Veuillez noter que la langue des descriptions correspond à celle des affiches.
📄 Prosodie affective et maladie de Parkinson : mieux comprendre pour mieux intervenir
Orthophoniste de formation et actuellement étudiante au doctorat en sciences de la réadaptation à l’Université Laval, Héloïse Baglione s’intéresse au fonctionnement de la prosodie affective, tant dans le cadre du vieillissement normal que pathologique et plus précisément dans le contexte des pathologies neurologiques acquises du vieillissement (ex. Maladie de Parkinson).
📄 Will a Preliminary Hearing Protocol Improve Access to Hearing Care in a Transitional Care Setting?
Kara is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – Bickle Centre, University Health Network. She has over a decade of experience supporting adults with swallowing and communication disorders across rehabilitation, complex continuing care, and transitional care. Kara has developed and led innovative programs to address service gaps, most recently collaborating with Communicative Disorders Assistant colleagues to establish hearing screening and support services at TRI-Bickle. In addition to her hospital role, she maintains a private practice, applying medical speech pathology principles to corporate communication coaching. Kara is a proponent of simple, practical interventions that create meaningful improvements in healthcare.
Nicole is a Speech-Language Pathologist (Reg. CASLPO) in Ontario. She works with preschool- and school-aged children, treating speech and language disorders, as well as adults treating dysphagia. In 2023, Nicole began at the University of Toronto to pursue research under the direction of Dr Karla N Washintgon. She is now a PhD candidate in the Paediatric Language, Learning & Speech (PedLLS) Outcomes Lab exploring speech and language development in and across monolingual and multilingual contexts.
📄 Oral Health Interventions for Persons with Dementia: A Systematic Review
Camryn is a Speech-Language Pathology student at Dalhousie University in her final year of the program. Her graduate research project was completed under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Affoo in the Oral Health & Swallowing Research Lab. Camryn earned her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Mental Health from Carleton University. Her current areas of interest are augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and motor speech disorders.
Roxanne Bélanger est professeure adjointe à l’École d’orthophonie de l’Université Laurentienne. Comme orthophoniste, elle possède 23 ans d’expérience en néonatologie et en pédiatrie. Elle a travaillé au sein d’équipes interdisciplinaires auprès d’enfants d’âge préscolaire et scolaire présentant des troubles de la communication et de la déglutition. Ses recherches portent sur les mécanismes sous-jacents à l’acquisition du langage et sur le rôle de l’environnement dans son apprentissage.
Elle se concentre sur le développement typique du langage, de l’attention et des fonctions exécutives chez l’enfant, ainsi que sur le dépistage précoce du Trouble développemental du langage (TDL). Ce travail interdisciplinaire intègre des connaissances issues de la psychologie, des troubles de la communication, de la linguistique, de la psychologie cognitive et du développement.
📄 Development of the Western-DHH Spoken Language Assessment Tool
Rachel Benninger is a PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Speech-Language Sciences) at Western University. She holds a master’s in Developmental Psychology from the University of Waterloo and a master’s in Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology) from Western University.
Rachel’s doctoral research focuses on the co-development of a spoken-language assessment tool for Specialist Teachers of the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing to support the oral language skills of their DHH students.
Ashley Benoit is a Master of Health Sciences student in Speech-Language Pathology at Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. Her thesis research examines French language development in minority daycare settings, specifically investigating how combined professional development for early childhood educators and parental awareness initiatives impact language outcomes for children aged 18-48 months in francophone minority communities.
As a bilingual speech-language pathologist-in-training, Ashley’s work addresses critical gaps in supporting French-language acquisition in Ontario’s minority-language contexts. Her research spans 11 French minority daycare centers in Sudbury, employing rigorous linguistic profiling methods to evaluate intervention effectiveness.
Ashley’s academic interests centre on evidence-based pediatric language intervention, bilingual language assessment, and family-centred care approaches. Her work contributes to understanding how collaborative educator training and parental engagement strategies can strengthen language development outcomes in early childhood settings, with particular relevance for francophone minority populations across Canada.
Rebekah grew up in Halifax, NS, and she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Health from St. Francis Xavier University in 2023, majoring in Biomedical Health and minoring in the Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity. After graduating, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Strengthening Transitions in Care Lab at IWK Health and volunteered at the Autism Research Centre and Ronald McDonald House Atlantic.
