designed a special Clown pin to raise funds for the benefit of the Centers in California, and donations may also be made to the Grand Chapter of California with the notation “Listen for a Child to Speak” or 2006 Speech Center Project.  These donations should be forwarded to Grand Chapter of California, 16960 Bastanchury Road, Suite E., Yorba Linda, CA 92886-1711.

The Director of the Long Beach Language Center, Dr. Lauren Franke, has given me an overview of the Centers and the work they are doing—all at no cost to the parents.  She has titled it, “A Blessing”, and I believe this “blessing” encompasses the parents, the therapists and those who work in the Centers, but most importantly, the children.  Please read this, see the work being done throughout California, and know that we can possibly make a difference with the support of our special project.

“Helping children is a lot like planting a tree; you may never get to see it fully grown, but you know that you’ve done something really good for the future.”

A BLESSING

By Dr. Lauren Franke, Director, Long Beach Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center

The Scottish Rite Language Clinics are a blessing to the children of California.  There are fourteen clinics throughout the state, some housed in Scottish Rite Cathedrals and others as part of university clinics.  All provide free speech and language therapy to children.  While the ages of the children seen may vary across clinics, each clinic is devoted to helping children communicate.  This is done by direct therapy with the children and training parents to work with their child outside of the clinic.

There are many types and variations of communication problems and each clinic is staffed with professionally licensed Speech Language Pathologists who work with the children.  Some of the children come to the clinic with very delayed expressive language.  An example of this is a little boy aged two years, six months, who only has two words he can use to express himself.  Sometimes the ability to understand language is age appropriate, but with some children receptive language is also delayed.  Other children may be talking but are difficult to understand because they cannot make all of the sounds needed for speech or they substitute sounds.  This may be an articulation disorder or developmental apraxia.  Children are also seen who may be talking but are having difficulty “cracking the code of English”.  Instead of saying “I did not go to school today”, they may say, “Me no go school”.  Each of these problems requires individual and often intense intervention and the California Scottish Rite Clinics do this at no charge to the parents.

Intervention is important for communication and learning to read.  Current research suggests that about fifty percent of children with early language delays go on to have reading problems in school.  Knowing this means these kids can get a jumpstart on early literacy skills and the clinics provide this service as well.

Therapy materials used during therapy sessions range from toys with the younger students, to computers, books, videos and materials for craft activities.  While therapy often involves “skill and drill”, all therapists want carryover of skills into everyday language.  To get carryover or generalization everyday language therapy also includes fun and motivating activities such as making a volcano or decorating cookies.

If you ever have a chance to visit one of the Scottish Rite Clinics you will see a group of professionals dedicated to making children’s lives better.  These therapists consider it a blessing to have this opportunity.