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Catherine Aldred is a highly experienced consultant therapist. She completed her Speech and Language Therapy degree qualification at Edinburgh in 1982. Catherine later held a research grant evaluating effective treatment for children with language and communication difficulties. She has led pioneering therapy developed from her Ph.D. research and extensive experience of working with children with a language and communication difficulty. Both her clinical experience and research has led to the development of CHILD’S TALK. Catherine is recognised as an international expert in the field of autism.

Catherine is a principle investigator in a research trial awarded by the Medical Research Council to carry out a multi-site national study evaluating the effectiveness of direct communication based treatment for children with autism. She reviews papers for publication for international journals.

Catherine has worked as a speech and language therapist for twenty six years and provides comprehensive assessments, medico-legal assessments, reports and intervention for a wide range of specific language and communication difficulties in children aged 2 to 20 years.

She lectures at the University of Manchester and provides an expert second opinion on child communication and language needs and how these can be supported in a school setting.

She continues to work for a Health Care Trust providing specialist support, training and advice to professionals and local authority schools .Catherine acts as professional advisor to Speech and language Therapists, who can seek her advice on ways to assess and provide therapy for children with complex communication difficulties. She also gives lectures, workshops, and courses for parents and professionals nationally and internationally and has published papers on assessment and treatment for children with communication difficulties.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council
• Association of Speech and Language Therapy in Independent Practice
• Member of the Paediatric Communication Disorders Research Group (North West)

• B.Sc. Speech Pathology & Therapy (Edinburgh)
• PhD. In Communication (University of Manchester)

• Aldred CR, Pollard C & Adams C (2001) Multidisciplinary assessment and communication intervention for children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders ' The Child's Talk Project. Journal of Psychology and Child Development, 18.
• Aldred C, Green J & Adams C (2004) A new social communication intervention for children with autism: pilot randomised controlled treatment study suggesting effectiveness. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 1420-1430.
• Aldred. CR & Green, J. (2007) Early treatment for autism – new treatments. School of Hospital Medicine ( in press)

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Jacqueline Gaile is a speech and language therapist with almost 20 years experience working with children and young adults with speech, language and communication needs. She has been Lead Clinician for mainstream schools, setting up and evaluating a new service to mainstream schools in a large inner city borough.

Jacqueline gained her speech and language qualification from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1991 and worked within the NHS as a paediatric SLT in community clinics, special schools, and preschools until she moved to Oldham in 1997 to develop the mainstream service there. Here she was involved in service delivery and strategy meetings with professionals across education and health. As part of delivering an effective service with a balance between intervention with the child and support for teaching staff she developed training packages for primary and secondary schools. She has many years experience of providing comprehensive assessments and reports for children with complex language and communication needs in mainstream schools.

Jacqueline is the research therapist on the Social Communication Intervention Project (SCIP) led by Dr. Catherine Adams and Dr. Elaine Clarke at the University of Manchester. The SCIP project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention for children with pragmatic language impairment, i.e. those children who have difficulties in using and understanding language particularly where this impacts on social interaction, conversation, friendships, and story telling.

Jacqueline is currently undertaking her PhD at the University of Manchester exploring the nature of metacognition in intervention. Jacqueline’s main clinical and research interest is in how improved self-awareness and understanding of the social context can impact on social interaction and friendships for young people with social communication difficulties such as those found in children with Asperger’s Syndrome and high functioning autism. Her work with parents and school staff is highly regarded and both report welcome changes in children’s day to day social interaction.

• Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RC0010123)
• Health Professions Council registered

• BSc Clinical Language Sciences (Speech Therapy) LMU 1991

• Adams C, Clarke E, Gaile J, Freed J, Earl G, McBean K, Nash M & Law J . The effectiveness of a speech and language intervention for children who have pragmatic language impairment. Part 1: outcomes from a randomised controlled trial. In preparation
• Baxendale J, Gaile, J., Clarke E, & Adams C The effectiveness of a speech and language intervention for children who have pragmatic language impairment. Part 2: functional social outcomes and implications for practice. In preparation
• Gaile J, Earl G & Adams C Profiling and prioritising communication needs for children with pragmatic language impairments. In preparation
• Gaile, J. and Baxendale J, The impact of teacher and parent perceptions of needs of children with pragmatic language impairment on the role of the Speech and language therapist and the Learning support assistant In preparation

• Gaile J (2001) SLT service to children with SEN in Mainstream schools, at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) Conference (Birmingham UK)
• Gaile J (2007) The Social Communication Intervention Project North West SLI Special Interest Group (Warrington UK)
• Adams C & Gaile 2007 The effectiveness of speech and language therapy intervention for children with pragmatic language impairments in the UK. November 2007. ASHA Invited Symposium contributor, Boston, USA.
• Gaile J, Earl G, Clarke E & Adams C 2009 Communication profiling and intervention prioritisation for children with pragmatic language impairment. Paper at Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Conference March
• Intervention for children with pragmatic language impairment (2009) West Yorkshire Specific Language Impairment Special Interest Group
• Adams, C., Clarke, E., & Gaile, J. (2010) ALICC: Analysis of Language Impaired Children’s Conversation – turning a research tool into a clinical profile? Presentation at the North West Paediatric Communication Disorders Research Group, January 2010

