Guests enjoyed celebratory cupcakes and punch, draw prizes and speeches at the 10th anniversary event for the Certificate in Francophone Practice for Speech-Language Pathologists. (Photo: Philip Worre)
French is the mother tongue of 1 in every 5 Canadians and over 88,000 Albertans. These numbers include children and adults from all walks of life-but did you know they also include stutterers?
In 2004, concerns from the community about a lack of speech-language pathology services for the Francophone community were brought to light. And, as a result, the Certificate in Francophone Practice for Speech-Language Pathologists was officially launched in 2008.
The certificate, which is a joint initiative between the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and Campus Saint-Jean, provides clinicians with the opportunity to acquire information about normal and disordered speech and language, and become familiar with assessment and intervention materials for Francophone populations.
Fast-forward to 2018, and the certificate, which is now celebrating its 10-year anniversary, has done just that.
Helping launch many speech-language pathologists into their professional careers, graduates of the certificate now enjoy working with dual-language Francophone populations in Alberta and other areas where French is a minority language.
Mireille Hébert Sytar, who completed the certificate in 2011, was one of the first to finish the program.
"I remember being relieved when I found out that I could receive education related to speech-language pathology in French. It was really a no-brainer for me to take the certificate," said Hébert Sytar. "Not only am I able to provide Francophone services to those with communication needs, but I've also been helping teach some of the lab portions of two of the courses in the certificate program."
The certificate, which was the first formal collaboration between the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Campus Saint-Jean, has been a success ever since, with approximately 29 speech-language pathologists making their way through the four courses.
Angѐle Lamontagne Looy was one of the individuals whose career benefited from the French education.
"I use the knowledge I gained from the certificate on a regular basis," said Lamontagne Looy. "I love providing services in French in my community. Especially since access to services in French were sparse and not local, I'm glad I was provided with information, resources and connections that made me feel confident to provide French speech-language services."
On Friday, May 4, developers, instructors, students and members of the speech-language pathology community celebrated the 10-year anniversary (and toasted to many more) of the certificate during a one-hour cocktail reception at the Westin in downtown Edmonton.
"I personally want to thank everyone who worked to make this certificate possible and who still work so hard to keep this certificate alive," said Hébert Sytar. "It was so worth it for me and it is a HUGE part of my career journey."
Here's to another 10 years of providing the best and brightest with the ability to help their communities!
For more information about the Certificate in Francophone Practice for Speech-Language Pathologists, visit francocert.ualberta.ca.