I am a consultant speech and language therapist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (http://www.hpc-uk.org) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) (http://www.rcslt.org). I specialise in working with bilingual children and their families. In 2009 I was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in recognition of my work with bilingual families.

Clinical experience

I originally worked with both children and adults and was a specialist in adult neurology and voice for two years before focussing on work with children. I now have over 30 years clinical experience working with children with a wide range of disorders. In Rochdale, UK, I established and led the specialist team of speech and language therapists and bilingual assistants. This team specialises in working with bilingual children and their families. Where appropriate the team works in the mother tongue of the family rather than imposing the majority language (in this case English) on the family. The team have been at the forefront of clinical research which aims to develop effective therapy techniques for bilingual children.

Publications

In addition to research papers and book chapters (where my particular focus is on clinical effectiveness and the delivery of equitable services to bilingual children) I developed the first comprehensively norm-referenced speech assessment for Mirpuri, Punjabi and Urdu (Pakistani heritage languages) to be published by a commercial publisher in the UK. I have developed e-learning modules related to bilingualism for the Department of Health and for RCSLT and have written and reviewed professional guidelines relating to working with bilingual children for the RCSLT and for the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP).

Teaching

For many years I was involved in the clinical teaching of speech and language therapy students. I now lecture on bilingualism at both graduate and undergraduate level to speech and language therapists and other professionals. I also give talks to groups of bilingual parents.

Honorary professional positions

I am a trustee of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and sit on the governing Council as the Councillor for Professional Development and Standards. In this role I also chair the RCSLT Professional Development and Standards Board. I am an RCSLT adviser in bilingualism.

Awards

In 2012, with Dr C. McKean and Dr S. Pert, I won the Sternberg Clinical Innovation Award for work developing the BEST language therapy programme.
In 2005, with Dr S. Pert, I won the Sternberg Clinical Innovation Award for work developing assessment tools to be used with Pakistani heritage children.