In the style of the popular TED talks, SLHS professors Philip Gilley, Kathy Hardin, and Brenda Schick will IGNITE SLHS with 15 minute presentations that will inspire you.

There will be time afterwards to continue with conversations over light refreshments. 

All in the SLHS community are encouraged to participate. 

This event is being organized by the Graduate Advisory Board.

The annual CSHA Spring Conference and Job Fair are just around the corner. They will be held on April 4, 2014 at Children's Hospital in Aurora Colorado at Children's Hospital from 8:00pm to 4:00 pm....Video sites will be held in Grand Junction, Montrose and Pueblo. Credits of .6 are being offered for attendence. The key presentation will be Current Models of Intervention for Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Other Severe Speech Sound Disorders, presented by Dr. Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann from Portland State University whose research focuses on typical and atypical speech development in monolingual and bilingual children from birth to six, including treatment efficacy for severe speech sound disorders. Check for details on REGISTRATION. You can also download the Conference Brochure. 

On Oct. 30, 2013, SLHS/CDSS alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends gathered at the Department on the CU-Boulder Campus to celebrate the history of early childhood services and the philosophical foundations of the Department's long-standing early childhood programs.

The Metro Speech Language Network has announced its annual Call for Speakers for it's 2014 Conference to be held February 7th and 8th, 2014 at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows, 10345 Park Meadows Drive Lone Tree, Colorado 80124.

The Speaker Agreement form is available HERE.

Phone contact Toll Free: 1-800-686-2767, or local, 303-925-0004

Betty & alumna Cynthia Gray 2008

Yesterday morning educator, photographer, and author Elizabeth "Betty" Kellogg passed peacefully from this earth. Through her photography and writing, Betty carefully documented the work of David and Frances Hawkins. The Hawkins were influential in the conceptualization of CLC curriculum and the INREAL program established by Dr. Rita Weiss and Dr. Tikki Heublein. Betty, a true inspriation to friends and colleagues, was active until she passed away, publishing her last book at the age of 92. Betty's obituary can be found here.

(republished from speechlanguagepractice.org, 4/23/2010) Frances and David Hawkins were beloved educators who worked directly with teachers and students in early childhood classrooms, including the CU Child Language Center (now Child Learning Center) during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Elizabeth (Betty) Kellogg, educator and photo-documentarian, has brought their work to life in her book, David Hawkins and the Pond Study. Betty received her BA from UCLA in 1940, and her secondary teaching credential in 1941. She became co-director of a pioneering outdoor, nature-based preschool program that included creative arts and an active and serious parent education component in California. After moving to Boulder, she taught with the first year-round group of Head Start teachers. In 1968, Boulder County Head Start was selected as one of thirty best-in-nation, receiving a federal grant for the Follow-Through Program to study how Head Start “followed through’ for success in K-3rd grade. Elizabeth was chosen to photo-document this experiment for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, resulting in her Following Through with Young Children (NAEYC, 1969). This work led to an invitation from David and Frances Hawkins to document their program at the Mountain View Center, housed on CU's campus during the 70's. 

Now, Betty's photos from that program and other classrooms provide us with an illustrated history of richly layered learning environments that inspired generations of students and teachers. Many of those photos were from the CU campus "Pond Study”, a curriculum influenced by David Hawkins and inspirational in Betty's concept for the book. SLHS Alumni website curator, Cynthia Gray ’76 CU alum and former director of the Child Language Center was among other contributors that included Ellen Hall, director of Boulder Journey School, Barry Kluger-Bell, science education consultant, who worked closely with the Hawkins at the Mountain View Center, and Betty's son Tom Kellogg, whose technical skills and encouragement helped to transfer the quality of his mother's photography to the final publication. Betty's photos were also used in Cynthia Gray's documentary "In the Child's Garden: The Educational Legacy of Frances & David Hawkins", released in March of 2013. 

The press release announcing Betty’s newly published book, David Hawkins and the Pond Study follows: Boulder, CO – (Release April, 2010) – What would an eminent mathematician and philosopher of science like David Hawkins choose as an ideal classroom for his own second grader? A pond, of course! Photo-documentarian and author Elizabeth Kellogg records the lively excursions and deep involvement of second-graders with the University of Colorado pond. In David Hawkins and the Pond Study, teachers and parents witness how connecting with the natural world forms an exciting backdrop for learning basic skills. Included is Book Two, David and Frances Hawkins and the Mountain View Center for Environmental Education, a tribute to this extraordinary couple and their historic contribution to educational theory and reform. Dr. David Hawkins was a man of many dimensions––a Distinguished Professor at CU and a deeply dedicated humanitarian, among others. He was married to Frances Pockman Hawkins, a creative and insightful kindergarten teacher, as well as author and educator. Together they made a formidable team. They both had great respect for children’s innate curiosity about the world, and believed that very young children could learn very complex things if these concepts were presented in concrete and hands-on ways. David was especially concerned about the way mathematics was taught in the elementary schools of his day -- as a boring, one-dimensional drill. To Hawkins, mathematics was exciting, the language of nature itself – the key to exploration and discovery. He also had innovative ideas about learning to read and write. He believed that the very roots of literacy lay in the children’s own fresh observations and feelings about the world around them. They thrive on reading and writing their own stories, and sharing them. David Hawkins and the Pond Study demonstrates the kind of classroom and learning environment that the couple was working to achieve. Part 2 of the book, David and Frances Hawkins and the Mountain View Center for Environmental Education depicts the environment at the University of Colorado that the Hawkins devised to foster the development of teachers, who could create the kind of classroom shown in the Pond Study. It also highlights the activities from the innovative hands-on workshops.

David Hawkins & the Pond Study by Elizabeth Kellogg

Filled with Kellogg’s beautiful action-packed photographs, and other authentic documents from the time, David Hawkins and the Pond Study dynamically celebrates the Hawkins’ success with their theories in early learning. In 2009, Elizabeth received the Hawkins Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boulder County Association for the Education of Young Children (BCAEYC) for her dedication to education reform. To learn more about Betty's work go HERE .

The Colorado Speech-Language-Hearing Association has recognized fellow alumni Kathy Hardin for her work in developing the concussion screening program for athletes at CU. The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association allows each state association to nominate a candidate for the State Clinical Achievement Award. Then, from among the State Achievement Award recipients, one individual will be chosen as the recipient of the 2013 Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement. Kathy was selected by the CSHA Board of Directors to be Colorado’s 2013 nominee. Kathy is shown, 2nd from left in adjacent photo with SLHS clinicians and client. Congratulations Kathy!

Dr. Peter Ramig is retiring from SLHS after 33 years, leaving a professional legacy of local and national success. He has published numerous articles and textbook chapters on the topic of stuttering research and treatment. In addition, he has participated in the development of many professional training videos on stuttering through the Stuttering Foundation of America, presented workshops on stuttering intervention and research to thousands of professionals, and he shares authorship with Darrell Dodge in their popular 2009 second edition of the book for clinicians called The Child and Adolescent Stuttering Treatment and Activity Resource Guide. This 400-page book has hundreds of therapy activities and a DVD with many reproducible handouts written in both English and Spanish.

While Dr. Ramig was preparing to retire, we had an opportunity to ask him about memorable experiences in his life and work. He was shaped early by hard work in rural Wisconsin beginning in the farm fields with migrant workers at the age of eleven: “The first Spanish words I learned from the men were lots of swear words. I remember my father threatened to wash out mouth with soap if I did not stop using such words.

At 14 I left the fields and worked at a mink ranch shoveling mink manure until age 15. Once I saw how inhumanly these animals were treated just so someone can flaunt wearing fur, I began to understand how animals are so unnecessarily exploited. This experience was the beginning of my now long-held care and appreciation for all animals big and small. From there I worked for a local sod and flower farmer, Wes Hansche, until age 18. Wes made a big influence in my life. He was an old guy with a tough exterior who worked me hard and swore like a raunchy Marine, but he had a big heart once one got past his tough skin. He told me many times that my stuttering should not mean that I could not go to college and do well. That encouragement was something I needed to hear at that time in my life. When I think of Wes, I'm reminded how one person can so positively impact the life of another”. 

At age 19, when Vietnam was escalating, Dr. Ramig was drafted and ended up going into the Marine Corps and then on to Vietnam: "After the Marines, at age 22, I started as a college freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where I met Dr. Hal Homann, Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and a person who had an obvious stuttering problem. Hal had a big influence in my life as well. He knew a lot about stuttering, was compassionate, counseled me to help me deal with Vietnam-related issues and served as a role model, as someone who stuttered and was successful working as a teacher in a university. Until I met Hal, I never realized that a stutterer could seek out a professorship that involved a great deal of teaching. Hal and I became good friends and continued so until his death a couple years ago. 

Others who had a profound influence in my life were Drs. Lois Nelson  and Barry Guitar from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both were people who stuttered and had made significant change themselves, and both specialized in stuttering treatment. Both contributed significantly to helping me change my stuttering, and as a result I began taking courses in SLP at Wisconsin and culminated my graduate training in the field at Purdue University several years later”. Peter received his MS degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his doctorate from Purdue University

Peter described some of his earlier experiences at CU: “Finally, in 1989, earlier in my career at CU, I was fortunate to be invited by the famous Dr. Charles Van Riper to spend several days with him at his home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dr. Van Riper was a Founding Father of our profession and the worldwide authority at that time on the nature and treatment of stuttering. He was long retired from Western Michigan University and in failing health. The one-on-one time I had with him in his 133-year-old farm home was a great experience and was a motivating factor for me to focus my work much more on the treatment of persons who stutter.

I feel my more meaningful accomplishments over the past 33 years in SLHS at the University of Colorado have been with the many wonderful clients who stutter that I have worked with, and the several thousand undergrad and graduate students I have had the pleasure to teach over these 33 years. I'm also proud of the multi-million dollar corporate-sponsored Speech and Hearing Outreach Program that I developed and operated in Colorado and six other western states over a 10-year period of time. This screening and education program reached over 8000 clients, parents, and professionals during its tenure of operations”

Peter expressed strong appreciation for his tenure at CU: “I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked with so many wonderful CU undergraduate and graduate students over several decades. They have positively impacted me as I hope I have them. Similarly, my supportive SLHS colleagues have added to the enjoyment I feel in coming to the department everyday for so many years. They are all truly good people, and I'm truly fortunate to have had them in my professional life.

In concluding, Peter in turn offered strong encouragement to fellow SLPs, “I want to say one last time what I frequently have said to my graduate students over the years regarding treating persons who stutter.......... "You can be the impetus for helping change the lives of those who stutter!” "You can do this!"

Upon his retirement, Dr. Ramig plans to continue to do some consulting and writing. His footprints will certainly stay with SLHS.  Happy Retirement Dr. Ramig!

Kathe Perez, '86, has worked for more than 25 years helping people gain confidence in the way they speak. Since 2000, Kathe hasfocused her work on helping those in the transgender (TG) community discover their true voice. She recently announced the launch of EVA, an innovative application for transgendered voice clients. The initial launch of Eva provides two lessons — Eva Breathe and Eva Pitch. Kathe describes them as "...introductory lessons designed for both beginners and advanced students. They provide the programming or coding so your sensory/motor system incorporates the nuances of these two essential elements: abdominal/diaphragmatic breathing and pitch tuning. In all, there will be a total of three courses. Each course is focused on the abilities of the user and uses the 'Nine Elements of An Exceptional Feminine Voice' method", the basis of other products and courses Kathe has developed. The Official Launch of EVA was Saturday April 13th and it is now for sale world-wide. Congrats Kathe!

Kathe's Website

Amy Thrasher, Clinical Assistant Professor at SLHS shared wonderful news from former Child Learning Center parent Linda Roan-Yager. Linda's daughter, Miah Noel Yager, was accepted to the College of Charleston's REACH program where she'll attend next fall. Linda informed us that Miah "was actually accepted at every school she applied to! We want you guys to celebrate too because it truly does 'take a village,' and the great help Miah got in her early years certainly impacted her to become the person she is today." 

Linda mentioned that "Miah was at the CLC at about 18 months old from 1993-94 until she went to Kindergarten. She also received speech therapy at the clinic between 2 or 3 years of age and 2nd or 3rd grade and then some stuttering therapy in middle school. The CLC was instrumental in her development. I remember when she was so little and so well loved, encouraged, and challenged at the CLC like it was yesterday. She gave two speeches recently on the National level to boot! Please pass this message to Amy and other old CLC-ers."  Miah's sisters Juliana and Nikola aslo attended CLC. Linda still has Miah's parent-teacher journals as family artifacts.  

Miah, now 20 years old, recently spoke at a United Church of Christ Youth Event in 2012. As reported by UCC, "Taking the Elliott Hall stage at Purdue University by storm during the morning plenary July 13, Miah Noel Yager brought a brilliant smile, boundless energy and a resounding message to the UCC's National Youth Event 2012:

"I am about to do a new thing," said Miah, the youth keynote speaker, who has Down syndrome."I just graduated from high school and am going to college in the fall," said Miah, a graduate of Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. "I need to learn to live without my parents, and I need to know what a dorm room looks like. I will make a way in the wilderness. "At one point in her speech, Miah had difficulty with her delivery. "Sorry about that," she said, smiling broadly. Her audience –– many of whom moved to tears at some point in the speech –– responded immediately with shouts of love and encouragement." See the full story and Miah in action HERE.  It isn't often that we are treated to alum stories from our former clients!

Thank you Linda and Amy for sharing this story and Congratulations to Linda and Miah! 

We lost an irreplaceable alumna on February 17th 2013. Maureen Kelly, born on September 22, 1958, passed away after a long illness. She was born and raised in Racine, WI, received her BA-SLP degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, then moved to Colorado where she completed her MA at CU. She graduated from SLHS (CDSS) in 1984 and worked with many Colorado children and families for decades thereafter. She was a diligent student and gifted clinician. "Moe" was loved and respected by her clients, adored by her friends, and brought a calm presence to all she met. 

Of her many interests, Maureen enjoyed photography, travel, and hiking and became a glass artist within the last decade. She wrote about her dying process which involved her creative gifts and those of her community. She guided a multitude of friends to create individual glass tiles for a fence in her back yard as part of Lafayette's "Alley Art Project".

In November, 2012 Maureen wrote, It's working. Grandmas, toddlers, friends, etc. any age have just dived right in, helping each other, working together. I spend my time listening to those who are stopping by. I have watched tile after tile be created and strung outside on the fence, shedding bright, colorful light into our small community. The project strongly paralleled Maureen's spirit. Her son Patrick, a CU alumni helped to make the art project a reality. Maureen's life journey and departure will be a lasting learning experience for all.