Engage with Developmental Language Disorder
In collaboration with
About us
E-DLD was co-founded by three academics: Dr Michelle St Clair, Dr Jenny Gibson and Professor Nicola Botting. We have been researching language difficulties for many years. Each of us has faced stumbling blocks when carrying out research into DLD.
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Low public awareness of DLD makes it hard to invite people to take part in research.
Fewer studies into DLD means lower understanding by families and professionals.
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We wanted to change this. So we created E-DLD: Informing and empowering families while improving research.
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Meet the
Core E-DLD team
Dr Michelle St-Clair - E-DLD Director
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Michelle is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath. Her research focuses on the long-term outcomes associated with DLD. She is interested in how early language delay and disorder influences long term child and adolescent outcomes. Her research focuses primarily on emotional and social difficulties among young people with DLD.
Prof. Nicola Botting
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Nikki is a Professor at City, University of London. Her research focuses on language impairment, autism, and other developmental disorders. She is particularly keen to know more about the overlap between different disorders and the links between verbal and non-verbal skills.
Dr Suze Leitão
Suze works as an Associate Professor of Speech Pathology and the Director of Graduate Research in the Curtin School of Allied Health in Western Australia. She is particularly interested in developing and evaluating therapy approaches that can be used in by clinicians and families in a range of settings. She grew up in Europe, trained and lived in the UK, and currently lives in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Dr Emily Jackson
Emily is a lecturer, researcher, and undergraduate student course coordinator at Curtin University. She is currently researching assessment practices for people with DLD. This includes people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Emily is passionate about supporting families, clinicians, and teachers to engage with evidence based practice. Emily previously acted as the E-DLD Director 2022-2023.
Dr Jenny Gibson
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Jenny is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Her research explores the links between language and social development. She is particularly interested in the impact of autism and DLD on mental health and social relationships during childhood.
Supporting team
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The E-DLD project is currently supported by Ellie Barker (Placement student, University of Bath) and Annabel Burnley (current PhD student at the University of Bath).
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E-DLD has also been supported by Jason Chan, Jasmine Horsham and Vyara Stoyanova (Placement students, University of Bath), ​Tsz Lok Ng (Placement student, University of Cardiff), Sophie Pharo, Sunny Park, Annabelle Cameron (Undergraduate students, University of Bath) and Dr Vanessa Lloyd-Esenkaya (Previously a PhD candidate, University of Bath).
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Contact us
E-DLD team
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY