Charity Raffle Dream Cruise

Abe

Many of the children we treat children at the Rite Care Centers have language disorders. These children are able to speak clearly, they are able to correctly produce their sounds, but have difficulty understanding spoken words or difficulty putting words together to get their point across. Language disorders are less obvious and more difficult to diagnose; therefore these kids often fall between the cracks.

Some children have problems understanding, called receptive language. They may have trouble:
• Understanding what people mean when they use gestures, like shrugging or nodding
• Following directions
• Answering questions
• Pointing to objects and pictures
• Knowing how to take turns when talking with others

Some children have problems talking, called expressive language. They may have trouble:
• Asking questions
• Naming objects
• Using gestures
• Putting words together into sentences
• Learning songs and rhymes
• Using correct pronouns, like "he" or "they"
• Knowing how to start a conversation and keep it going
• Changing how they talk to different people and in different places. For example, you speak differently to an adult than a young child. You can talk louder outside than inside.

Many children have problems with both understanding and talking. We have evidence that language disorders have a direct impact on both learning to read and reading comprehension.

Abe is one of the clients we treat that has a language disorder. Abe is a very smart, kindhearted little boy. He is 5 and a half years old. He has two older brothers, he tries very hard to keep up with them. He loves to play soccer, baseball or most any sport. He also has difficulty with “narrative language skills”.

One day Abe came to the clinic reported that over the weekend he had gone to get takeout food. His version of the story was “We went to Zaxby’s. I got fried pickles.” His mother later filled me in on the details. They went to Zaxby’s, Abe ordered chicken strips, but got fried pickles instead. He did not like his fried pickles.

Abe is five and a half years old. He was unable to verbalize this very simple narrative about his own life; very important pieces of information that were left out. Although his speech is clear, and he has good grammar, he is not a functional communicator. He cannot get his point across. This type of disorder has implications for his educational future, if he cannot answer questions or describe everyday activities how will he do in science or history class? How can he write an essay? If someone tried to harm or abuse him how could he report that accurately to parents or teachers?

These are the children that fall between the cracks. They are not treated by publicly funded agencies like the public school, but they have a very real disorder that will definitely have a negative impact on their lives if left untreated.

Thank you for all you do to help kids like Abe who would otherwise go untreated.

Winter blues have you down? Plan a cruising vacation and set sail for warmer seas. For $20 you can buy a chance at a dream vacation, while supporting children with speech disabilities. Find out how.

Win an all expenses paid cruise for two lasting up to eight days and seven nights anywhere Royal Caribbean cruise line sails. You have up to two years after the drawing to select your cruise. All proceeds benefit RiteCare, a non-profit organization dedicated to speech pathology for preschool children. Winner is responsible for transportation to and from port of call.

This is it! This is the QR Code to be scanned which will take you to the Paypal website to buy your tickets for a chance at a world wide dream cruise - anywhere Royal Caribbean sails!

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