Scholarship

Juana has tubular sclerosis. When she started having seizures several times every hour, her parents had to choose to pay for expensive medication instead of paying for speech therapy. The scholarship program started with this family after we realized that many parents have to make similar choices, and although very important, speech therapy is not usually the priority when it comes to the several medical treatments needed.

Carlos was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder which is particularly unique because he has developed language, but only uses his speech to interact with himself while using various voices and tones. His classes with Guiraa’ are aimed at using his speech to communicate with other people with the goal to help him be able to develop social relationships.

Carlota was a premature baby along with her twin sister, Mariana. Carlota can speak but can’t walk, and Mariana can walk but can’t speak. Her parents were able to focus on paying for the physical surgeries that Carlota needed while Guiraa’ was helping Mariana learn how to speak without a cost to the family.

Javier has Angelman Syndrome. His brother, who has Down Syndrome, has been a student at Guiraa’ for over a year. Their mother could only afford to give medical attention to one of her sons, but now with this scholarship program, both of her kids are able to get therapy.

Carolina was born to a single mother who is a prostitute; she decided the best place for Carolina would be with DIF government program. It is believed that Carolina has Cerebral Palsy but only receives minimal treatment because of the government’s lack of resources. Carolina developed quickly when the government helped her with physical therapy, so we think that speech therapy can aide her to begin to speak and able to communicate. This relationship is particularly important because Carolina will not be able to be under government supervision after she turns 18 years old.

Lalo has Down Syndrome and when his parents were on a long list for aide from the government for medical attention and assistance, we realized that we could support him directly during his most important years of development. He has made great progress with his facial motor skills and is now able to control his tongue which was a main challenge for speech that he couldn’t do before.