We are launching a campaign to find as many alums as we can, dating back to the beginning of the program at the University of Colorado. If you are a Facebook member, thinking about joining, or have fellow alumni friends on Facebook, help us to make contact. It will enable us to learn more about our graduates, where they have gone, what paths they've taken in the field of Speech Pathology & Audiology, or what adventures have inspired them. Search for the group "CU SLHS (CDSS) Alumni" and join us! Connect to Facebook Here

It was a treat to connect with 30-plus SLHS Alumni at the Metro SL Conference held on January 29-30 at the Marriot in Littleton.

Our IN TOUCH website had a booth, held some drawings but most of all, had fun visiting with SLHS alumni and meeting other conference attendees. The conference drew approximately 600 SLPs and associates from the region. Visitors to our booth included SLPA's from SLHS and we hope to collect more contact information from this group as well as our undergraduate and graduate alumni. Plans are being made to visit the CSHA conference next fall.

Winners of the drawing for "Ralphie" the stuffed CU Buffalo was Pam Woodyard Berkeland. Four other winners, Carol Pastore, Diana Erhart, Carolee (Whitney) Burnell and Kim McGarvey will receive one of two DVD's, The Dance of Conversation: Strategies for Ecnouraging Children's Language or The Storybook Journey: Into the Wind & The Stories We Live. The production of the DVDs was supported by The Louis and Harold Price Foundation, Inc., the same foundation that supports this SLHS alumni website. Sheila Goetz, former CLC director and SLHS faculty member, was key in obtaining the grant and has administered it since it's inception. She was on hand to meet and greet alumni, several of whom were her students from 1986 to 2003. Yours truly, Cynthia Gray, '76 alum and current web curator was at the booth and enjoyed meeting alumni from present and past, some of whom were students when I directed the CLC.

SLHS alumna and current faculty member Lynea Pearson and adjunct SLHS faculty member Scott Schwartz, currently with Boulder Valley School District stopped by the booth to chat with alumni also. Both faculty were presenters at the conference.

We hope you will join us at the CSHA conference this fall or, Contact us
to update your contact information. If you'd like to get in touch with alums you see here, let us know. We'll do our best to get their information to you.

Barb Roscoe

Many SLHS alumni will remember Barb Roscoe and her years of dedicated work with children and students in the Child Learning Center (CLC). We were pleased to have an opportunity to interview Barb in the midst of a job transition. Her story spells out her dedication to our field, the CLC children and students, and early childhood in general. She also reveals what plans she has for the future. Other notable faculty and staff from her past are also remembered in her interview.

In Touch: How did you become interested in child language/learning development?

Barb: I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since I started working in early childhood education. After spending the first 20 years of my career in elementary and special education, K-12, I fell into early childhood education through the back door. At that time, new federal and state legislation mandated special educational services for preschool children. As I think back, my first encounter with early childhood education was very much like Alice falling into Wonderland. I was curious and wanted to look in from the outside and the next thing I knew I was tumbling down head over heals and landed in the middle of a crazy and topsy-turvy world of early childhood. There was very little preparation or training for educators to fill the role of early childhood education. I remember how everyone was struggling to make the materials and practices they had been using with elementary children work with preschool children. The challenge of coming in on the ground floor and making an impact was all the motivation I needed. (continued)

SLHS AV room

(From the SLHS Giving Opportunity brochure)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video may be worth a million.

Prior to embarking on 5-12 month full time internships at clinical sites off campus, SLHS clinical faculty members teach students in the campus-based Speech Language Hearing Center. Here, children and adults in the Boulder-Denver metropolitan area are provided comprehensive speech audiology and language services. Audio and video recordings are a critical component of both clinical and classroom teaching. Students not only get to watch examples that they may not have the opportunity to see first hand, but they, along with faculty and peers, can also critically review their own clinical activities in the SLHC. Audio and video recordings also play an important role in the assessment and treatment process. For Example, parents may watch demonstrations of optimal techniques to be used when interacting with children, or older clients may watch themselves on video to better understand the positive and negative behaviors that contribute to their communication difficulties.

The current video system in the SLHC was installed over 25 years ago when the SLHS building was renovated. Components have been replaced over the years, but much of the infrastructure, cameras and microphones are no longer working and VHS technology is all but obsolete. In an effort to continually improve the situation, SLHS has initiated a project to upgrade to a state-of-the-art video system. (continued)

Kathe Perez, MA SLP '86

Update: Kathy is moving forward with her book, Out of the Darkness: A Remarkable Story and blogging about her writing process at:
http://katheperez.blogspot.com/

Kathe Perez completed her MA in speech language pathology from CU-Boulder in 1986. She moved to Philadelphia and worked for four years with renowned otolaryngologist Robert T. Sataloff, MD. She then returned to Colorado and worked for six years at our own SLHS clinic as a clinical instructor until beginning her private practice Exceptional Voice, Inc. http://www.exceptionalvoice.com/

In 1993, Kathe began her Ph.D. work (CU-Boulder), but it was never finished. Since then, her story has been one of fortitude, survival, and success. As Kathe explains, “I am forever ABD [All but Doctorate]. I sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in June 1998 and was unable to complete this degree." She had just completed her written and oral exams. She had met with her committee in April that year to get their blessing to begin her “big study” when the accident happened. She took a two year medical leave from her Ph.D. work, but at the end of those two years, she was far from ready to return to it.

