Lindsay Pennington
Background
I am a speech and language therapist and senior lecturer in the Institute of Health and Society. My research focusses on causes and prevalence of oromotor and communication disorders in childhood neurodisability, the impact of these disorders on young people's health and well-being and the effectiveness and acceptability of speech and language therapy interventions.
Research Interests:
1. Communication development of children with neurodisability
2. Childhood motor speech disorders
3. Clinical effectiveness and acceptability of allied health interventions for young people with neurodisability
4. Participation and quality of life of young people with neurodisability
5. Describing the skills of young people with cerebral palsy. Lindsay led the development of the Viking Speech Scale, which can be used to describe the speech of children and adults in research studies and clinical practice. She was also part of the team led by Diane Sellers from Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust that developed the Eating and Drinking Classification Scheme (EDACS).
To view Lindsay Pennington's publications, group membership and qualifications please see her University profile.
Current Studies
Communication Development and Cerebral Palsy
This study is following the communication development of children who have motor disorders. It will show if it is possible to predict which children will have communication difficulties when they reach school age and how severe those difficulties will be.
E-SALT
This study uses smart phone technology to support Early Speech And Language Therapy for very young children with motor disorders.
FEEDS Review
The FEEDS review (Focus on Early Eating Drinking and Swallowing review) aims to find out about the services currently offered to families of children with eating. drinking and swallowing difficulties by NHS services. The review aims to gather information in order to plan a future study of one or more potentially worthwhile treatments.
Fidelity
FIDELITY is investigating if it is possible to provide therapy to improve the speech intelligibility of children with cerebral palsy via the internet using Skype.
Recently Completed Studies
SPARCLE 1, 2
SPARCLE 1 and 2 were a Study of Participation and Quality of Life of children with Cerebral Palsy living in Europe (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, England and N. Ireland).