My primary research interest concerns communication and development in children with complex needs who have little or no functional speech and are provided with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. My current research is focused on: (i) assessment of early looking behaviours in young children with severe cerebral palsy (www.ucl.ac.uk/gaze); (ii) establishing robust methods of assessing language and cognition in children unable to engage with standardised tests due to severe physical disability; (iii) conversation-based language intervention with children who use AAC; (iv) the analysis of naturally occurring conversational interaction involving the use of AAC tools.

As a speech and language therapist my primary area of clinical practice has been the specialist assessment of communication skills in children with, including facilitating the decision-making involved in selecting and securing appropriate communication equipment, goal-setting, monitoring and evaluation.