Message from the Clinic Director
We are thrilled to share these stories and updates about the work that the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research has done over the year. We thought it fitting that our newsletter should be released on International Stuttering Awareness Day, Oct. 22!
After 36 years of providing stuttering therapy to people of all ages, training countless keen and caring speech-language pathology clinicians, conducting research of stuttering and acting as ambassadors for stuttering to the public at large, ISTAR continues to live our mission every day.
In 2022, we settled into our new Edmonton offices at Corbett Hall for the first time since the pandemic. We welcomed our clients back to our offices for portions of our summer programs including the adult, teen and children’s intensives, refreshers and camps. What a pleasure to interact with clients, students, colleagues, volunteers and donors once again in person! Having said that, virtual care was truly a blessing. We have been able to see clients without interruption since the start of the pandemic. Virtual care has become more accessible and we have found that it is an effective option for service delivery for our clients who need that flexibility. We are pleased to continue to offer virtual and in-person therapy options into the future.
This year, we are privileged to have Her Honour, the Honourable Salma Lakhani, AOE B.Sc., LLD (hon) Lieutenant Governor of Alberta as our honorary patron. We are tremendously grateful that she accepted our invitation as patron and our January 2022 clinic final speech event was enriched by her presence and inspiring words.
ISTAR clinicians were busy this year training SLP students from the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto and Western University as well as training clinicians from Alberta Health Services and from British Columbia. We worked collaboratively with our SLP colleagues doing research and we treated 396 children, teens and adults.
We received generous donations from the Elks of Canada Lodges, the Alberta Elks Foundation, the Royal Purple Lodges, the Elks & Royal Purple Fund for Children, the Realtors Community Foundation, our Endowment Grants, the Malcolm Fraser Foundation and individual donors. We dedicate this newsletter to all of you who support ISTAR by donating monies to our Client Assistant Funds, volunteering your time, attending therapy sessions and believing in our cause. Every Voice Matters and you have made that possible!
Best wishes,
Holly Lomheim, MSLP, R.SLP, S-LP (C)
Clinic Director
Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research
Message from the ISTAR Foundation Chair
My name is Dr. Anwar Haq and I have the honour of chairing the Foundation of the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (ISTAR Foundation) board of directors. With the vision to support transforming the lives of those who stutter or have other communication disorders, we raise awareness and resources to support ISTAR as a globally recognized centre for research and treatment of stuttering and other communication challenges.
As I write this message, ISTAR is 36 years old.
For the past six years I have intersected with ISTAR professionally, personally and at a communal level. I am so delighted to say that ISTAR, its people and the communities it serves impressed me so much at all three levels of interactions that I had good reason to serve first as one of the directors and now as the Chair.
Despite COVID-19 and its limitations, neither our clinicians nor the board members slowed in any way. Despite not being able to plan our annual fundraising event, our board continued its community engagement work to promote ISTAR. One of the major highlights was inviting Her Honour, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Dr. Salma Lakhani to be ISTAR's honorary patron. It was such an honour when she attended one of our final speeches. Despite the fact that the event was conducted online, excitement and emotions were prominent.
None of this work is possible without dedicated support and commitment from the members of the ISTAR Foundation (alphabetically): Lars Christensen, Erin Johnson (Vice-Chair), Shamez Kassam, Nazir Kassamali (Treasurer), Heather McLeod (Elks representative) and Michael Niven. Thank you for what you do! Biographies of each member can be found online by visiting istar.ualberta.ca, navigating to ‘About Us’, then clicking ‘Foundation of ISTAR.'
Every voice matters to us and we transform lives by giving people a voice. We are indebted to our donors for being part of this transformational journey – thank you! This message won’t be complete without recognizing the steadfast support of the Elks and Royal Purple, who have been partners and friends of ISTAR since its birth 36 years ago. We recognize your contributions from the core of our hearts.
Please continue to support ISTAR and the Foundation so that children, teens and adults can share their stories.
STAR Donor
John Carnegie attended the ISTAR three-week intensive program. Photo supplied.
Lifelong stutterer makes tremendous progress, becomes a donor to help others access program
John Carnegie overcame his fear of speaking at work and on the phone through the three-week intensive program at ISTAR.
For as long as he could remember, John Carnegie had a stutter.
