• Chair of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
  (October 2022 to present)
• Deputy Chair of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
  (October 2020 to October 2022)
• RCSLT Nominations Committee
  Chair. Committee to advise the Board on appointments, with a view to encouraging diversity on the Board and within RCSLT committees
  (January 2022 to present)
• Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
  Practising Member www.rcslt.org
  (September 1995 to present)
• RCSLT Clinical Excellence Network Trans and Gender Diverse Voice & Communication
  Member (since 11/11/2015), Committee member and Vice Chair (03/04/2019 to present)
• RCSLT Professional Practice and Policy Committee
  (December 2021 to October 2022)
• British Association of Gender Identity Specialists (BAGIS)
  Member https://www.bagis.co.uk/
  (17/09/2019 to present)
• World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
  (21/03/2022 to present)
• RCSLT Digital Strategy Oversight Committee
  Committee member
  (August 2015 to March 2020)
  (Committee disbanded after digital transformation project completed and embedded)
• Health & Care Professions Council
  HCPC Registered http://www.hpc-uk.org/

I teach on the BSc (Hons) / Integrated Masters Speech and Language Therapy pre-qualification programme  The programme offers an Integrated Masters route in the optional fourth year.

I am Admissions Officer for the pre-registration HCPC approved Speech and Language Therapy BSc (Hons) and Integrated Masters programmes.

I am an academic adviser to a group of students on the programme.

Current BSc (Hons) / Integrated Masters Speech and Language Therapy Degree Programme Teaching:

Year 1 students:

• HCDI 10200 Clinical & Professional Practice: Speech and Language Therapy in the context of Bilingualism

Year 2 students:

• HCDI 20100 Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics: Clinical Phonetics Teaching; SLCN in the context of Bilingualism; Transgender Voice & Communication change

• HCDI 20321 Developmental Speech & Language Disorders A: Speech Sound Disorders

• HCDI 20200 Clinical and Professional Practice

• Blended Clinic Simulation (Design contributor)

Year 3 students:

• HCDI 30321 Developmental Speech and Language Disorders B: Complex and Severe Speech Sound Disorders
• HCDI30531 Clinical Research 3

Year 4 (Master's Level) students:

• HCDI41430 Working with bilingual children and their families
• HCDI 63531 Working with bilingual children and their families e-Learning course

Post-Graduate Teaching

• MSc/PGDip Deaf Education programme - Clinical Phonetics
• HSST module Audiology Practice (Adolescents & Children) -  Impact of OME on Speech Communication Seminar
• Supervision of Master's Student - Social Communication Conditions and Trans Voice & Communication Change
• HCDI 63531 Working with bilingual children and their families e-Learning course

Pre-Doctoral Supervision

• Supervision of a NIHR ARC Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Student - Deaf Children with SLCN in a Bilingual Context (September 2021 to present)

Previous four year NHS bursery funded programme teaching (2014-2020):

• HCDI 20/ 30/40 060 Professional and Clinical Studies
• HCDI 20/ 30/40 400 Clinical Practice
• HCDI 20990 Clinical Phonetics
• HCDI 31001 Clinical Linguistics II - Bilingualism
• HCDI 40100 Advanced Study Option
• HCDI 41031 Developmental Language Disorders II - Bilingualism
  
  

I was the Lead for Clinical Education, overseeing clinical placements (2014-2018). As part of this role I provided training days for speech and language therapists who provide clinical placement experience as clinical educators in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University Clinical Lead staff.

Voice & communication workshops (Voice coaching)

From February 2016 to February 2020 I worked in partnership with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans foundation (LGBT foundation) to provide award-winning Voice and communication workshops for trans and gender non-binary individuals. The aim of these workshops was to provide evidence-based information to trans people wishing to change their communication. This may involve changing the voice pitch (frequency), resonance, articulation style, use of language and non-verbal communication (also known as 'body language'). The workshops provided information on safe changes, as some non-professional online advice may risk damage to the vocal folds.

