Message from the clinic director

Working with people who stutter and people who wish to enhance their communication abilities is incredibly rewarding and I am thrilled to celebrate their success with you in this newsletter. As well, we are releasing our annual newsletter to coincide with International Stuttering Awareness Day on October 22, 2024.  

Our mission to provide effective stuttering therapy to people of all ages, train speech-language pathology students and clinicians to deliver stuttering treatment, conduct research studies into the cause and nature of stuttering and inform the public about stuttering is our driving force every day.

This past year we treated 370 children, teens and adults and trained 79 students and clinicians: 12 students, 12 in CSP or group sessions, 55 in 1to1 Rehab. Other notable events included launching a new maintenance program, Triple R for Teens. This program was unique in that it was delivered by an ISTAR clinician and the therapy was supported by two former clients who generously volunteered their time for social communication and shared their perspective with our wonderful teens who attended. We also welcomed several international clients who made the long journey from Australia, Norway and the United States to attend our intensive clinics.  

In addition, ISTAR clinicians conducted workshops to share our knowledge about stuttering therapy to a large group of clinicians who practice in Ontario and we delivered webinars and presentations which reached a large national audience of speech-language pathologists. Our training clinics continue to be well sought after and this year ISTAR clinicians trained speech-language pathology students from the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto and Western University. 

We also extended a hearty congratulations to our Elks clinician, Jessica Harasym O’Byrne, for completing her PhD in rehabilitation science. Jessica has been a member of our team for 16 years and her knowledge about stuttering and her contributions to research have been and will continue to be valuable contributions to our understanding of the cause and nature of stuttering. 

We continue to be blessed with receiving generous donations from: the Elks of Canada Lodges, the Alberta Elks Foundation, the Canadian Royal Purple Lodges, the Elks & Royal Purple Fund for Children, our endowment grants and compassionate individual donors. These donations help to provide financial assistance to our clients who are in need and without them many clients would not be able to receive life-changing therapy. I also want to acknowledge the members of these groups who are no longer with us but who have enriched our lives and the lives of our clients with their steadfast support for our cause. You are missed.

Reaching out to our community to share information about stuttering and build awareness about our programs at presentations, at university booths during Speech and Hearing Month in May and on International Stuttering Awareness Day was a wonderful way to engage our clients, staff and volunteers to live our mission of promoting public awareness about stuttering. 

Our most heartfelt thanks to all who support ISTAR whether it is through donations, serving on our ISTAR Foundation board, volunteering to be practice partners and audience members and especially those of you who choose ISTAR for your therapy needs. 

Please enjoy these stories and join us in celebrating International Stuttering Awareness Day! 

All the best,

Holly Lomheim, MSLP, R.SLP, S-LP (C)
Clinic Director, Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research

Message from the ISTAR Foundation chair

Don was a member of the Elks and sat on the ISTAR Foundation Board for several years. I had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with Don several times. Betty was a wonderful person and a loyal supporter of ISTAR from the very start of our work. Both of these wonderful individuals have been part of the ISTAR journey over the decades. Rest in peace Don and Betty, we all miss you.

I would like to express my appreciation to ISTAR’s staff and clinicians for their exceptional dedication in providing our clients with outstanding care. Over some challenging times, they have come together, formed new teams, embraced new ways of working and laid the foundation for the realization of ISTAR’s vision.

Going forward, ISTAR’s commitment to the people it serves is unwavering. Our culture of resiliency and inclusion has room to grow and our dedication to the values of respect, excellence and compassion is hardwired across clinicians, staff, volunteers and each of the board members.

I look forward with confidence and optimism to future journeys together, thanks to the long-standing relationships and the ongoing trust of our friends, partners and the Faculty of Rehabilitation, University of Alberta.

The ISTAR Foundation serves to support ISTAR in its endeavours by helping to grow awareness of their work and to help fundraise to support client care. Please continue to support ISTAR and the Foundation so that a child, teen or adult can share their stories.

Dr. Anwar Haq
Chair, ISTAR Foundation Board

ISTAR stats for 2023-24

At a glance

In 2023-24, ISTAR served 370 clients and of those 92 were helped in part by ICAP donor-supported funds.

ISTAR trained 12 SLP students in student placements and 67 practising SLPs in partner workshops.

Scholarship recipients

ISTAR is pleased to congratulate the following recipients of scholarships issued from the Alberta Elks Foundation for the 2023-24 year.

We wish each of them the best in their future studies and clinical practice or research!

The Deborah Kully/Alberta Elks Foundation Scholarship

Research news

Speaking through art: PhD grad finds new ways for concussion patients to express themselves

Speech-language pathologist Jessica Harasym’s groundbreaking doctoral research merges arts-based research with rehabilitation science to reveal how young people navigate communication changes after concussion.

Publications

Loucks, T. M. & Aalto, D. (2024 – eprint). Speech onset kinematics predict sentence level variability in adults who stutter. International Seminar on Speech Production.