One week after completing her first, and what has turned out to be her only half-marathon, she was involved in an auto accident which instantly changed her life. (continued)

'08 alums Kate Hoover, Amanda Vargo, Amy Bell & Sarah Shellquist gather during the holidays:

Beth (Landry) Murphy, Laura Biegner, Sherry (Ferguson) Baum, Patty (Ogrodnick) Walton on steps of Paul Revere house in Boston ASHA, 2007

In visiting with SLHS alumni over the past few years, we find that many of you maintain and value friendships with members of your graduating class. Alums tell us they see these connections as true assets in their professional and personal life. We love to feature these stories and photos. To see Amanda Vargo's bio (pictured here with fellow alums) go to: http://www.speechlanguagepractice.org/?q=node/147

Drop us a line and tell us about continuing friendships or reunions with your classmates! We are interested in photos and stories about "mini-reunions" where and whenever they occur-- holidays, ASHA, work, etc. We will visit with you to obtain the details. Contact us at slpweb@colorado.edu (continue to see other pics)

Keiko Gondo, MA '85, PhD '97

Note from Web Curator: Fellow alum Keiko Gondo is currently seeking opportunities to interview researchers and/or practitioners who are working with PDD children, especially those in Colorado multilingual programs who serve bilingual children with PDD. She plans to visit in fall of 2009. If you know of such programs or are interested in participating in Keiko’s interviews, please contact slpweb@colorado.edu For her full bio see: http://www.speechlanguagepractice.org/?q=node/137

CU alum Keiko Gondo is currently involved in research on dual and multicultural programs for children with special needs, specifically the language development of bilingual children with PDD. She writes, “In Japan, there is an increased number of children who have multi-cultural and bilingual backgrounds, though a small ratio compared to the US. There are also a number of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and related disorders. As a developmental clinical psychologist, I now have more opportunities to see PDD children who are raised in bilingual families than before. Many doctors recommend that these children stop using two languages and limit development to one." Keiko seeks to test the premise that bilingualism compromises the general language development of this population. She points out that there is little empirical evidence to support this for bilingual children with PDD in her country. “At least in Japan, there is no case study evidence thus far. My colleague and I began a longitudinal case study of an English-Japanese bilingual boy with PDD and planning to add more cases this year. The results of our observations thus far do not show any disadvantages for him by maintaining two languages.” (continued)

Katy Kronenwetter '92

Kathleen Kronenwetter attended CU at Boulder and received both her BA (1990) and MA (1992) in Communication Disorders and Speech Sciences. Her new private practice website is http://www.openbooktherapy.com

Kathleen (Katy) Kronenwetter MA, CCC-SLP,has worked for the Cupertino Union School District in California (CUSD) for four years. Two years ago she began working very hard with the Cupertino Educator Association and the CUSD Board Members to get the speech language pathologists off the teacher’s pay scale and onto the psychologist's pay scale.

Katy is proud to report success with her endeavor. She writes, “This was successful and with increased pay, recent graduates are now applying for jobs within the CUSD”. Other school districts should take note of her endeavor which, according to Katy, “solved the shortage problem and the high cost of contract speech language pathologists.”

Katy didn’t stop there. As Director of Special Education for her teacher's union this past year she took steps to insure economic stability for special educators at Cupertino. She revealed that while the pay scale issue was in the works, “the school district administrators were asking the employees for ways to save money--to determine what programs could be cut. Our business accountant attended our Pupil Services meeting and asked that we talk to him if we had any ideas. The day after he spoke to all of the special education staff, I decided to walk in and read the four ideas I had written down. I was nervous, I was a bit shaky, but I kept moving forward.”(continued)

CU Photo by Casey A. Cass

The Speech Language and Hearing Sciences recognition ceremony 2010 was held on May 7 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., at the UMC Middle Ballroom.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL GRADUATES AND WELCOME TO OUR CU SLHS ALUMNI WEBSITE!
The phrase "the last best place" was coined by William Kittredge, a well-known western writer, as the title for an anthology of stories, poems and memoirs about Montana. We'd like you to think of CU SLHS as one of your last, best places, where you worked hard, prepared for your career and shared experiences with fellow students. Stay in touch with the SLHS department and visit your alumni website often, we want to hear about your experiences as you establish and continue your career.

Here are some ways to stay in touch as a CU alum (continued):

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, "at ASHA's urging, introduced legislation supporting the goals and recognition of BHSM. House Concurrent Resolution (H.Con.Res.) 352 was introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), co-chair of the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus, and Senate Concurrent Resolution (S.Con.Res.) 83 was introduced by Senator Hillary R. Clinton (D-NY).

Both resolutions recognize the importance of speech and hearing services for all age groups in the United States, including those who have experienced hearing loss, speech-language disorders, and traumatic brain injury.(continued)