News
November 2024
- Caitlin Cain successfully defended her Master's Thesis titled, "Acquired Dysarthria and Dysphagia in Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury."
- Ramey Yost successfully defended her undergraduate Honors Thesis titled, "Respiratory Coordination for Speech in Cerebellar Ataxia."
- Karis Lowe successfully defended her undergraduate Honors Thesis titled, "Analyzing Speech Characteristics of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Subtype 3 and Subtype 6."
July 2024
- Dr. Allison Hilger, Amanda Sebestyen, and Holly Kleiber published a case report titled "Benefits of LSVT LOUD in a multilingual patient with hypokinetic-hyperkinetic dysarthria and suspected progressive supranuclear palsy." To access the article, follow this link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/rehabilitation-sciences/articles/10.3389/fresc.2024.1421730/full.
April 2024
- Dr. Allison Hilger received a 2024 National Ataxia Foundation (NAF) research grant for $50,000 to study Respiratory Incoordination as a Driving Mechanism in Ataxic Dysarthria.
- Ramey Yost was awarded a grant from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) for the 2024-2025 school year to study breath control in ataxia.
- Karis Lowe was awarded a grant from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) for the 2024-2025 school year to study speech characteristics of spinocerebellar ataxia subtype 3 and subtype 6.
April 2023
- Dr. Allison Hilger was an invited speaker at the Annual Ataxia Conference in Las Vegas, NV. She presented on speech and swallowing impairments in ataxia. Watch the talk here!
- Dr. Hilger received the University of Colorado's Research and Innovation Office research grant with CU Boulder linguists Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan and Dr. Rebecca Scarborough for $50,000 to study how mothers talk with their children with autism.
February 2023
- Jacqueline McCurdy successfully defended her Master's Thesis on aerosol generation from speech production. Congrats Jacqueline!
December 2022
- Melanie Esver successfully defended her Master's Thesis on syntax in ataxic dysarthria. Congrats Melanie!
November 2022
- Kylie Dunne-Platero and Caitlin Cloud presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conference on using the Colorado Motor Speech Framework to assess dysarthria and apraxia of speech.
- Melanie Esver and Caitlin Cloud presented on syntax in ataxic dysarthria at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conference.
May 2022
- Mandy Sebestyen won the Outstanding Graduate Student award in the MA-SLP program.
March 2022
- Allison Hilger received the University of Colorado's Research and Innovation Seed Grant for $50,000 to study aerosol generation from speech production. This project is in collaboration with Drs. Shelly Miller and Sarah Clark. Follow project updates here: Acoustic Speech Characteristics of Aerosol Generation.
February 2022
- Kylie Dunne-Platero presented "Impact of speech naturalness, intelligibility, and referral to speech therapy on quality of life in cerebellar ataxia" (co-authors: Taylor Fahey, Melanie Esver, and Allison Hilger) at the Conference for Motor Speech in Charleson, SC.
- Taylor Fahey and Allison Hilger presented "Impact of manual American Sign Language parameters on intelligibility" at the Conference for Motor Speech in Charleson, SC.
November 2021
- Dr. Hilger and Caitlin Cloud presented "Cerebellar Injury, Speech, and Quality of Life: Considerations for Comprehensive Care" at the Brain Injury Symposium in Colorado Springs, CO.
- FIVE presentations by CO Motor Speech Lab at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Conference in Washington D.C.!
- Mandy Sebestyan, Holly Kleiber, and Dr. Hilger presented a virtual talk, "Efficacy of LSVT in Multilingual Patients with Hypokinetic Dysarthria and Comorbid Unspecified Dementia."
- Kylie Dunne-Platero and Dr. Hilger presented a virtual talk, "Living with Ataxic Dysarthria: Quality of Life Implications for Clinical Evaluation and Intervention."
- Caitlin Cloud and Dr. Hilger presented, "Pure & Mixed Dysarthria Subtypes in Cerebellar Ataxia."
- Melanie Esver and Dr. Hilger presented, "Receptive Prosody in Cerebellar Ataxia."
- Dr. Hilger and Caroline Spencer presented, "Characteristics of Speech in Ataxia and Implications for Speech Therapy."
October 2021
- Dr. Hilger and Caitlin Cloud presented, "Determining When Speech Therapy is Appropriate for Clients with Ataxia" at the Colorado Speech Hearing Association Conference in Denver, CO.
- Kylie Dunne-Platero was awarded the ASHA Distinguished Early Career Professional (ECP) Certificate.
September 2021
- Dr. Hilger and Tehya Stockman were invited to present at the National Federation of State High School Associations Performing Arts Conference on aerosol research in performing arts.
July 2021
- The CO Motor Speech Lab finished data collection for a survey study on speech therapy in ataxia.
June 2021
- Our lab speech-language pathologist, Kylie Dunne-Platero, received her certificate of clinical competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
- Caitlin Cloud presented her poster titled “The Contribution of Pitch and Loudness Control to Speech Naturalness in Ataxia” at the Boston Speech Motor Control Symposium.
- Dr. Hilger led a round table discussion with Dr. Kristen Allison at the Boston Speech Motor Control Symposium on assessment and treatment for dysarthria.
- Dr. Hilger presented “Experiential Learning of Categorical Perception” at the Acoustics in Focus Conference through the Acoustical Society of America.
May 2021
- Dr. Hilger was interviewed with Dr. Timo Roettger for the podcast Learning Bayesian Statistics.
- Taylor Fahey received the Jacob Van Ek Scholarship for her academic achievement and contribution to the community.
- Caitlin Cloud received the MA-SLP Student of the Year Award for her outstanding work academically and clinically, as the president of the CO NSSHLA branch, as a leader in the department’s cultural competency book club, and in her research.
March 2021
- The CO Motor Speech Lab was one of the highest fundraising teams for the rideAtaxia fundraiser.
January 2021
- Dr. Hilger published a paper with Rosemary Lester-Smith, Jason Kim, Chun-Liang Chan, and Charles Larson titled “Auditory-Motor Control of Fundamental Frequency in Vocal Vibrato”
December 2020
- Dr. Hilger was interviewed for Lifewire Magazine on a new Google app for AAC (augmentative and alternative communication).