Rebekah is currently in her second year of the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program at Dalhousie University, where she is enrolled in the thesis stream. Her thesis focuses on caregiver and service provider perspectives regarding the provision of social communication services for autistic children in Nova Scotia. Rebekah is also a Research Assistant at the Child Language and Literacy (CLIC) Lab at Dalhousie University and serves as the master’s thesis student representative on the student council.
Eniola is a second-year Speech-Language Pathology student at McMaster University, where she also earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour. During her undergraduate studies, she completed research training at the Centre for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics (ARiEAL). Her interests include social communication and cognitive communication disorders. Eniola looks forward pursuing a career as a clinician-researcher, contributing to the translation of evidence into practice to make meaningful differences in clients’ lives.
Brianna is a Speech-Language Pathologist with a passion for supporting adults with aphasia and community-based services. Brianna is the lead for the SAM Program (Simulation, Activation, Motivation) providing group-based interventions that promote functional communication, social connection, and meaningful participation in everyday life for adults living with aphasia. This rewarding work allows her to work as part of a multidisciplinary team, focused on person and family centred care. Working for SE Health in community care, she pairs her passion for gerontology with helping people live fully in their own homes. Brianna works closely with clients, families, and community partners to support communication beyond traditional therapy contexts. In addition, she provides swallowing support and education for patients with the goal of supporting independence and health at home.
Her clinical interests include life participation approaches to aphasia, accessible communication, and strengthening the bridge between clinical services and long-term community supports.
Noémie Bouchard est étudiante en première année de maitrise en orthophonie à l’Université Laurentienne. Sa recherche se porte sur l’enseignement explicite du vocabulaire de niveau 2 auprès des enfants d’âge préscolaire en contexte minoritaire. Son projet est d’adapter en français un programme d’intervention ciblant des mots de niveau 2. Il s’appuie sur la mise en place d’un protocole de lecture interactive structuré visant à soutenir l’acquisition du vocabulaire dès la maternelle. L’étude vise à mesurer l’efficacité de cette intervention en lecture au moyen d’un pré-test, d’une phase d’intervention, d’un post-test immédiat et d’un post-test différé. Elle se concentre sur l’effet des stratégies d’enseignement explicite utilisée sur l’acquisition du nouveau vocabulaire.
Elle est aussi gardienne de but sur l’équipe de soccer féminin de l’Université Laurentienne et elle contribue dans plusieurs aspects de sa communauté.
Myriam est étudiante à la maîtrise en sciences de la réadaptation à l’Université Laval. Elle réalise présentement un projet de recherche s’intéressant à l’influence du genre sur la compréhension de la prosodie affective sous la supervision de Vincent Martel-Sauvageau, Ph.D. et Laura Monetta, Ph.D. Elle a obtenu son diplôme de maîtrise professionnelle en orthophonie à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières en 2021. Avant de reprendre ses études en recherche en 2025, elle a oeuvré principalement dans le milieu hospitalier et en réadaptation intensive auprès d’une clientèle adulte présentant des difficultés de déglutition ou de communication.
Elle baigne dans le milieu de la recherche en orthophonie depuis 2018 où elle a débuté une collaboration en tant qu’auxiliaire de recherche avec le Dr Martel-Sauvageau. Tant en recherche que sur le plan clinique, elle s’intéresse aux troubles de la déglutition et de la communication touchant des adultes vivant avec des troubles neurologiques.
Pam is a speech-language pathologist working in Halifax, NS. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Pam earned a Master of Science in Human Communication Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology) from Dalhousie University. During their graduate studies, they completed a master’s thesis examining the effects of testosterone on the voice, supported by the SAC Research Grant. As a trans researcher and clinician, Pam is passionate about advancing the literature on trans voice and serving their community by providing accessible, individualized, and client-centred gender-affirming voice care.
📄 What Children Want from School-Based Support: Implications for Speech-Language Pathology
Amelia recently completed her Master of Science in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, where her research explored school-based rehabilitation services from the perspectives of children and youth with disabilities. She is especially interested in how rehabilitation and education can work together to create more inclusive and supportive school environments. Amelia has also worked as a research assistant on Partnering for Change, a project focused on bringing tiered school-based occupational therapy services into practice.
She is passionate about amplifying the voices of children and youth and helping shape approaches that reflect their experiences.
