Some Stutter, Luh!

On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn welcome Jordi Fernandez! 

Jordi is originally from Spain but lives in the UK. He studied mechanical engineering, but moved to UK in 2007 to work as a subsea engineer. Then, after working for 10 years designing subsea structures for deepwater projects for the oil & gas,  Jordi decided to quit to build the app BeneTalk. Jordi tells us about the ideas behind BeneTalk and how his experiences as a person who stutters in life and in speech therapy inspired the app. Jordi compared the app to a 'fitness tracker', where you can track progress! Jordi spoke with us about the goal of the app, which he hopes will be able to help those already in therapy maintain their skills and improve their mental health, as well as providing speech therapy techniques for this who stutter but may not have access to treatment and therapy. Jordi and his team have created a wonderful app, and you can find more info at their website https://www.benetalk.com/.

Music: Luca Dinu

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

On today’s episode, Greg and Katelyn are welcoming back Ryan Cowley! 

Ryan was our very first guest on SSL! and is back again to chat with us about his new book "All THE RIGHT WORDS, My Journey as a Sportswriter Who Stutters." Ryan’s book is a remarkable and inspirational work, a must read. Thank you Ryan for sharing your story, both in your writing and on our podcast! 

Music: Luca Dinu

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

On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn are chatting with John Paskievich! 

John is a filmmaker and person who stutters living in Manitoba. John produced the film Unspeakable, which examines the nature, history and treatment of stuttering. Paskievich says that "the film is a call for liberation, not from stuttering, but from the ignorance and stigma that surround it". Throughout this interview, John talks about Unspeakable and his experiences being a filmmaker who stutters. He also shares many stories about his life in general as a person who stutters and talks about working towards accepting his stutter. He talks about the emotional component of stuttering, the impact that it has had on his life, and some of the ways stuttering has presented him with difficulties throughout his life. Despite these obstacles, we can see that John has pushed through and made a name for himself as a successful filmmaker!

Music: Luca Dinu

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

On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn are chatting with a very exciting guest, Eddie Läck! 

Eddie is a Swedish-born hockey player, and a former NHL goaltender. He spent many years playing hockey professionally before retiring due to an injury, and shifting his focus to both coaching and working in real estate. Something many hockey fans don't know about Eddie is that he is also a person who stutters. Throughout the interview, Eddie shares a little bit about what it was like to be a person who stutters in the public eye, and recalls some of the negative comments he received as a result. He speaks about learning to accept his stutter and about being open with his stuttering in the NHL, in the sports industry, and in life. All three discuss the importance of having positive role models for people who stutter, and Eddie shares a special story about a young fan who reached out to him because of his stutter! 

Music: Luca Dinu

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

On this episode, we are very excited to be chatting with our friend, Laura Tulk! 

Laura is currently in her second year at the University of Toronto studying Speech-Language Pathology and has been a long time supporter of SSL! She has been an active advocate for stuttering awareness in Newfoundland, which we discuss together throughout this episode. In 2020, Laura created the documentary "Getting the Words Out" in collaboration with the Newfoundland and Labrador Stuttering Association to help dispel stuttering stereotypes and increase public awareness and understanding of stuttering. She is also a member of the NLSA Collaborative research group and has worked with fluency clients in her placements as an SLP students. Laura shares details about these experiences and the impact they have had on her and the stuttering community. Laura and Katelyn talk about the importance of understanding the emotional component of stuttering as future clinicians working in the area of fluency disorders. Laura shares what it was like to complete her first year of graduate school online and gives lots of thoughtful and insightful advice & tips for future SLP students going into their first year or working on grad school applications! 

Music: Luca Dinu

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

On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn are chatting with Brad Glynn. 

Brad is the executive director of CHANNEL, is a registered charity created by and for individuals living with mental health and addictions issues. Brad, himself, has experienced mental health challenges, as well as injuries, which led to the development of a stutter. Brad talks about the changes to his mental health that came as a result of developing a stutter and the additional challenges his stuttering has caused. Brad shares his story in an emotional and vulnerable way, and his struggles have led him to a job in the field of mental health support and awareness. Brad explains to Greg and Katelyn the mission of CHANNEL and some of the resources the organization offers. He talks about the need for mental health resources for people who stutter and gives advice to those seeking support, emphasizing the importance of finding others with similar lived experiences. Throughout the interview, Brad is vocal about the need for awareness and stigma reduction for both stuttering and mental health challenges, and this is something Brad works towards in his job and personal life.