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Catherine Adams has worked as a speech and language therapist in the NHS and in higher education for over twenty years. She qualified at the University of Manchester with a first class honours degree in Speech and Language Therapy in 1981 and worked as an NHS speech and language therapist in Nottingham for several years. She then completed a Masters degree (with Distinction) in Human Communication at the Institute of Neurology in London. She was appointed Lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Manchester in 1989 and Clinical Senior Lecturer from 1997 onwards, gaining her PhD along the way. You can find more information about her research and education profile at http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/staff/CatherineAdams.

Dr Adams has a principal clinical interest in working with children who have specific language disorders. She has many years of experience of clinical assessment and therapy across the whole age range. She has been training speech and language therapy undergraduate students for many years and lectures in developmental language disorders and evidence-based practice. Catherine has worked successfully with Catherine Aldred for several years on clinical research projects. Together they are currently developing interventions for children with pragmatic language impairments which have been nationally acclaimed.

Her research interests are focused on pragmatic language impairments and related conditions. Catherine is currently leading the first controlled trial in the world of intensive speech and language therapy for children with pragmatic language impairments (the Social Communication Intervention Project - SCIP). She is recognised as one of the UK's leading experts in this field and has published widely in both the UK and international literature on the subject. Dr Adams is frequently invited to give contributions to international conferences and has recently presented research papers in the US, France, Italy and New Zealand. With academic colleagues and local SALT services, she has developed and published a test of language functioning in school aged children (ACE 6-11) which is widely used across the country.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council
• Organizer of the Paediatric Communication Disorders Research Group (North West)

• B.Sc. (Honours) Speech Pathology & Therapy (First Class)
• MSc in Human Communication (with Distinction) (MRC Scholarship)
• PhD. (University of Manchester)

• Adams C, Lloyd J, Aldred C & Baxendale J 2006 Exploring the effects of communication intervention for developmental pragmatic language impairments: a signal-generation study. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 41, 41-66.
• Adams C & Lloyd J 2008 Effects of speech and language therapy intervention in mainstream school for children with pragmatic language impairments. British Journal of Special Education, 34, 226-233.
• Law J, Campbell C, Roulstone S, Adams C & Boyle J 2008 Mapping practice onto theory: the speech and language practitioner’s construction of receptive language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 43, 245-263.
• Adams, C., Clarke, E., & Haynes, R. (2009) Inference and sentence comprehension in children with specific or pragmatic language impairments. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 44, 301 – 318.

• Adams C & Gaile 2007 The effectiveness of speech and language therapy intervention for children with pragmatic language impairments in the UK. November 2007. ASHA Inivited Symposium contributor, Boston, USA.
• Adams C & Collins A 2008 Developmental applications of clinical pragmatics, Invited seminar, University of Poitiers, March 2008.
• Adams C 2008 Evaluating school-based, specialist intensive language interventions for children who have social communication disorders. Invited Keynote speaker at NAPLIC 2008, University of Warwick, UK.
• Adams C & Clarke E 2008 Social communication intervention within a large-group randomized controlled trial. Keynote speakers at the International Scientific Congress of the FNO (National Union of Speech Therapists) Biarritz, France.
• Baxendale, J, Clarke E & Adams C. 2009 An investigation into perceptions of the value of an intensive intervention for children with pragmatic language impairments from educational and family perspectives. Paper at Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Conference
• Gaile J, Earl G, Clarke E & Adams C 2009 Communication profiling and intervention prioritisation for children with pragmatic language impairment. Paper at Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Conference
• Adams C. 2009 Assessment and intervention strategies for children with pragmatic language impairments: new directions in effectiveness research. Invited Speaker at Aphasie Suisse Conference, University of Neuchatel

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Elaine Clarke is a speech and language therapist with ten years experience working within specialist language units and mainstream schools and as a lecturer and researcher in speech and language therapy at the University of Manchester.

Elaine gained her speech and language therapy qualification from the University of Manchester in 1998 and worked within the NHS as a paediatric speech and language therapist in community clinic and specalist language resources until she returned to the University in 1999 to take up a research post working alongside Dr Catherine Adams. Elaine was was appointed Clinical Lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy in 2003 and gained her PhD in 2005.

Elaine’s main clinical and research interest is in the role of auditory processing and auditory memory in developmental language and reading comprehension difficulties. She has many years experince of providing comprehensive assessments and individual therapy for children in this area as well as providing advice for parents and teachers on language needs and how these can be supported in school settings.