Dr Caty is a speech-language pathologist and Full Professor at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. As a clinician, she first worked with diverse client populations presenting fluency, resonance, and voice disorders, as well as individuals treated for head and neck cancer. She later completed a PhD in health rehabilitation sciences at Western University in 2014. Her scholarly work lies at the intersection of health professional education and clinical speech-language pathology, with a particular focus on innovation and the transformation of professional practices. Her research program examines the role of reflective processes in shaping training pathways and professional competencies among health practitioners.
Dr Caty also conducts clinical research on innovative approaches to care for individuals with head and neck cancer. Her projects involve extensive collaboration with interdisciplinary research teams and a wide range of clinical and community partners.
📄 Will a Preliminary Hearing Protocol Improve Access to Hearing Care in a Transitional Care Setting?
Gabrielle is a Communicative Disorders Assistant at the Toronto Rehab Institute-Bickle Centre, University Health Network. She has experience providing speech and language therapy to adults in rehabilitation, transitional care, and complex continuing care settings. Gabrielle is actively involved in expanding hearing health services at her site, contributing to the development and growth of the Hearing Health Team to better support patients with communication and hearing needs. She is passionate about delivering patient centered care, often collaborating within interdisciplinary teams to create meaningful and functional therapy experiences.
Olivia is an Assistant Professor at The University of Western Ontario. Her research focuses on developing useful and useable assessment procedures for preschool-aged children with language difficulties. She is particularly interested in co-developing feasible approaches to outcome monitoring with practicing clinicians.
Christine Darko is a second-year Speech-Language Pathology graduate student at the University of Alberta. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, she conducted undergraduate research in respiratory physiology and later applied this knowledge to clinical areas of speech-language pathology, including dysphagia, which sparked her research interest in that area. Under the supervision of Dr Pooja Gandhi, Christine’s thesis focuses on examining dysphagia-specific items within patient-reported outcome measures used to identify non-motor symptoms in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.
Her research aims to better understand how dysphagia is represented in existing assessment tools and to inform more comprehensive evaluation practices for Parkinson’s disease populations.
📄 Autism Terminology: Perspectives from Autism Communities and Speech-Language Pathologists
Corrin Doucette is a second-year graduate student studying Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto. Corrin’s clinical and research interests primarily focus on Autism and neurodiversity in Speech-Language Pathology, and she’s particularly interested in how SLPs can provide inclusive, child-led, and evidence-based care for these populations.
Born and raised in PEI, Corrin now calls Ontario home and is excited to continue growing as a clinician upon graduating from UMaine.
Elizabeth is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. She is a registered Speech-Language Pathologist, with a background practicing in schools in Manitoba, Canada. Her research interests include approaches to support the belonging and well-being of middle and high school students with neurodevelopmental disabilities in school settings.
Elizabeth’s current work focuses on neurodiversity awareness/acceptance programs. She is also exploring how school-based programs that promote this can be understood and strengthened using implementation science frameworks.
Amra Hasanovic est orthophoniste clinicienne et étudiante au doctorat en sciences de la réadaptation à l’Université Laval (Québec). Ses principaux intérêts en recherche comprennent le vieillissement, les maladies neurodégénératives et la cognition humaine. Dans le cadre de ses études doctorales, elle s’intéresse aux difficultés de production orale de mots dans l’aphasie primaire progressive (variante logopénique).
📄 Cultural & Linguistic Diversity in Canadian S-LP University Programs
Janelle is a Speech-Language Pathology graduate student at the University of Alberta. Her interests in cultural diversity and inclusion in clinical practice are informed by both lived experience and professional training.
She is deeply committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within clinical and research settings.
Fatemeh is a first-year PhD student in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto and a paediatric speech-language pathologist trained in Iran. She works in the Pediatric Language, Learning, and Speech (PedLLS) Outcomes Lab under the supervision of Dr Karla N. Washington. Fatemeh holds a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and brings several years of clinical experience supporting children with late talking and developmental language disorder (DLD). Her research focuses on understanding why some late talkers go on to develop DLD, with the goal of improving early identification and intervention pathways.
Fatemeh is passionate about bridging research, innovation, and clinical practice to enhance outcomes for children with language delays. She is committed to developing as a clinical researcher whose work strengthens evidence-based assessment and intervention for young children and their families.
Caitlyne est étudiante en deuxième année de maîtrise en orthophonie à l’Université Laurentienne, à Sudbury (Ontario). Son projet de recherche porte sur l’efficacité de la communication en suppléance à la communication (SC) chez les enfants francophones vivant en contexte minoritaire. À partir d’un corpus de transcriptions scolaires, Caitlyne analyse les groupements de vocabulaire utilisés par les enfants bilingues, en intégrant les séquences produites en alternance de code (français et anglais). Cette approche innovante permet de regrouper des variantes linguistiques différentes mais équivalentes sur le plan du sens, afin de mieux refléter la communication réelle des enfants en milieu bilingue. Les résultats permettront d’élaborer une liste représentative de groupements de mots utiles pour la programmation des appareils de SC destinés aux enfants ayant des besoins complexes en communication.
En parallèle, Caitlyne développe ses compétences cliniques dans divers contextes, incluant le milieu scolaire, hospitalier et communautaire.
Dr Kim is Professor and Interim Dean of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. She is a speech-language pathologist with over 25 years of experience working with adults with acquired communication disorders. Her research and clinical interests focus on developing interventions and programming to improve participation for people living with communication disorders. She is the co-founder of the Alberta Aphasia Camp and the Corbett Aphasia Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) program, two Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) based initiatives serving individuals affected by aphasia.
She is passionate about communication accessibility and has collaborated with colleagues, students and people with lived experience of aphasia to advocate for increased awareness and access for individuals living with communication difficulties.
📄 Influences of Internal and External Factors on Language Skills in Farsi-English Bilingual Children
Dr Komeili is an Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science. She is a licensed and certified clinical Speech-Language Pathologist (S-LP) with over twelve years of experience working with children and families across Canada, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and with a range of neurodevelopmental differences. Dr Komeili earned her BSc in Psychology from York University and completed her MSc and PhD in the United Kingdom.
Her research focuses on developing and implementing culturally and linguistically responsive assessment and intervention tools for multilingual individuals with communication disorders. A key aim of her work is to bridge research and practice, creating tools and strategies that are directly applicable and useful for clinicians, educators, and families.
📄 Cultural & Linguistic Diversity in Canadian S-LP University Programs
Dr Lin is an assistant professor of the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. Their research interests include lifelong speech and language development of bilingual individuals and the workforce diversity in the field of speech-language pathology. As a former international student in a Canadian S-LP program themself, they hope to contribute to the diversification and globalization of our profession with their research, services, and advocacy.
Shannan is a speech-language pathologist with over 25 years of clinical experience across the continuum of care working with adults who have acquired communication disorders. She is a research associate and clinical educator in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Alberta. Shannan is interested in clinically relevant qualitative and implementation research that advances clinical practice in speech-language pathology, especially for adults living with aphasia.
Dr Matthews is a speech-language pathologist and an assistant professor at the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at McGill University. Her research focuses on developing effective interventions for children with severe speech sound disorders and conducting community-based participatory research on the relationship between income inequality and literacy outcomes in the homes of Black families in the greater Montreal area and rural North Carolina. Her goals are to foster research engagement in the Black community and to create reading programs, inclusive e-books, and applications that capture children’s interest.
Chantal Mayer-Crittenden est orthophoniste, membre en règle de l’Ordre des audiologistes et des orthophonistes de l’Ontario depuis 2002, et professeure agrégée à l’École d’orthophonie de l’Université Laurentienne. Ses recherches portent sur le maintien des langues minoritaires, l’impact du bilinguisme sur les enfants ayant un trouble développemental du langage, et l’enseignement d’un vocabulaire riche et diversifié. Elle collabore avec des conseils scolaires et des centres de la petite enfance pour former le personnel enseignant et les personnes éducatrices aux meilleures pratiques en enseignement d’une langue minoritaire.
Fondatrice de botte-boot.com et de vocabplus.ca, elle contribue activement à l’avancement des connaissances en orthophonie dans des contextes bilingues et minoritaires.
Emma acknowledges the history that allows her the privilege of living on Taungurung Land, in Heathcote, Victoria, Australia. Her PhD investigated why Australian speech pathologists leave their jobs or the profession. She has co-authored peer-reviewed papers covering topics including the use of EMST in speech pathology, fibre endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, and undertaking problem-based learning online.
Emma has been a speech pathologist, supporting adults with communication and swallowing needs for 30 years.
Dr Molnar received her PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders from McGill University, where she specialized in the cognitive and linguistic foundations of human communication. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech‑Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. Her research examines how bilingual and monolingual individuals develop and use cognitive and linguistic skills across the lifespan. Her interdisciplinary research integrates psycholinguistics, cognitive science, and clinical considerations to better understand how language experience shapes performance and how assessment tools can be improved to serve all communities fairly.
📄 Exploring the Pragmatic Profile of Young Children Using a Newly Developed Task
Gabrielle is a speech-language pathologist working with the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education in Nova Scotia. She completed a Master of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders at Dalhousie University in 2025. She received the 2023 Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s Program (CGS-M) for her thesis research involving the assessment of pragmatic skills in school-age children. She was also the recipient of the Grace Margaret Harris and Isabel Richard Scholarship from Speech-Language and Audiology Canada in 2024/2025.
Gabrielle prides herself on tailoring her programming to the unique needs and goals of the children she works with and enjoys contributing to the growing evidence base that supports and advances the field of speech-language pathology.
Angela works in private-practice, at Centrepointe Professional Services in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a partial-load professor in the Communicative Disorders Assistant program at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. She was recently honoured with SAC’s Communication Health Assistant Award of Excellence. As a consumer researcher, Angela has played a central role in the Caregivers’ Experiences of Accessing Speech-Language Pathology for Children with CAS research study.
Her combined roles, as SLP-A, educator, advocate, presenter, researcher, and parent have informed her meaningful contributions to the research design, data analysis, manuscript and dissemination of the study. Angela serves on SAC’s Communication Health Assistant Advisory Group, and Awards and Recognition Committee.
Alice Mybui est étudiante à l’Université Laurentienne à Sudbury, en Ontario. Elle détient un baccalauréat en sciences de la santé en orthophonie et poursuit actuellement une maîtrise en orthophonie. Ses intérêts portent sur le développement du langage chez les jeunes enfants, en particulier dans les milieux francophones et bilingues. Son parcours comprend une expérience en recherche axée sur l’acquisition du vocabulaire chez les enfants d’âge préscolaire, notamment à travers des interventions de lecture partagée.
Elle a également participé à une présentation de projet réalisée conjointement avec une collègue en orthophonie lors de la 32e Journée des sciences et des savoirs de l’ACFAS à Sudbury en mars 2025, où leur affiche a reçu le prix de la meilleure affiche. En parallèle de ses études, elle a acquis une expérience significative auprès d’enfants et de populations vulnérables.
Dr Ning holds a PhD in Translation and Language Sciences from Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain). Her dissertation examined the acquisition of Catalan as a third language by adult learners of Chinese origin, shaped both by Catalonia’s unique sociolinguistic landscape and their native language and cultural background. Currently a postdoctoral fellow in the PedLLs Lab, funded by the CIHR and US NIH, her research investigates the neural mechanisms underlying late talking in toddlers and developmental language disorder (DLD) in preschool-aged children.
She is particularly interested in the interplay between early language delays and long-term developmental outcomes, using neuroimaging and computational approaches to uncover predictive biomarkers of DLD and inform early detection and intervention strategies.
Isabella Nucci is a first-year doctoral student at Western University pursuing a combined degree in a clinical master’s of Speech-Language Pathology and a PhD in Speech and Language Science. Supervised by Dr Lisa Archibald, Isabella’s doctoral research focuses on promoting literacy skills in struggling young readers by examining the efficacy of various reading intervention protocols. Isabella completed her undergraduate degree at Western, with an honours specialization in Health Sciences and a major in Linguistics.
Dr Noyes is an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at the University of Saskatchewan. She recently earned her PhD from Penn State, where her research centered on emotional development and mental health supports for individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Dr. Noyes has authored two peer-reviewed publications on mental health supports for AAC users and has presented her work at six national and international conferences. Most recently, she led a webinar hosted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) focused on supporting the mental health needs of AAC users.
While her primary focus is on mental health supports for individuals who use AAC, Dr Noyes’s work is grounded in a commitment to improving the quality of life for AAC users. She approached this project with the belief that more inclusive research practices will lead to more meaningful, person-centered outcomes, which will ultimately result in greater improvements in quality of life for AAC users.
📄 Development of a Novel Multi-deviant Paradigm to Investigate Temporal Resolution Ability
Shaghayegh Omidvar is a PhD candidate in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research bridges auditory neuroscience and clinical audiology. She studies temporal processing and the brain mechanisms that support perception of rapid changes in sound. Using electroencephalography (EEG) and auditory evoked potentials, especially mismatch responses, she examines how the brain detects silent gaps in sound in adults, typically developing children, and children with auditory processing disorder (APD). Her work is distinct from many prior studies that place the gap only in the middle of the stimulus. She developed a paradigm in which gap onset time varies across the stimulus duration. This design better reflects the dips and brief interruptions that occur in everyday speech.
