Huge congrats to Special Kids Chattanooga, our June 2026 grant recipient! They're using their $3,000 award to buy new speech-language evaluation tools, the kind that catch delays early and actually tell a therapist what to do about them. Why did we fund this? Keep reading.
Special Kids opened their Chattanooga clinic in 2025 and has already served 85+ kids through speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy. Referrals keep climbing, and local Early Intervention teams say they know why: a wave of "COVID babies" hit playgroups and preschool a little late, missed out on face time behind masks, and are now showing up with more speech and social communication delays than usual.
Our $3,000 investment goes straight to work: a CELF Complete Kit, PLS Record Forms, and BOT assessment materials from Pearson. Boring names, big impact. These are the tools a speech-language pathologist uses to figure out exactly what's going on and to build a plan around it, rather than guessing.
One dad told us his son used to be unable to even tell them what he wanted for dinner. Now he plays with other kids and talks in full sentences. That's the whole point.
Chattanooga's more awesome when every kid has a way to say what they need.
