News

July 2024

  • Dr.Allison Hilger, Amanda Sebestyen, and Holly Kleiber published a case report titled "Benefits of LSVT LOUD in a multilingual patient with hypokinetic-hyperkinetic dysarthria and suspected progressive supranuclear palsy." To access the article, follow this link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/rehabilitation-sciences/articles/10.3389/fresc.2024.1421730/full.

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.
  • Dr. Hilger received the University of Colorado's Research and Innovation Office research grant with CU Boulder linguists Dr. Bhuvana NarasimhanԻDr. 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

May 2022

  • Mandy Sebestyen won the Outstanding Graduate Student award in the MA-SLP program.

March 2022


February 2022

November 2021

  • Dr. Hilger and Caitlin Cloud Գٱ "Cerebellar Injury, Speech, and Quality of Life: Considerations for Comprehensive Care" at the in Colorado Springs, CO.
  • FIVE presentations by CO Motor Speech Lab at the  in Washington D.C.!
    • Mandy Sebestyan, Holly Kleiber, and Dr. HilgerԳٱ 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. HilgerԳٱ, "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

September 2021

  • Dr. Hilger and Tehya Stockman were invited to present at the on aerosol research in performing arts.

July 2021 

June 2021

May 2021

  • Dr. Hilger was interviewed with Dr. Timo Roettger for the podcast .

  • 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

December 2020

  • Dr. Hilger was interviewed for  (augmentative and alternative communication).

lab photos