RICHARDSON, Texas, Jan. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/
-- Parkinson Voice Project is now accepting applications
through its website for the SPEAK OUT!® and LOUD Crowd® Grant
Program Honoring Daniel R. Boone, PhD, CCC-SLP for 2019. This
year, in addition to awarding grants to clinics across the United States, Parkinson Voice Project
plans to award grants to five international speech therapy clinics.
The grant is now open to any clinic globally able to utilize
therapy materials in either English or Spanish. Grant applications
are being accepted through March 1,
2019. Grant recipients will be announced in April 2019 during Parkinson's Awareness
Month.
The grant program launched in 2018 with 92 grants awarded to
speech therapy clinics throughout the
United States. 34 of the grant recipients were university
speech therapy clinics. More than 900 speech-language pathologists
and graduate students were trained in SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd®
therapy protocols through the 2018 grant program. Grant recipients
received free SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd® training, speech
therapy supplies, funding to support their groups, and a trip to
Dallas-Fort Worth to visit
Parkinson Voice Project's clinic for hands-on training.
Universities, hospitals, and nonprofit Parkinson's organizations
interested in bringing Parkinson Voice Project's unique speech
therapy program to their communities are encouraged to apply.
Applying entities must have the physical space and clinical staff
needed to provide both individual and group speech therapy to
people with Parkinson's. 2018 grant recipients are also eligible to
apply again to sustain their programs. Full eligibility
requirements are available at
http://www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org/GrantProgram.
"Our grant program was a huge success in 2018. We're excited to
expand it this year, growing our international footprint.
Parkinson's affects more than one million people in the U.S., and
an estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide. 89% of people
with Parkinson's are at high risk of losing their ability to speak
and swallow. Our goal is to make quality speech treatment available
to those living with Parkinson's around the globe," said Parkinson
Voice Project's CEO & Founder Samantha
Elandary.
The grants are being offered in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Boone, a world-renowned
speech-language pathologist and voice expert, and a former
president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
(ASHA). Parkinson Voice Project's speech therapy program
is based on Dr. Boone's teachings that individuals with Parkinson's
can speak louder, clearer, and more expressive when they use
intention and deliberation. Dr. Boone passed away in October 2018.
Parkinson Voice Project is the only nonprofit organization in
the world solely dedicated to preserving the voices of those with
Parkinson's and related neurological disorders. Parkinson
Voice Project has developed an effective two-part speech therapy
program combining one-on-one speech therapy (SPEAK OUT!®) with
on-going, weekly group speech therapy (The LOUD Crowd®).
Together, the patient and the speech-language pathologist work
their way through a series of speech, voice, and cognitive
exercises outlined in a specialized workbook provided to every
patient as a gift from Parkinson Voice Project. The program
emphasizes "speaking with intent" and converts speech from an
automatic function to an intentional act. Since the muscles used
for speaking are the same used for swallowing, speech therapy
affects more than just one's ability to communicate. SPEAK OUT!®
and The LOUD Crowd® impact the quality of life for everything from
conversing with family and friends, talking on the phone, and
dining out at a restaurant.
Parkinson Voice Project raised more than $2 million this past holiday season in order to
continue treating patients at its clinic in Dallas-Fort Worth and fund the grant
program.
ABOUT PARKINSON VOICE PROJECT:
Parkinson Voice Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization. Parkinson Voice Project does not charge for its
services or bill insurance. The organization was founded in 2005
and runs a speech therapy clinic in Dallas-Fort Worth, where SPEAK
OUT!® and The LOUD Crowd® are available to anyone diagnosed with
Parkinson's and Parkinson's-Plus Syndromes. The organization has
been successfully funded through donations and the Pay It
Forward concept since 2008. To date, Parkinson Voice Project
has trained more than 1300 speech-language pathologists in its
two-part therapy approach across the United States. Its
international reach already includes clinicians trained
in: Australia, Canada, Finland, Greece, Japan,
Korea, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
http://www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org/GrantProgram
SOURCE Parkinson Voice Project