About the professionals (in alphabetic order by first name):
Derek E. Daniels, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist who specializes in stuttering therapy. He is also an associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches courses on stuttering and supervises graduate student training in stuttering. Derek is a person who stutters, and has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on stuttering. His research focuses on psychosocial experiences of stuttering, identity, and intersectionality. He has participated in many self-help events, workshops, and clinical training programs for people who stutter, including Camp Shout Out. Derek is a native of Houston, TX, and currently enjoys urban life in Detroit. He is a Past President of the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Erik X. Raj, Ph.D., CCC-SLP holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and is a practicing speech-language pathologist who works with school-age children and adolescents who stutter. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Monmouth University in New Jersey (USA), and is also a facilitator at Camp Shout Out in Michigan (USA), a summer camp for young people who stutter. Dr. Raj regularly presents workshops demonstrating how speech-language pathologists can use mobile and internet-based technologies to educate and motivate school-age children and adolescents who stutter.
Hilda Sønsterud (PhD) is a speech-language therapist and a clinical researcher in Norway. She works as a Senior Advisor at STATPED, National Service for special needs education, and as an Associate Professor at NORD university, Faculty of Education and Arts. Hilda works primarily with treatment and research related to stuttering and cluttering. Hilda is EFS-certified (European Fluency Specialist) and is an active lecturer. She runs courses and workshops within the field of stuttering and cluttering, and she provides clinical practice and supervision for SLT students and SLTs. Her PhD-project “Stuttering therapy; What works for whom?” at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, was grounded in practice-based evidence and in context-sensitive considerations of what makes a difference to a particular person at a particular time point. Hilda has investigated the therapeutic alliance within stuttering treatment, and she is particularly engaged by how clinical research within the field of fluency disorders is defining evidence. Hilda is a national representative in the International Cluttering Association (ICA).
Jenny Packer is a camera-shy Speech and Language Therapist who has worked for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom for over 20 years. Jenny does not stammer/stutter, but she considers herself an ally to the stuttering community. In addition to working as a Speech and Language Therapist, Jenny has been involved in organising international conferences for the community. Most recently she was part of the organising committee for STAMMAFest Global 2022, held in Liverpool, UK, in August. Jenny currently works with children aged 7 – 18 years who stutter and their families but in the past she has worked with children and adults of all ages who stutter.
When not at work, Jenny enjoys walks with her pet greyhound, running (without the dog, he’s too fast!) and knitting (again, without the dog’s help!)
Kirsten Howells stammers, and has a background as a Speech & Language Therapist. Kirsten now works as Programme Lead for STAMMA (the British Stammering Association), coordinating STAMMA’s helpline and employment support services. She’s fortunate to work with and learn from lots of wonderful people who stammer and those around them. She definitely doesn’t feel that she has all the answers to a life with stammering, but is very interested in supporting others in navigating the daily choices and challenges that stammering brings.
Mikhal Sa’ar, MA CCC-SLP is a bi-lingual speech-language pathologist from Eilat, Israel. She has been working with children, teens and adults who stutter and their families over the past 10 years and across three different continents. Mikhal currently works in an outpatient clinic for young children with varying needs and owns a private practice where she works primarily with people who stutter across the lifespan. Her areas of interest are supporting people who stutter in changing their perception of stuttering as well as changing how others see it. Mikhal is actively involved in the Israeli Stuttering Association (AMBI) in providing families with more knowledge and information about stuttering. Mikhal lives with her husband and two kids and enjoys mountain biking, hiking and the great outdoors. She is honored to be on this year’s professional panel of the ISAD conference.
Dr. Pallavi Kelkar is a Speech-Language Pathologist from Pune, India. She presently works as Associate Professor at the School of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University). She has been working with children and adults who stutter and their families over the past 14 years. She is actively involved in the activities of the International Cluttering Association as one of its international representatives. Her research primarily focuses on quantification of the impact of stuttering and cluttering. In line with this, she stresses on prioritizing the “person” rather than their “speech” through the use of cognitive behavioral approaches alongside speech therapy. Through student research projects and public education programs, she aims to explore public perceptions about stuttering and change them for the better.
Rita Thurman has worked in the schools and in clinical settings in Utah, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Virginia and North Carolina since 1977. Her private practice in Raleigh, North Carolina and Bozeman, Montana focuses on the evaluation and treatment of children, teens and adults who stutter. She was awarded the Clinical Achievement Award by the NC Speech Language Hearing Association in 2012 and the Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year by the National Stuttering Association in 2015, both for her contributions to diagnosis and treatment for people who stutter. She is a NSA Adult and TWST Chapter leader, and sponsors an annual Friend’s Workshop in NC. She is the Vice Chair of the Executive Board of the American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders.
Scott Palasik, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a person who can stutter. He is also an Associate Professor at the University Akron, Ohio, who teaches Stuttering, Counseling, and Voice disorders at the graduate level along with supervising future SLPs with their clinical education. Further, he runs the MASS Lab (Mindfulness ACT Social Cognition and Stuttering) at the University of Akron. He is the co-host and co-creator for The Act To Live Podcast (along with Jaime Michise) and is a partner with the 3C Digital Media Network LLC. Scott is devoted to being an Assistant Faculty member at Camp Shout Out, which is a magical camp for kids who stutter in Michigan. He is a passionate novelist (under the pen name B.D. Scott) and a musician and songwriter since he was 12 years old. He practices mindfulness meditation daily, values health with exercise, and appreciates the act of evolving as a person, Speech Language Pathologist and a fellow human in order to build a community and world of kindness, compassion, understanding, and resilience.
Tricia Krauss-Lehrman, M.M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-F worked at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, part of the University of Texas at Dallas, for 28 years providing evaluations and therapy to individuals of all ages, with a special emphasis on fluency disorders for the last 15 years there. Her responsibilities also included occasional teaching and regular supervision of graduate students. In 2010, Tricia retired from UTD to open a private practice in Dallas devoted to working with individuals of all ages who are impacted by fluency disorders and continues to guest lecture at UTD.
Because of her belief in the power of support/self-help, Tricia has participated in and created support groups in the Dallas area for the past 40 years. She has actively participated in the Dallas chapter of the National Stuttering Association (NSA) since it began in 1982; created a support group for elementary-aged students who stutter and their parents in 2000 which is still active; revived the Dallas TWST chapter with the help of an adult client who stutters in 2011 and continues as a co-leader of that group; and created a group for parents of preschoolers who are stuttering in 2015. She received the Professional of the Year award from the NSA in 2017.
Tricia currently serves on the American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders (ABFFD) in the role of Marketing and Public Relations chair. She is honored to serve on ISAD’s professional panel this year.