Elaine lectures to undergraduate speech and language therapy and psychology students in language processing and developmental language and reading difficulties. Elaine also works alongside Dr Catherine Adams on the Social Communication Intervention Project (SCIP) which is evaluating the effectiveness of an an intervention programme for children who have difficulties with language comprehension, telling stories and participating in conversations. Elaine’s research has attracted interest both nationally and internationally and she has been invited to present at a number of conferences and reviews for a number of journals in her field.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council
• Member of the Institute of Health Sciences Child Health Research Network
• Member of the Paediatric Communication Disorders Research Group (North West)

• PhD - The University of Manchester
• BSc (Hons) Speech Pathology and Therapy - The University of Manchester

• Clarke, E. M. & Collins, A (2007). Mapping speech and language therapy provision offered to school-aged children with receptive-expressive specific language impairment: speech and language therapist opinion and practice. Educational and Child Psychology, 24(4): 89-100.
• Clarke, E. M. & Adams C. (2007). Binaural interaction in Specific Language Impairment: an auditory evoked potential study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49: 274-279.
• Clarke, E. M., Ahmmed, A., Parker, D., & Adams, C. (2006). Contralateral suppression of otoacoustic emissions in children with specific language impairment. Ear and Hearing, 27(2):153-160.

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Trish O’Neill is a senior paediatric Speech and Language Therapist with over 25 years experience. She qualified at Elizabeth Gaskell College with a distinction in neurology and the practical examination.

She held a team leader post for 9 years at Stepping Hill hospital with patients who suffered a stroke

She has worked in the Children’s Services for Stockport Healthcare Trust since 1998. She sees children with special needs in mainstream schools and specialised in Autistic Spectrum disorders and social communication needs 10 years ago after completing ADOS (Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule) training. Trish also specialises in providing therapy for children with difficulties in using language to socially interact, developing friendships skills and relationships and understanding of complex language and pragmatic skills. She works in close collaboration with school staff providing training on social stories and comic strip conversations. Trish currently works in an Independent School providing direct speech and language therapy for children, running social skills groups and training staff on social communication strategies.

Trish also works as a member of a multi-disciplinary Social Communication Assessment team at Stepping Hill Hospital.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council

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Catrina Dawson studied at Birmingham University and gained a B.Sc(Hons) Speech and Language Therapy Degree and has been employed by the NHS as a professional Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) for over 7years. Catrina has had extensive experience working with the parents and children with a vast variation of speech, language and communication needs. Catrina works closely with the educational establishments gaining a reputation for an excellent and organised service. Catrina works within a team of specialists supporting children and teenagers with dysfluency (stammering), providing training for parents, direct therapy for the children as considered appropriate and an advisory service for other professionals.

Catrina provides dysfluency assessments and gains information on a combination of factors influencing the fluency including a range of experiences, psychological factors, underlying language skills. Parental advice in given to maximise fluency within the home environment and further strategies will be discussed within an individual consultation appointment.

Catrina may provide more regular therapy for child who have been stammering for over a year and presenting with more frequent repetitions and hesitations. A pre-school therapy programme, the Lidcombe Programme is completed with the parents. Catrina also provides therapy for older students (over 7 years) and may also take the role of practising for important speaking times in a student’s life i.e. preparing of GCSE orals, practicing speaking roles in drama, presentations, practicing for interviews, talking on the telephone If required Catrina also offers advice in school either by reports/advice sheets or through a visit into school to train staff.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council

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Jenny Gibson qualified at the University of Manchester in 2007 gaining a first class honours degree in Speech and Language Therapy with distinction in clinical practice. Jenny then went on to complete a Master of Research degree focusing on the development of a new assessment tool to evaluate the play and peer interaction skills of school aged children with communication difficulties. In 2008 Jenny won a prestigious Medical Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council interdisciplinary studentship to undertake PhD research into the communication and social skills of children with specific language impairment, high functioning autism and pragmatic language impairment. Jenny’s PhD is being supervised by Dr Catherine Adams, Professor Jonathan Green and Dr Elaine Clark from University of Manchester and is due for completion in 2011.

Jenny worked as a therapist for the Social Communication Intervention Project (SCIP) providing intensive speech and language therapy for children with complex language and social communication needs. Jenny has also worked within the NHS as a paediatric speech and language therapist and as part of a private organisation specialising in work with children, teenagers and young adults with autistic spectrum conditions. Jenny has completed ADOS (Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule) training and is experienced in providing comprehensive assessments, reports and individual therapy for children and young adults who have social communication difficulties and language impairments.

• Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Speech and Language Therapist with the Health Professions Council
• Member of the Paediatric Communication Disorders Research Group (North West)

• MRes. - The University of Manchester
• BSc (Hons) Speech and Language and Therapy - The University of Manchester
• ADOS (Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule) – 2007
• PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) - 2009

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