CHAT can’t do this work without your support.
Donate today and give the gift of communication to more children.
Staying true to our founding mission, CHAT continues to give the gift of communication to children facing barriers to access.
Enzo is one of countless children CHAT has helped reconnect with his family.
As a baby, Enzo was happy, smiley, talkative, and friendly. But between ages one and two, he stopped saying the few words he knew and became less engaged and communicative.
He stopped saying ‘Daddy’, asking for water or juice, or saying ‘hello’, ‘bye’ and ‘yeah’. First, he stopped wanting to be with Grandma, and then he stopped wanting Mom or Dad to hold him.
Enzo, a two-and-a-half year old, bilingual child of parents from Mexico, has Medicaid and limited resources. Thankfully, his family was referred for Early Intervention services through Illinois, where CHAT recently began serving children on long waitlists because they have few – if any – other options.
At first, Enzo was completely shut down at sessions. His first breakthrough was learning sign language for “help”. Enzo started signing instead of crying when his parents didn’t understand him.
After just three months with CHAT, Enzo uses an active vocabulary of over 45 words! He combines words, communicates his needs with his parents, and even goes to the park with Grandma.
“It is truly night and day. We have been able to establish communication with Enzo and [he is] having less frustrations.”
– Enzo’s Mom
The first few years of life are critical to a child’s development. When a child starts out lacking the ability to communicate with their small world, it is much harder for them to communicate as their world grows.
Enzo’s mother is thankful that he can now communicate and participate in social and life experiences. Without CHAT, Enzo and his family would not be on the path to rebuilding their relationships, and Enzo’s world might never grow.
We are facing unprecedented demand from children like Enzo. Please help us meet that need by making a meaningful gift to CHAT today.
For $1520, you can change a child’s life with a year of 1:1 therapy.
Your $600 gift sends a child on Medicaid to one of our life-changing summer programs.
$380 funds two speech-language evaluations, which open the doors to CHAT therapy.
Your $160 gift provides a month of weekly therapy for a child on Medicaid.
CHAT uses 100% of annual appeal donations to provide therapy through the
Phyllis Kupperman Scholarship Fund. Every dollar makes a difference.
