Speech & Language Therapy Joins ILAS

Speech and Language therapy

Left to Right:  Celine Gordon, Stasha Antonijevic-ElliottMargaret RoddenClare CarrollRachel LeonardLaura LoftusMary-Pat O'Malley-KeighranMaria Logue-Kennedy, Lorraine Kent and Rena Lyons. 

The speech and language therapy team is delighted to join ILAS. We are excited about developing new collaborations, enhancing existing ones, and we believe that our research themes are closely aligned with ILAS. We have been in NUI Galway since 2003 and will be celebrating the 10 year anniversary of our first graduates in 2017! In 2016, we launched two new MSc programmes (MSc in Childhood Speech, Language, and Communication Needs and an MSc in Advanced Healthcare Practice and Research). 

 Speech and language therapists work with people with communication disability across the lifespan. For example, children may experience communication disability as their primary difficulty or as part of another condition such as intellectual disability. Adults also present with acquired communication disabilities following a stroke or progressive neurological condition. Our research interests reflect our values of person-centredness, inclusion, and the social model of disability. We have expertise in a range of qualitative methodologies and are continuing to develop collaborations with international colleagues e.g., through participation in COST Actions such as Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists and Enhancing children's oral language skills across Europe and beyond. We have a busy on-site clinic in Áras Moyola, which we run in collaboration with the HSE, and have plans to develop the clinic as a hub for research!