Sarah Smits-Bandstra, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
E-mail: smsmitsbandstra@stcloudstate.edu
Education
- B.A., (Hons.) Psychology, University of Waterloo, 1997
- M.Sc., Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Western Ontario, 2000
- Ph.D., Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, 2006
- Post Doctoral Fellowship, Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montreal Canada, 2009
Courses Taught
- CSD 130 Intro to Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
- CSD 426/526 Neurological Bases of Speech-Language Pathology
- CSD 432/532 Fluency Disorders
- CSD 637 Motor Speech Disorders
- CSD 676 Fluency Seminar
- CSD 648 Graduate Practicum: University Clinic
Dr. Smits-Bandstra teaches courses in fluency, motor speech, and neurology. She supervises undergraduate and graduate students in the SCSU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic located in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Publications
SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPTS:
Smits-Bandstra, S., & De Nil, L. F. (submitted). Chunking of persons who stutter and fluent speakers during sequencing.
Smits-Bandstra, S., & Gracco, V. (submitted). Speech sequence learning in persons who stutter and persons with Parkinson’s disease.
REFERREED PUBLICATIONS:
Smits-Bandstra, S. (in press). Methodological considerations in the measurement of reaction time in persons who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders.
Smits-Bandstra S., & De Nil, L. (2009). Speech skill learning of persons who stutter and fluent speakers under single and dual task conditions. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. 23, 38-57.
Smits-Bandstra, S., & De Nil, L. F. (2007). Sequence skill learning in persons who stutter: implications for cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical dysfunction. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 32, 251-278.
Smits-Bandstra, S., De Nil, L. F., & Rochon, E. (2006). The transition to increased automaticity during finger sequence learning in adult males who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 31, 22-42.
Smits-Bandstra, S., De Nil, L. F., & Saint-Cyr, J. A. (2006). Speech and nonspeech sequence skill learning in adults who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 31, 116-131.
Smits-Bandstra, S. (2006). Lexical acquisition through segmentation. Journal of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, 30, 182-191.
Smits-Bandstra, S., & Yovetich, Y. (2003). Treatment effectiveness for school aged children who stutter. Journal of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, 27(2), 125.
Smits-Bandstra, S. (2003). The developmental consequences of Otitis Media. University of Toronto Medical Journal, 81, 132.
INVITED PUBLICATIONS:
De Nil, L. F., Sasisekaran, J., & Smits-Bandstra, S. (2004). Recent insights into the nature of stuttering: A review and some speculations. Logopedie, 17, 26-38.
The Developmental Motor Speech Lab
Primary Investigator: Sarah Smits-Bandstra
Research Assistant: Whitney Holman
Thesis Students: Space open to students, please come and talk to me
Dr. Smits-Bandstra’s current research interests include the underlying cause of developmental motor speech disorders (e.g., apraxia, stuttering) as well as examining treatment effectiveness for developmental motor speech disorders . Ongoing projects in the lab include…
- Comparing the disfluencies of developmental stuttering and acquired stuttering associated with Parkinson’s disease
- Comparing motor preparation brain activity (evoked response potentials) of persons who stutter, person’s with Parkinson’s disease and control subjects
- Examining how speech and non-speech sequences are learned by persons who stutter
- Manipulating motor learning variables such as practice, feedback and reinforcement to promote treatment effectiveness for children and adults with various motor speech disorders