Music: Luca Dinu

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

WHAT IS A CDA? On today's episode, Greg and Katelyn chat with Amy about her role as a CDA and the benefit CDAs provide in speech therapy! 

Amy Bateman is a graduate of Memorial University and has recently finished the Communicative Disorders Assistant program at St. Lawrence College. Throughout this interview, Amy shares with us her experiences in this program and explains exactly what a CDA is, how they differ from an SLP, and all the ways in which a CDA can enhance a client's experience. While sharing her own stories from the program and from her placements, Amy also emphasizes the need for more CDAs (especially in Newfoundland & Labrador) and for the valuable work that they do to be more recognized in the community. Greg and Katelyn discuss ways in which SSL could support CDAs in NL and encourage Amy to keep advocating for CDAs and the incredible work that they do! 

This episode is dedicated in loving memory of Jaclyn Aguiar, who left us before the world could see what an incredible CDA and person she would become. Some words from her friend and classmate, Amy: 

I would like to thank Katelyn and Greg for providing me the opportunity to dedicate this episode of SSL to my friend, Jaclyn Aguiar.   

Jaclyn was a student in the Communicative Disorders Assistant program at St. Lawrence College. She was a straight A student who had the charisma and motivation to move mountains. Jaclyn enjoyed the CDA program as it provided academic challenges and the opportunity to learn about communicative disorders in the field of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. Jaclyn became a close friend of mine over the course of the CDA program. Although our friendship began virtually, it had no impact on how real and true our friendship was. We were kindred spirits and I miss her terribly. A friendship that will last a life time.

Music: Luca Dinu 

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

Welcome to Season 2 of Some Stutter, Luh! We are beyond excited to be back for another season and to be kicking it off with such an incredible guest. Today, we are chatting with Dr. Gerald Maguire.

Dr. Maguire is a professor and the Chair of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the UCR School of Medicine. He is board certified by The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and serves as the Chair of the National Stuttering Association. Dr. Maguire has been named as one of the Best Doctors in America every year since 2009 and is recognized as the world's authority on the medical treatment of stuttering. Throughout the episode Dr. Maguire discusses his research on drug therapies for stuttering, while, importantly, highlighting the fact that drug treatment and acceptance of stuttering can work together. All 3 discuss the importance of reducing stigma towards stuttering and address the importance of mental health awareness and resources for people who stutter. Drawing on his work in psychiatry, Dr. Maguire gives important advice to Katelyn and others working in the helping professions on how to be compassionate and empathetic. Finally, Dr. Maguire adds throughout this interview bits and pieces of his own experiences as a person who stutters, which has inspired and motivated his work!

Music: Luca Dinu

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

For our dedicated listeners, we wanted to upload a bonus episode as a special surprise during our summer break! In this episode, we are chatting with Margit Pukonen! 

Margit is the Program Director at The Speech & Stuttering Institute.  She received her Master of Health Science degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Toronto and has worked at The SSI (formerly Speech Foundation of Ontario) since it opened its doors in the 1980s. Margit highlights here areas of experience throughout the interview, which are Motor Speech Disorders, a subtype of Speech Sound Disorder. She mentions that many years ago her area of “specialty” was group therapy with preschoolers, where she did a number of workshops on how to run group therapy programs with preschoolers who had speech and language difficulties. In this episode, Margit speaks about the history of the Speech and Stuttering Institute and details her time and roles at the SSI. Greg and Katelyn chat with Margit about other communication disorders, noticing and discussing parallels with the experience of those who stutter. They discuss how SSL can support a broader range of individuals with communication disorders, in addition to stuttering.

Music: Luca Dinu

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

We have reached the end of our first season! To close out, we have members of our production team here to recap the season and chat about some of our favourite moments! 

On this episode, Dr. Paul De Decker shares updates on his research, Greg and Katelyn reflect on how the podcast has grown, and Greg, Katelyn, Paul and Luca share their highlights from this season's episodes and guests. The group also discusses what's next for the podcast and what you can look forward to in Season 2 (which is coming September 19th, stay tuned!!!) 

Music: Luca Dinu

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