It was on his mind every day throughout his life. For the first two years of high school, he only had a few friends and would often fake sick to get out of presentations.
At work, he was known as the quiet one in meetings. The thought of stuttering in front of a group was paralyzing. As a civil engineer in the Northwest Territories, he preferred to take on jobs that required little interaction with others, often on remote highways.
Carnegie knew his stutter was holding him back in his career.
STAR Client
Persistence pays off for family that received Elks funding
Yahya Qazi is a confident young teen who loves to play Fortnite. In his free time, he is either playing Fortnite, editing Fortnite montages for his Youtube channel, or playing outside. He likes going to the movies with his friends and playing basketball, with hopes of one day playing for the NBA.
STAR Patron
ISTAR honorary patron
ISTAR is very proud to announce that the Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta has accepted the ISTAR Foundation's invitation to become our new honorary patron. We wish to thank her for her dedication to supporting individuals who face barriers in their life. We believe that this includes people who face communication challenges such as stuttering.
Her Honour attended one of ISTAR’s client-final speech events in January 2022 and shared encouraging words before and after the client speakers. She encouraged them to “use the skills you acquired at ISTAR to empower your words and ideas,” adding that it was “a moving and very, very inspiring morning.”
2021-2022 At a Glance
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. ISTAR can help.
The Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (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.
Scholarship Recipients
ISTAR is pleased to congratulate the following recipients of scholarships issued from the Alberta Elks Foundation for the 2021-22 year. We wish each of these University of Alberta students the best in their future studies and clinical practice or research!
Anakate Dueck and Melina Sinclair: Deborah Kully/Alberta Elks Foundation Scholarship
Bailey Oleksyn: Einer Boberg/Alberta Elks Foundation Memorial Graduate Award in Stuttering Treatment and Research. The Einer Boberg Award is awarded annually to students in speech-language pathology who have completed a practicum at ISTAR and demonstrated strong clinical skills with an interest in the area of stuttering treatment, along with a research interest in the area of stuttering.
Madison Sader: Deborah Kully Scholarship in Stuttering Treatment and Research through FGSR in 2021-22
Research News
Speech kinematic variability in adults who stutter is influenced by treatment and speaking style
Loucks TM, Pelczarski KM, Lomheim H, Aalto D.
J Commun Disord. 2022 Mar-Apr;96:106194. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106194. Epub 2022 Feb 2.
PMID: 35134668
ISTAR and partner researchers demonstrated that completion of the Comprehensive Stuttering Program (CSP) is associated with a reduction in speech kinematic variability relative to pre-treatment when adults who stutter (AWS) use a casual speaking manner or fluency skills. This positive change means the speech articulation of adults who stutter becomes more stable after treatment and is associated with the overall improvements in fluency that follow completion of the CSP.
Connery A, Yaruss JS, Lomheim H, Loucks TM, Galvin R, McCurtin A.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2022 Jan;57(1):112-127. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12680. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
PMID: 34818457
This research study aimed to build consensus and prioritize the core components of intervention for adults who stutter.
It includes reviews on stuttering-intervention effectiveness and the lived experience of stuttering, and results of interviews with global expert clinicians and academics in the field of stuttering.
The study, A Retrospective and Prospective Comparison of Stuttering Treatment Approaches has completed preliminary data collection, and is close to completion. Study continues but preliminary results show positive outcomes.
Workshops
ISTAR delivered the following workshops, presentations and training sessions during fiscal 2021-22.
- "Fluency Workshop for Alberta Health Service Speech-Language Pathologists," February 2021 through March 2022 with AHS (Alberta Health Services)
- Effective Business Communication Workshop, April 2021
- Holly Lomheim participated in the Canadian Stuttering Association panel "Speech Therapy from Both Sides of the Table," May 30, 2021
- Holly Lomheim presented to the National Charity The Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children, May 2021
ISTAR staff
Thank you to our ISTAR staff clinicians and administrators:
- Jessica Harasym O'Byrne
- Erin Dodd
- Ashley Saunders
- Holly Lomheim
- Bethany Drzewiecki - Calgary Clinician
- Administrative Assistants - Marlo DeVouge and Crystal
How to donate
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Help more people who stutter find their voices today. Donate here.
OR CONTACT
John Voyer, Assistant Dean, Development
780-248-5781 I jvoyer@ualberta.ca.
