Some Stutter, Luh!

For our special Valentine's day episode, we are welcoming back Carolina Ayala, who is joined by her partner Sang! 

Carolina and Sang are a long distance couple from two different cultures, living in different North American cities. Carolina, an extrovert who lives in Toronto and working as a Community Support Worker supporting people with disabilities. Sang, an introvert who works as an IT Tech living in New York City. They are both foodies at heart that share common interests such as  being curious and enthusiastic to explore the world together and challenge each other along the way. They are sometimes opposites who attract. But they are definitely 2 stuttering peas in a pod! Sang and Carolina share with us what dating is like as a person who stutters. They chat about stuttering brought them together, and the best parts about being in a relationship with another PWS! 

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Katelyn Mayo, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Luca Dinu, Dr. Paul De Decker, Greg O'Grady 

Today, Greg and Katelyn are chatting with Dr. David Luterman! 

Dr. Luterman is an audiologist who has made incredible contributions to the fields of both audiology and speech-language pathology with his research and publications about counselling for people with communication disorders. Dr. Luterman has a long list of achievements, some of which he discussed with us throughout the podcast. During the interview, Dr. Luterman explains a little about his primary area of interest, counselling for families of hearing impaired children, but also talks about his work with stuttering and communication disorders more broadly. The three discuss the emotional components of communication disorders, and the need for this to be better addressed. David and Katelyn chat about why the field is lacking when it comes to counselling, and why it would be beneficial for students and clinicians to receive more counselling training. David gives advice for communicating difficult information to clients and their families, while especially emphasizing the role of the parents in these situations. David also talks about his work with support groups, and he and Greg discuss the importance of support groups for people with communication disorders, as well as for their families and loved ones. 

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Katelyn Mayo, Luca Dinu, Dr. Paul De Decker, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Greg O'Grady

On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn are speaking with Martha Horrocks! 

Martha, also known as @martha_speech on instagram, is a Maine-based S-LP. She is the owner of Martha Speech & Stuttering Therapy, a private practice providing speech/language teletherapy for school-age children. Martha is passionate about stuttering, and shares the latest research, treatment ideas, and resources with people who stutter, speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents on her Instagram page! Martha also specializes in teletherapy and creates interactive, digital activities to support therapy sessions. Prior to becoming a SLP, Martha received two other MEds (in Elementary Education and Special Education), and worked as a special educator. Throughout this interview, Martha shares her journey towards Speech-Language Pathology and speaks about her interest in stuttering. Martha gave us an interesting look into treating young people and children who stutter. We discussed the emotional component of stuttering and the importance of addressing this in therapy. Katelyn and Martha discussed why they think some S-LPs shy away from stuttering.

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Dr. Paul De Decker, Katelyn Mayo, Greg O'Grady, Luca Dinu, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy

Today, Greg and Katelyn are speaking with Paige Smith! 

Paige is a person who stutters and has spent her adult years focusing on accepting her stutter and turning it into something more positive! Paige started the "The Happy Stutterer Mindset" coaching program, which she says guides you through the emotional healing process, allowing you to gain speaking confidence from the inside-out. Throughout the interview, Paige tells us about how this program started and what it entails. She explains the success she's seen from this program, and how important gaining confidence can be for everyone. Paige shares some of her own struggles that led her to this point, and shares some of the things that helped her most along the way, including a poignant story about why she decided to change her name. All three discuss the heavy emotions that accompany stuttering and the need to address those emotions and learn to live and be happy and confident, despite your stutter. 

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Luca Dinu, Katelyn Mayo, Greg O'Grady, Dr. Paul De Decker

Today Greg and Katelyn are chatting with Dr. Rachel Goldenberg, one of Katelyn's classmates! 

Dr. Rachel Goldenberg is a leading authority in singing and lung disease. Dr. Goldenberg’s doctoral dissertation focused on the use of singing lessons as an adjunctive airway clearance technique for cystic fibrosis and her article, “Singing for Respiratory Health: A Literature Review” was published in 2018 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Voice. As an active and trained singing voice specialist, she frequently assists injured singers, actors and other voice users referred to her from medical professionals and the voice community. Dr. Goldenberg received her Doctor of Musical Arts in vocal pedagogy from Shenandoah University and also holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in voice performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She previously taught voice, speech and pedagogy at Ambrose University and maintained a private voice studio in her native Calgary. Recently she has focused her work on helping people with lung disease to better coordinate their breath with the voice through individual lessons and the “Breathe, Sing, Move!” program created at Breathe Well Physio in Calgary.  

