Happy New Year and Welcome to 2024!  I have BIG PLANS for 2024 and I hope you will join me for the fun!  One of my goals is to continue to bring cognitive, age appropriate lessons to all my nonspeakers.  I KNOW you are capable of so much more than what your body typical shows the world.  I will continue to help as many nonspeakers as possible as they work towards fluency on the letter boards and AAC devices.  You can do hard things and I believe in you!  My personal new year started out a little rough with illness, but I'm back and ready to advocate and serve my clients!  Be Well.  Be Safe.  Be Kind and Presume Competence! Cheers to a positive 2024!  ~ Paulette        www.foundmyvoice.net and 815-396-4488

https://youtu.be/vF5gJnQni1w
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My clients may not have a physical voice, but they sure do have real thoughts and feelings that matter!  Communication, in any form, is a human right!!!  

DawnMarie Gaivin and Dana Johnson, Founders of SPELLERS have done it again!  They have created a Spellers Guidebook: Practical Advice for Parents and Students that was just made available to the public TODAY on Amazon!  It's also available on AUDIBLE as well!  :)    The forward of the book is by J.B. Handley, author of Underestimated, An Autism Miracle!  Another MUST READ book if you haven't already!

I love reading but sometimes the best place for me to "read" is while I'm in the car on a longer drive OR before I go to sleep at night.  It was time for me to upgrade my audible membership and I found this fantastic deal!  GREAT holiday ideas for HARD to buy for people!  Everyone can get value out of podcasts and books and this deal is amazing!

While nobody ever likes to be in and/or around tornadoes, they are very interesting to study and our science lesson this week is on Tornadoes.  We are even going to be creating a tornado in a bottle!  Much safer than the real thing, but interesting, fun and easy to create at home!  For this experiment, we are going to be using Steve Spangler's Tornado in a bottle kit!  We will be adding glitter for an extra fun effect!  This is a fun experiment that can be done over and over again!  It's available on Amazon as well as Discount School Supply.  I am a part of the Amazon Affiliate program and I may get a commission if you purchase from my link.  Have fun!  I know we will!

Hello All -

I am often asked about products that can be helpful and beneficial for my clients.  Below are a list of common products that I do recommend often to clients.  Not every product will apply to every client as we all have different needs!  So.....if you are not sure what to get, please just shoot me a text or call (815-396-4488) or send me an email [email protected]    I am a part of the Amazon Affiliate program and I may get a commission if you purchase any of these products.  

Bosu Ball - this is a great activity to help with balance and coordination.  This is absolutely purposeful motor for our spellers and is very versatile!  Strengthen your body (or your speller's body) and everyone should probably spend more time on this miraculous piece of equipment more than we do!  

Half Balance Ball Workout Poster The poster linked here is the same one that I have hanging in my office.  It's double sided and you can decide which side you want to use.  It's already laminated so even better.  Easy to follow directions and visuals to use your Bosu Ball effectively!    

Zip Ball - SO MUCH FUN!  Good for kids of all ages!  Gives you a FANTASTIC arm workout and lots of smiles!  This is a client favorite.  

Autism - Timed Tasks with a visual timer, visuals (words and pictures)  Products like these can be very effective for some but NOT ALL kids.  

Sensory Seating in a Peapod style chair - very helpful for sensory seekers needing a lot of input into their bodies.

I have wanted to attend the gluten free expo for years and today I finally made it!  The expo I attended was hosted by Nourished Festival and held at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, IL.  

I have been Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Soy Free for 15-1/2 years at this point.  When I first went GF, there were very few options and most options still had dairy or soy so I was out of luck.  Thankfully, the allergy food market has taken off and it is much easier to find options of all kinds to meet the needs of many with food allergies like me.   I am also very aware that many of my clients follow a Gluten Free lifestyle to help reduce a variety of symptoms (that vary by individual) so I thought this would be a great topic of discussion.  I am very passionate about food allergies because I have had to learn the hard way!

Just because a product is gluten free does NOT mean that **I** can eat it or use it.  There are so many gluten free products that use dairy and soy that those products are not something that I even consider consuming.  

A few of my favorite vendors that attended were:
Red Plate Foods - they have fantastic baked goods that are free of the Top 9 allergens and they are considered School Friendly because no nuts are used.  I can attest that the Lemon Blueberry muffins, Vanilla cupcakes and Chocolate cupcakes are all fantastic!  Today I was able to try a cookie and their granola and I will definitely continue to buy their products!  Currently, I buy them at Fresh Thyme (grocery store), but the lady at the Expo said that Fresh Thyme is trying to push the company out (NOT HAPPY TO HEAR THAT AT ALL)!!  I hope you are listening @FreshThyme!!!!  

@GiftedBreads had AMAZING pretzel bread and baguettes!  Made in Chicago!  I absolutely love their products!! There are a few that don't meet my dietary restrictions, but absolutely DELISH!!!  I will definitely be ordering!

@epicure was also a very interesting company that peaked my interest because they use only CLEAN ingredients AND unlike U.S.A. companies (see below), Canada requires them to list ALL ingredients used in a product, even if it's a very small %.  This is very interesting and I bought quite a few products to try from epicure so I can report on them later.  I even bought some products that I personally won't eat (I'm one of the pickiest eaters on the planet), but clean ingredients are better for EVERYONE!  Food can be used as medicine!    Each package provides a recipe and options of how to make a dish vegetarian in some cases.  I also bought 2 spices to try as well.  The products I purchased are Kosher checked, Gluten Free and Non-GMO verified.  This is a company to keep an eye on for healthier choices for some of your favorite dishes!

