
Standing Tall. Two simple words with two distinct meanings:
For the roughly 1.2 million people in the U.S. with neuromotor disorders, “standing tall” is something that others do with ease. Yet motor-impaired children must work very hard to speak, stand, walk, write, and sit.
“Standing tall” is something other children do frequently during their school day. Yet, children with serious motor disorders often spend their day strapped into wheelchairs or other passive seating.
On the inside, these children are like most children. They have bright minds that wish to explore and experience the world. They have ideas, thoughts, opinions, and dreams. They love their parents with all their hearts. And they long to share who they are with the world around them.
But they are trapped inside a body that won’t function the way they’d like. They have a neurological disease or brain injury that affects every aspect of their life.
Fortunately, for these children Standing Tall now has another meaning:
The name of a non-profit school offering a better alternative to motor-impaired children.

Our Core Belief is that every child can communicate and learn. Thus, it is our responsibility to give them a path to do so.
Standing Tall’s mission is help its students build bridges to actively participate in the world so that they may:
Standing Tall’s vision is to be a center of excellence for the education of non-verbal students with physical impairments, as well as a much needed resource for families and communities.
Since 1997, with the help of education, medical, and therapeutic experts, we have put in place a program that provides a path of true communication and learning to students that would otherwise have stayed locked within forever.
Unlike other programs, our students spend half the school day outside of their wheelchairs. Not only is this good for their respiratory health and orthopedic function, it gives them a way to discover power in their own body. This affects their sense of confidence, identification of self, and power of choice.
Our holistic approach, that blends the strengthening of the body, plus our innovative approach to helping students find access to communication, has given 100% of our students in the program for at least one year, the ability to communicate. We consider this level of success profound; especially when many in the past might have said these same children would never communicate.
Yet this is only the beginning. Communication is the first important step to new levels of independence and potential. Our students are exploring avenues never before thought possible.