During our interview, Rachel told us about the “Breathe, Speak, Pace” voice skills program for people experiencing long-COVID. Rachel talked a lot about how she teaches breath training and breathing skills, and her and Greg discuss the importance of breath in stuttering management. Rachel explains why she was drawn to Speech-Language Pathology and what inspired her to continue to pursue her education. Throughout the interview, all three discuss the importance of music, and how singing can be beneficial in many ways, including in stuttering treatment. Rachel also talks about acceptance when living with a chronic condition, and explains the parallel she has seen between those with chronic lung disease and the experience of stuttering. Finally, Rachel gives some words of wisdom to Katelyn, her classmates, and any other students listening to the podcast! 

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Katelyn Mayo, Luca Dinu, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Greg O'Grady, Dr. Paul De Decker

Our first interview of 2022 and our first group interview! Today, Greg and Katelyn are chatting with Wendy, Dan, and Robert of Tightrope Improv Theatre!

Tightrope Improv a company specializing in the art of improvisation. This company, based in British Columbia, partners with Columbia Speech and Language Services Inc. to provide improv classes for people who stutter. Tightrope will bring the fundamentals of improv to support participants to speak with confidence by focusing on presence & saying yes, cultivating laughter, and celebrating mistakes. Throughout our interview we spoke with the Tightrope team members Dan (Director of Work and Wellness), Wendy Duke (Speech Language Pathologist and founder of Columbia Speech and Language Services Inc), and Robert O’Brien (Author, Educator, trained actor, and PWS). The team talked about the benefits participants of these Improv workshops have experienced and share how these workshops came to be. Katelyn and Wendy have conversations about speech-language pathology, Dan shares about his experiences with improv and what exactly improv entails, and Robert & Greg discuss some personal experiences as people who stutter. All three offer some interesting perspectives and discussions, and we are so lucky to have had the chance to speak with them!

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Greg O'Grady, Katelyn Mayo, Luca Dinu, Emily Murphey, Melanie Crane, Dr. Paul De Decker

On today's episode, we are welcoming Mary Wood! 

Mary is a person who stutters and has had lots of experiences throughout her life to share with us on this topic! Mary talks about her experiences in speech therapy, and her experiences in support groups. All three discuss the importance of support group for people who stutter. Mary gives advice for future clinicians, as well as the future generation of people who stutter. Throughout the episode, Mary offers wisdom and provides inspiration and motivation in her stories and experiences!  

Today, Greg and Katelyn are speaking with Dr. Ronan Miller! 

Ronan is a person who stutters, an English foreign language teacher, and worked on his PhD at the University of Valencia. His research looks into the experiences of students who stutter in foreign language classes. He is also a member of the team that is developing the app BeneTalk, which is an app for people who stutter. He considers himself a stuttering advocate and enjoys talking about stuttering in an open and honest way, which is what he shared with us throughout the episode! He also shared some insights into stuttering in bilingual/multilingual individuals and discussed some points from his research!

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Katelyn Mayo, Luca Dinu, Greg O'Grady, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Dr. Paul De Decker

Today, Greg and Katelyn are welcoming Dr. Mark Onslow! 

Dr. Onslow is the Foundation Director of the Australian Stuttering Research Centre. His research interests are the epidemiology of early stuttering, mental health of those who stutter, measurement of stuttering, and the nature and treatment of stuttering. Mark is also a member of the international Lidcombe Program Trainers Consortium. Throughout the interview, Mark explains what the Lidcombe Program is, and discusses some special considerations for treating young people who stutter. All three talk about the emotional component of stuttering and the relationship between stuttering and mental health. Further, they talk about addressing feelings and attitudes surrounding stuttering with children, and how to best intervene early and mediate the negative effects stuttering may have on mental health in the future.

Music: Luca Dinu

Production Team: Katelyn Mayo, Luca Dinu, Melanie Crane, Emily Murphy, Greg O'Grady, Dr. Paul De Decker