@whoa! dough also had great chocolate chip cookies at the Expo and I'm looking forward to trying their on the go bars!  The hostess said that they are available for sale at Fresh Thyme, but the Fresh Thyme closest to my house does not appear to have them.  I looked in multiple locations for them and never found them.  I will have to buy online if I cannot buy them locally.

I did notice that a lot of my "tried and true" allergy friendly companies that I buy from weekly, were not present at the Expo. I hope that that changes in the future and the Expo grows in size.  An Arbonne representative was at the Expo, a candle maker, 2 medical tens equipment companies (AND YES, I did buy one - to be reported on later), a few Asian restaurants, bakeries, spices, BBQ sauces, chocolatiers, some pasta makers, quite a few snack companies, some meat sticks and a random company to refinish your kitchen cabinets (with no person present at the booth).  It would have been nice to see more lifestyle companies that support the healthier living, low tox lifestyle that many on allergy friendly diets follow already.  Ya can't win them all though and it's ok.   I did receive some fantastic coupons and lots of samples that I can report on later.   It was an enjoyable few hours with the family and hopefully they come back to the Chicagoland area next year with even more offerings!  

FYI - In the US, food companies can hide ingredients in a variety of ways.  For a Gluten Free product to be labelled as such in the US, the packaged food must contain LESS THAN 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten to be labelled Gluten Free.  Guess what???  For SOME OF US, that's not good enough!  You know those, Gluten Free Cheerios that are advertised as Gluten Free.  They make me ILL!  Just because a USA product says it's Gluten Free does NOT mean that some will not react to it.  It's probably safe for the majority of people, but not all.  The FDA also does not define the terms "dairy free", "milk free" etc. and milk is the most common undeclared food allergen!  So folks, be careful out there if you have FOOD ALLERGIES!  Do your own research, call/email companies for more information on their sourcing of ingredients and know what the "tolerance" levels are for YOUR particular allergy.  Nobody is going to look out for you as well as yourself!

Happy October!!!!  

I have a few updates to share with you about Found My Voice activities, hours, events, etc….  We would love to hear from you.  Please keep in touch!

1. Only a few Halloween ceramic pieces are left! Make an appt today for you (or your child) to paint in a SAFE and judgement free zone! Most ceramics stores would not be a good place to take individuals with apraxia or other disabilities, but we are SAFE SPACE and anyone with or without disabilities can come paint with us!!!!! Last day to paint is October 13th so we are able to get the pieces back before Halloween!!!! You can bring friends (disabled or not) to come in and paint. Paulette will assist you - she has been doing ceramics since 6th grade! You ONLY pay for the piece(s) that you paint - not for the number of people. Siblings can play in the playroom for $10 if they do not want to paint. Painting will be in my office area, not the playroom. Parents are welcome to paint too! Best of everything!

2. Our office is now open on Saturdays! By appointment only, but typically 9am to 1pm. S2C, Homework help, Tutoring, Crafts, play dates, etc…. If you want to come in on a Saturday, it is first come, first serve. If you schedule a “regular weekly” time and you cancel for 2 weeks in a row your spot could be given to another client. Saturdays are a busy day for us. If I need to extend my hours past 1pm on Saturdays, I will definitely do that based on NEED. I know your time is valuable! I am starting 9-1 and if that fills up and I need to extend the time I will extend for the last appointment to start at 4pm.

3. We are placing our next order for "Presume Competence" merchandise (Kids & Adults)- t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, hat orders due no later than Friday October 6 at 4pm. Free pick up at our office or all items can be shipped to your home/office as well! Scan the QR code below to take you right to the store that is making our merchandise. There is no profit for us in these shirts, but we want to make them available to you as we believe that PRESUMING COMPETENCE is of utmost importance and we need to continue to spread of word as a community that our nonspeakers are CAPABLE, SMART, ABLE and WILLING to LEARN. We need to come together as a community to support one another and if even one person asks “what does your shirt mean?” that will help spread awareness and understanding!!!

4.  Another movie about a Speller that I recommend that you watch:  https://kinema.com/events/my-name-is-siri-n6tcv4  My Name is Siri.  It’s a short 30 min documentary about a non speaker from California.  They are working on a part 2 and after you watch it, you will understand why that’s a good thing!!!  Great uplifting and enlightening movie about Siri.  The money from the proceeds of the movie is going to the family.

5.  Are you interested in play groups?  We had over 10 families say that they were, but our last play group only had 2 participants show up and it is not cost effective for me to pay staff for only 2 children in a play group.  If you are interested, please reach out with preferred days/times and I will organize another one if we have enough interest.  If I do not have a client, you are always welcome to come let your child play in our playroom and we will supervise for up to 2 hours maximum for $20 for first child and $15 for additional kids.  This could allow you to run short errands on your own!!!  Call us to find out availability!!  815-396-4488

6.  We are a sponsor of a WINTER COAT drive to support Rich En Deed which is a non-profit organization in Plainfield that allows people in need to “shop” in their store for clothing for “NO COST”.  It’s an amazing organization and we want to make sure that everyone has a winter coat this year.  We will have a box outside our front door during business hours.  If those hours are not convenient, just call us 815-396-4488 and we can arrange for a time to meet.  While this is a winter coat drive, they will accept any clothing as well for both kids and adults.  The coat drive is going on through October 31st!.  Please bring us your donations

Thanks

Paulette