League for People with Disabilities Merges with Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement

BALTIMORE, MD – December 1, 2014 -- The League for People with Disabilities (The League) and The Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement (SCALE) are proud to announce a merger, which took effect last month. Now known as “SCALE at The League”, SCALE will become a new division of The League’s cutting edge programs and services for individuals with disabilities.

The merger will allow each organization the opportunity to pool talent and resources to more effectively improve the quality of life for people living with aphasia, a language disorder that impairs the expression and understanding of spoken language, reading and writing. It occurs most often from a stroke or brain injury. This frustrating condition affects a person’s ability to communicate, but does not affect his or her intellect.

“This is an important development for the Baltimore metropolitan community because it brings together and strengthens two visionary community-focused non-profits,” says David A. Greenberg, CEO of The League. “We are extremely fortunate to add SCALE’s pioneering staff to The League leadership team, and we look forward to unifying our efforts in reaching out to the thousands of underserved individuals with aphasia and their families in the metropolitan area.”

SCALE’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people living with aphasia and their families. It is one of 19 aphasia centers in North America and the only center in Maryland using the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia model (LPAA). The LPAA is based on the latest research on aphasia treatments and has had unprecedented success in providing long-term support combining interactive therapeutic group therapy with cutting-edge soft and hardware that can dramatically increase patients’ capacity for reading, speaking and online communications.

SCALE will continue to be led by Co-founder and Director, Denise McCall, and Assistant Director, Lisa Thornburg. “While SCALE and The League are already recognized throughout the region for quality programs and client satisfaction, our collaboration will lead to even higher quality, and improved services and efficiencies for our members and participants as we meet the challenges of today’s economy, “ states Denise McCall.

SCALE will continue to operate out of its state-of-the-art facility at 5910 York Rd. in Baltimore. The fully accessible center, designed by Sean Mackey, an architect with aphasia, includes a great room, classrooms, a computer lab, media center, art studio, greenhouse and a resource library.

The mission of The League for People with Disabilities is to offer individuals the opportunity to gain independence, increase self-sufficiency, and improve quality of life. Founded in Baltimore in 1927, The League currently serves nearly 2,000 children and adults by providing a wide range of programs and services to help them achieve their highest level of independence. More information is available at http://www.leagueforpeople.org or http://www.scalebaltimore.org. or by calling (410) 323-0500.

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