A specialist in deafblindness and tactile communication.

I qualified as a speech and language therapist in 2003, with a BSc (Hons) in Speech Sciences from University College London. I spent my post-qualification year and early career working for Islington Primary Care Trust, with children with physical disabilities or severe-profound learning disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, in special schools.

In 2007 I gained a P.G. Cert. in Profound and Multiple Disabilities from the University of Manchester. That year I also moved to manage the Family, Education and Advisory Service for the south-east region at Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association. I supported a multi-disciplinary team advising around the needs of children with deafblindness and sensory impairment with additional disabilities.

In 2009 I became Head of Children’s Specialist Services at Sense, managing the national outreach, family, education and advisory service, while keeping up clinical practice assessing and advising on therapy and education for children with deafblindness. During this time, I advised Sense’s public policy team throughout the 2014 SEND reforms. I led projects into communication partner competency with children and young people with deafblindness and multiple disabilities, presenting the findings at national and international conferences. I also completed an M.Ed. in Special Education: Multi-Sensory Impairment (Deafblindness) at the University of Birmingham in 2012, with a dissertation on the similarities and differences between autism and deafblindness.

Since 2017 I’ve worked as an independent SLT and consultant on deafblindness and multiple disabilities. This included consulting on projects focused on early intervention for Sense International in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and individual assessment and intervention work. Alongside this, I worked in part-time clinical therapist roles at Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Wolfson Neurodisability Service (epilepsy, vision and autism) until 2023.

As a NatSIP Associate, I worked with the National Sensory Impairment Partnership, leading development of the online Sensory Learning Hub and writing guidance for practitioners starting out with learners with sensory impairment. I contributed projects developing intervenor service standards and outcome measures for children and young people with Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI).

In 2018 the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists appointed me a national advisor for multi-sensory impairment, a role advising both fellow SLTs and the College itself.

I relocated to Melbourne in 2024 and have kept working with UK clients through telehealth and remote consultation, using video analysis and a coaching approach to support teams, and offering supervision to professionals.

Right now I'm developing and piloting a framework for bodily-tactile communication and tactile sign language. You can find out more about the Tactile Framework project if you'd like to get involved.