Let's Talk Tuesday - Helpful Speech Grants

Let's Talk Tuesday is a bi-weekly series with ideas on how you can promote healthy speech development for your children (of any ability), but especially those with Apraxia, Autism, speech disorders or late talkers.  I am not a speech therapist, but I am a mom of child with Apraxia.  I share these ideas in hopes that they will help someone else. 

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As you probably know, Speech Therapy can add up.  Even if you have insurance and even if you have a reasonably priced therapist.  Paying for therapies can be a big challenge on parents. 

That's why I wanted to do this post.  There are several grants & resources open to parents (including others I mentioned in this post), but we don't all know about them!

Before I get into the different grants I know about, I'd like to note some tips to help you when applying for a grant:

-Note deadlines

-Add photos/videos of your child if possible

-Note specific requirements (some say you need insurance, some say you must make under a certain about of money, some say you can't re-apply for 1 year, etc.)

-Share your story & be as personal as possible

Now onto the grants...

iPad Grants

Babies with iPads:
Babies with iPads will be granting an iPad  to deserving children as often as funds allow.  I will personally screen all applications to determine if eligiblity requirements are met,  then a team consisting of at least a parent, ST, and OT will review the applications without identifying information and choose the top 3 deserving children.  Of the top 3 children one will be randomly choosen and mailed a refurbished or new iPad.
(find out more here)

Apps for Children with Special Needs - iPad Assitance Program
Apps for Children with Special Needs has already helped over 230 children and professionals around the world by gifting them iPads. Our goal is to help as many Children as we possibly can to benefit from this amazing technology and to be able to utilize the great Apps out there.

(find out more here)

Speech Therapy Grants

Small Steps in Speech:

Small Steps in Speech is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization which provides grants on behalf of children with speech and language disorders for therapies, treatments, communicative devices, and other services aimed at improving their communication skills.
A grant from Small Steps in Speech provides financial support to families seeking speech and language services for their children, either not covered or not fully covered by their health care plan. Small Steps in Speech also helps other qualified non-profit organizations by awarding grants to help fund programs and services aimed at improving the communication skills of children.
(find out more here)

United Health Care:
The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides medical grants to help children gain access to health-related services not covered, or not fully covered, by their parents’ commercial health insurance plan.
(find out more here)

General Grants

(these are grants that either offer grants for both speech therapy & iPads, or they don't specify which)

The Prayer Child Foundation:

The Prayer Child Foundation seeks to minimize overhead costs by requesting donations in time and materials for the development of its collateral and fundraising programs. The all-volunteer staff keeps costs low, ensuring that 99% of funds received by the foundation go directly to the assistance of children in need.

(find out more here)  


Friends of Man:
Friends of Man, the charitable arm of the Institute for the New Man, gives help to people who find themselves in a situation where they have nowhere else to turn. It may be an elderly person on a fixed income, a working family whose child is struck by severe illness, an accident victim, a disabled person, or a schoolchild whose family can't afford basic needs.
**This grant application must be submitted by an agency to nominate you.
(read more here)

Children's Charity Fund:
Children's Charity Fund, Inc. will assist any child regardless of age, (birth to 18 ) race, color, sex or national origin. Although we are a national organization dedicated to home bound disabled and handicapped children, we have expanded our services because of public needs. As we grow and expand we hope to implement programs that the majority of people feel are most important. This application does not guarantee that your request will be granted.  Children's Charity Fund offers grants for medical equipment & educational grants. 
(find out more here)

The Lindsay Foundation:
The Lindsay Foundation is a 501-C-3 non-profit organization whose primary goal is to assist families with the resources necessary to provide medical treatment, therapies, and rehabilitative equipment in order to improve the quality of life for their special-needs children.

They told me personally, that provided the applicant meets the guidelines, they offer grants for speech therapy and for some communication devices, but no iPads.
(find out more here)

Other lists of grants 

(there are many others who have put together other grant lists and other helpful resources)

Different Iz Good:

Different iz Good no longer a 501(c)3, but they have put together a list of other organizations gifting different apple devices (including iPads).  

(find out more here)

Small Steps in Speech:
Small Steps in Speech offers Speech Therapy Grants (see more info above), but has provided this list of other organizations gifting iPads since Small Steps in Speech doesn't currently offer grants for iPads.
(find out more here)

The Lindsay Foundation:
The Lindsay Foundation offers general grants for families with special needs children, but they have also posted a list of other helpful resources on their site. 
(find out more here) 

Trust Me, I'm a Mom:
Here I tried to give parents the ultimate starting guide with different resources for parents who have children with a speech disorder or delay.
(find our more here)

Fundraising Sites

(fundraising is another option for getting money to pay for therapies... Here are just a few sites that can help you with that)

Crowdfunding Sites:
GoFundMe
YouCaring
KickStarter

eFundraising

T-Shirt Fundraisers:
Booster

BonfireFunds
CustomInk

(I am currently doing a t-shirt fundraiser through Booster... you can view it here)

I will continue to add to this list as I hear about more Grants, so be sure to pin this so you can refer to it often!


*Please note that it is possible that some of these are no longer accepting applications for grants, despite my best efforts to weed those out.  I'm just a girl trying to help the world :)  Thanks for your patients!

**Read more helpful resources for families with kids struggling with their speech here.

Tell me... what tips do you have for those of us who are applying for grants?