Meet your Speech Language Pathologist
I am a registered Speech and Language Pathologist with a special interest in Language Delay (LD) and Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). I obtained my degree in Communication Therapy from the University of Malta (UoM) in 2014. I also studied at Lessius Hogeschool (Thomas More), Antwerp, Belgium as part of an Erasmus exchange in 2012. During my final year I wrote a dissertation which looked into ‘Phonological Awareness Skills of children aged 6 – 8 years’. I obtained my degree in Communication Therapy in 2014.
Once I graduated I also became a member of the Maltese Association of Speech-Language Pathologists (ASLP). This association has helped keep me informed about training courses, continuous professional development (CPD) events as well as the latest research being carried out in the field. In addition, I am also registered with the Maltese Council for the Professions Complementary to Medicine (CPCM).
I decided to further my studies in 2016 and applied for the M.Sc. (Melit) Clinical Speech and Language Sciences course offered by the Communication Therapy department at the UoM. The postgraduate degree allowed us to focus on three main areas of speech and language development namely fluency disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). During my third and final year I worked on my dissertation titled: ‘The Development of a Speech and Language Screening Tool for 3 year-old Maltese Children’. The main inspiration behind this dissertation came from years working as a SLP and receiving referrals for children who either did not need therapy or were referred ‘too late’ because carers were not sure if therapy was needed or not and decided to wait before seeking therapy. The results of the screening tool I developed found that it was both reliable and valid. It also had a high level of sensitivity and specificity making it an efficient tool for screening speech and language skills of 3-year-old children. I graduated from the postgraduate course in December, 2019.
On the 14th February, 2020 I presented my study during a research seminar entitled ‘Showcasing Recent Departmental Postgraduate Research Projects’. This opportunity has enriched me in so many ways. I got to share my study and its outcomes with fellow Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). It also helped me to become a more skilled and confident professional.