Her goal is to improve objective markers of auditory temporal resolution and help translate lab measures into clinically useful tools for assessment and intervention planning.
Megan is a PhD student in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University, conducting research into the assessment of bilingual children’s reading skills under the supervision of Dr Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero (Dalhousie University) and Dr Monika Molnar (University of Toronto). Megan earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nottingham and completed her Master’s degree in Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests and experience focus on bilingualism, literacy and language acquisition in children.
📄 Déficits syntaxiques acquis - portrait des pratiques cliniques des orthophonistes francophones
Sarah-Ève est orthophoniste et candidate au doctorat en sciences de la réadaptation à l’Université Laval, à Québec. Ses travaux portent sur la rééducation des difficultés de production de phrases chez les adultes ayant subi un accident vasculaire cérébral. En parallèle, elle s’implique dans des projets concernant l’accessibilité communicationnelle des services de proximité (ex.: pharmacies, cafés, épiceries, banques) pour les personnes ayant des difficultés de communication.
📄 How Effective is Language Intervention for Children with Cleft Lip and Palate: A Systematic Review
Alison is a certified practising speech pathologist and the inaugural Professor of Speech Pathology in the School of Health, Western Sydney University, Australia. Alison’s research is designed to improve outcomes for children that have lifelong communication difficulties resulting from structural differences such as hearing impairment, cleft palate, and childhood apraxia of speech. Her research has also targeted how to improve the structural inequities that many children with communication difficulties encounter.
📄 Toward Culturally and Linguistically Adapted S-LP Care for the Atikamekw Nation
Amélie is a speech-language pathologist and PhD student in Rehabilitation Sciences. Her clinical and academic work focuses on acquired communication disorders in adults, particularly following stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. She also maintains a regular clinical practice with Innu patients in Northern Québec.
Amélie has a strong interest in the accessibility, cultural relevance, and linguistic adaptation of speech-language pathology services. Her doctoral research aims to improve speech-language pathology services for individuals with acquired communication disorders in the Atikamekw Nation in Québec. She also has teaching experience in post-stroke aphasia, bilingual and culturally responsive practices, and in the clinical supervision of master’s students in speech-language pathology.
Dr Thomas is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and a member of Speech Pathology Australia. She is a lecturer, clinical educator, and researcher at the University of Sydney. Her research program focuses on intervention for children with motor speech disorders, particularly childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), and on speech pathology practice education. Dr Thomas is strongly committed to supporting the translation of evidence based interventions into everyday clinical practice.
Alongside treatment research, she employs qualitative and mixed methods approaches to examine the experiences and perspectives of caregivers and clinicians involved in speech-language pathology services. Through this work, she aims to advance clinically relevant research that informs best practice, enhances service delivery, and ensures interventions are effective, feasible, and responsive to the needs of children, families, and practicing speech pathologists.
📄 Linguistic and Cognitive Predictors of Language Proficiency in Multilingual Children
Dr Veic completed her PhD in auditory and linguistic processing in autism at the University of Reading. During the final year of her PhD, she worked on a multidisciplinary project that studied the experiences and identities of autistic girls at the University of Surrey. She was also a Research Assistant at Middlesex University, where she examined the barriers to help-seeking among Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel.
Until October 2024, Ana was based at the University of Cambridge, where she conducted research on scalable, low-cost interventions to improve medication adherence among individuals prescribed hypertension treatment.
Ana is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iceland, focusing on examining multilingualism in children, specifically the acquisition of Icelandic as a second or third language.
📄 Neuroimaging in Paediatric Language Research: Practical Considerations and Preliminary Evidence
Dr Washington is an associate professor and board-certified specialist in child language development and disorders at the University of Toronto, Department of Speech-Language Pathology. She directs the Paediatric Language, Learning, and Speech (PedLLS) Outcomes Lab that focuses research and clinical interests on speech-language development for monolingual and multilingual preschoolers. Her research, which has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), characterizes language learning and use in typical and disordered contexts with a particular interest in understanding how the child’s contextual factors are related to their outcomes. Dr Washington is an ASHA Fellow and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2, CIHR).