Swift, M.C., Langevin, M. (2024 pre-print). A theory building critical realist evaluation of an integrated cognitive-behavioural fluency enhancing stuttering treatment for school-age children. Part 1: Development of a preliminary program theory from expert speech-language pathologist data. Journal of Fluency Disorders

Harasym, J.A., Gross, D.P., MacLeod, A.A.N. & Phelan, S.K. (2024) ‘Do it afraid’: An arts-based reflexive collective case study exploring youth responses to post-concussion communication changes in daily life. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.13082

Harasym, J. A., Gross, D. P., MacLeod, A. A. N., & Phelan, S. K. (2024). “This Is a Look Into My Life”: Enhancing Qualitative Inquiry Into Communication Through Arts-Based Research Methods. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241232603

Invited conference presentations / oral presentations

Cummine, J., Alsaigh, D., Hassani, T., Holmes, M., Cheema, K., Huynh, T., Saju, S., Ostevik, A., Loucks, T. M., & Aalto, D., (Submitted). Exploring the functional connectivity of the IFG, STG and FFG in overt vs. covert speech production: An fNIRS approach. 2025 Conference of The Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science. Edmonton, Canada.

Harasym, J. (May, 2024). “Support Me, Believe Me”: Youth Experiences Navigating Communication Changes Following Concussion and Implications for Speech-Language Pathologists. Speech-Language Audiology Canada 2024 Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia.

Posters

Loucks, T. M., Gurevich, N., & Aalto, D. (Accepted for November 2024). Speech onset kinematics are influenced by speaking style and treatment. ASHA 2024 Convention, Seattle, WA.

Dubauskas, J., Mangat, A., Campbell, R., Briggs, B., Taikh, A., & Loucks, T. (June 2024). The influence of linguistic complexity of speech disfluencies in people who stutter. 2nd CUE Annual Research & Innovation Conference, Edmonton, AB. Canada. AB.

Loucks, T. M. & Aalto, D. (May 2024). Speech onset kinematics predict sentence level variability in adults who stutter. International Seminar on Speech Production, April Meeting 2024, Autrans, France.

Cummine, J., Alsaigh, D., Hasanni, T., Holmes, M., Cheema, K., Ostevik, A., Huynh, T., Saju, S., Loucks, T. M., Aalto, D. (October 2023). Differentiation of the role of the IFG & STG in overt and covert speech using FNIRS. Society for the Neurobiology of Language. Marseilles, France.

Holly Lomheim's retirement

Retirement messages

After a rewarding and fulfilling 30-year career, Holly has announced that she will retire at the end of 2024. Holly's impact on the growth and success of ISTAR has been instrumental in so many ways. If you were one of the many clients, students, or professionals who were impacted by Holly we invite you to share a retirement message with her. 

Retirement open house

We will be holding an informal open house event in Holly's honour on Friday Nov. 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. in Edmonton. If you'll be in town and would like information on how to attend, please RSVP. 

ISTAR Foundation and staff

2024 ISTAR Foundation members in alphabetical order:

• Darren Abbott
• Al Gummesen (incoming Elks representative)
• Anwar Haq (chair)
• Erin Johnson (vice-chair)
• Shamez Kassam
• Nazir Kassamali (treasurer)
• Heather McLeod (previous Elks representative)

ISTAR staff

Thank you to our ISTAR staff clinicians and administrators:

• Holly Lomheim
• Jessica Harasym O'Byrne
• Ashley Saunders
• Bethany Drzewiecki (Calgary clinician)
• Spenser Halfyard
• Erin Dodd
• Kiera Hughes (Calgary clinician)
• Amanda Strang (Calgary clinician)
• Marlo DeVouge, Camryn Konowalyk and Crystal (administrative assistants)

Thank you to the ISTAR team; we are very proud of the support you provide to all our client families. Special thanks to the clinicians who have supported ISTAR for years and are now taking that experience to their next role whether as a new parent or in your new location. Thank you Bethany Drzewiecki, Erin Dodd and Spenser Halfyard. Seeing your experience grow over the years has been our privilege.

A warm welcome as well to new Calgary office clincian Amanda Strang; you have already proved yourself invaluable in working with our team. Amanda is filling a maternity leave position as Kiera Hughes and her husband welcomed a new baby boy in June.

Poster contest

In honour of International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD), held each year on October 22nd, we asked for poster submissions to raise awareness.

It was difficult to select the top submissions, but the ISTAR Foundation selected Karise E. as winner for the under-12 age group and Ayah B. as winner for the teen age group.

Workshops

List of workshops, presentations and training sessions during Fiscal 2023-24

• Associated Speech Consultants Ltd. (Saskatchewan) one-day training on Fluency Assessment and Treatment, held in April 2023
• Comprehensive Stuttering Program (CSP) two-day training, held online in August 2023
• 1to1 Rehab (Ontario) two sessions on "Treating Covert Aspects of Stuttering in school-aged children" held in February 2024
• Mentoring to SLPs in BC and Alberta
• Conducted Effective Communication Workshops for a local business, as well as Executive Coaching and delivered Accent Modification workshops in April to June 2023

How to donate

TO US, EVERY VOICE MATTERS

Most of us think that talking on the phone, ordering our own food and saying our own name are all relatively simple tasks everyone does on a daily basis.

However, for nearly 300,000 Canadians, this is not a reality. Individuals who stutter or are experiencing communication challenges struggle to use their voices each and every day. The Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (ISTAR) can help.

ISTAR offers specialized treatment to children, teens and adults who stutter. In addition, ISTAR conducts research into stuttering and offers advanced professional training for speech-pathology students and clinicians while also raising awareness about stuttering and its treatment.

ISTAR is committed to ensuring that people who stutter are aware of treatment options and have an opportunity to receive the treatment they need.
 

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Help more people who stutter find their voices today. 

Or contact:
Shannon De'Aeth, Assistant Dean Development
780-492-3771, sdeaeth@ualberta.ca