News

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).