Grant for Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is expensive.  And unfortunately, a lot of health insurances do not cover speech therapy or limit the amount they cover (for us, we get 30 sessions a year covered, after we meet a $500 deductible.)  Pretty pitiful, when you know that kiddos with apraxia should get speech several times a week, and speech therapy sessions out of pocket can cost anywhere from $50-$200 a session.

Almost two years ago, while trying to figure out how Hubster and I would pay for Kiddo to go see Nancy Kaufman at her clinic in Michigan, I was grateful to come across an organization called Small Steps in Speech, which provides grants to children who need help funding speech therapy.  Here's some of their info posted on their website:

"Small Steps in Speech is a non-profit foundation created in memory and in honor of Staff Sgt Marc J. Small who was killed in action in February of 2009 while serving his country in Afghanistan.

Small Steps in Speech assists children with speech and language disorders by funding supplemental therapies and treatments for individuals as well as grants to charitable organizations who serve children with communicative disorders. Our goal is to give children the chance to better express themselves in the world in which we live."

When I came across this organization, I immediately looked up the requirements for qualification.  A lot of health grants require you make less than a certain yearly salary to qualify, and it seems like hubster makes just a little too much to qualify for most grants.  But, Small Steps in Speech does not care about how much money you make, but rather how much speech therapy is needed.

And children with apraxia are considered high priority for receiving funding.  In fact, they have separate grants available for apraxia, thanks to funding from the amazing group Childhood Apraxia of Speech of North America (CASANA).  So, I spent the next few days filling out the application, getting together all the necessary paperwork they needed, and sent it off, praying that they'd help us pay for our speech therapy sessions when we went to see the apraxia expert, Nancy Kaufman.  It cost $810 for the four day speech intensive, plus we'd be paying for OT at the clinic, hotel and other travel expenses.

A few weeks later, I got a letter in the mail.  They were going to cover the whole $810 to see Nancy Kaufman!!

We were elated.  And so grateful.  Kiddo learned lots of new words and phrases, I learned new ways of working with him, and it was a fabulous week.  Thank you Small Steps in Speech!!

This generous gift by this amazing organization truly blessed our family and I wanted to share this post not only so family and friends could see one way God has provided for us, but so other parents wanting to provide funding for their child's speech therapy could apply.  It never hurts to try right?  Applications can be found here, and are awarded by quarterly deadlines (Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1).