I have worked in the Spires Cleft Centre in Oxford for the last 20 years. After completing a BSc (Hons) in Speech Sciences from University College London and, following several years working as a community speech and language therapist (SLT), I joined the cleft team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. Here I developed an interest in early intervention and later undertook a Masters degree in Cleft Palate Studies from Sheffield University. My research examined hearing impairment and parental concern of hearing in infants with cleft palate. My aim is to provide high quality assessment, advice and therapy to children with cleft palate and velopharyngeal dysfunction from birth into adulthood. I work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary cleft team and also provide second opinions for community SLTs across the region. Much of my work focuses on early intervention, providing therapy in a fun, non-confrontational manner, whilst aiming for ‘best speech’ possible by school age. Current clinical and research interests include ENT and hearing difficulties related to cleft palate and instrumental assessment of speech. I also have a particular interest in phonetics and transcription of speech and have a national lead role in training future cleft specialist SLTs in the assessment of cleft palate speech.
