Pre-school students with speech and language impairments are welcome to participate in a summer program called: P.L.A.Y. (Preschool Language Acquisition Years). The six-week program, which runs from June 16 through July 23, costs $25 and is conducted by Wayne State's Speech and Language Center.

The program is geared for 2-to-6-year-old children from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Those parents interested are required to have their child go through an evaluation prior to enrollment. The evaluation is free and also conducted at Wayne State's Speech and Language Center, on the main campus at 581 Manoogian Hall on Warren Avenue in Detroit. Appointments can be scheduled by calling Patti Reppenhagen at (313) 577-3339.

"The treatment is based upon the evaluation and is designed specifically to address the child's problems," said Kris Sbaschnig, clinical director of the Speech and Language Center. "The therapy involves 30 minutes of one-on-one therapy with a graduate student and then 90 minutes of group therapy in a preschool setting. The child's individual clinician will be in the preschool with the child to facilitate the goals in individual therapy to the group setting. Also, a home program is designed for each child to guide the parents in facilitating the treatment."

The Speech and Language Center is an outpatient clinic that offers speech-language pathology services to residents of lower Southeast Michigan and parts of Canada. In this clinic, staff members supervise students in the assessment and treatment of all speech and language disorders such as: aphasia, a loss or impaired ability to use words; oral and verbal apraxia, a loss or impaired ability to use muscle associated with the mouth or tongue; articulation problems, cognitive-linguistic deficits, and voice disorders.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.