The workshops were typically delivered as intensive weekend group events at the LGBT Foundation in Manchester's Gay Village and involved student speech and language therapists studying on the BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy degree programme at The University of Manchester. We have also welcomed student volunteers from Manchester Metropolitan University, Sheffield University, Leeds University and De Montford University. This involvement encouraged students to feel confident supporting people from the Trans community.

Volunteering
This service is now offered via an NHS commissioned service, The Indigo Gender Service. We continue to offer volunteering opportunities to both student speech and language therapists, and qualified speech and language therapists looking to widen their clinical experience with trans and gender diverse people. Please see the application guide here.

NHS Commissioning Consultation

I have advised the NHS on the provision of speech and language therapy for the planned Greater Manchester Transgender Health Service care community care pathway.

LGBTQ+ Social Responsibility: Out in the Valley and Happy Valley Pride

I am a trustee for Out in the Valley, a social group for LGBTQ+ people and allies who live in Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Todmorden and the Calder Valley (February 2020 to present). We believe that a supportive and inclusive group improves mental wellbeing. We continued our meetings online during the UK lockdowns, providing quizzes, book clubs, poetry reading and other social events.

I volunteered for the Happy Valley Pride annual LGBT Festival centred in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire since it's launch in 2016. The week long festival is run by volunteers as a not for profit organisation. I joined the Board of Trustees in May 2018 and chaired the Youth Engagement Committee. The committee encouraged children and young people to participate in the festival through art. I finished my term with Happy Valley Pride in January 2020 following the successful organisation of the Information Fair and engaging with local primary and secondary schools in the Calder valley.

Staff LGBTQ+ Allies Training

I take part in training sessions for LGBTQ+ allies, as part of the University of Manchester LGBTQ+ Staff Network.

Gender Identity, Pronouns and Sexuality
I am cis-gender and my pronouns are 'he'/'him'. I am a gay man and strive to be an ally for LGBTQIAA+ people.

Current roles
I am a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Consultant Speech and Language Therapist. As an openly gay man I have a keen interest in diversity, especially:

• Trans & Gender Diverse Voice & Communciation,
• Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in a Monolingual English and Bilingual Contexts, and
• LGBTQIA+ representation in the Speech and Language Therapy profession.
• Increased diversity in the Speech and Language Therapy profession, including Black, Asian, and Ethically Diverse people, and people with disabilities.

Employment and consultancy

• I teach two days a week at the University of Manchester.
• I am seconded two days a week as a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist for the Indigo Gender Service in Greater Manchester.
• I am seconded a day a week in my role as Chair of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• I am a consultant on the Heather Van der Lely Foundation funded BEST programme evaluation, known as the LIVELY project, This is a randomised control trial on early language intervention for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
  We are working to research efficacy of interventions in home language with bilingual children speaking Pakistani heritage (Mirpuri, Punjabi and Urdu), Bangladeshi heritage (Sylheti) and Polish languages.

Clinical Experience
I have over 27 years' experience as a speech and language therapist, having worked in the NHS for almost 20 years and in Higher Education for over eight years. I have worked as a specialist speech and language therapist, service manager and student co-ordinator. Clinically I have worked with:

• Trans and non-binary adults on voice and communication change
• Bilingual children with speech sound disorder (SSD) and developmental language disorder (DLD), and their families
• Children with severe speech sound disorder (SSD) and developmental language disorder (DLD)

Specialist Training
I have extensive experience providing both in-person and online training to speech and language therapists, including students, returners to the profession and whole department training on:

• Speech and Language Disorder in a bilingual context (children and young people)
• Transcription of speech and disordered speech (International Phonetic Alphabets)
• The assessment, analysis, diagnosis and treatment of speech sound disorders in children.

Clinical Specialism:
Trans and Gender Diverse Voice & Communication
I lead the Voice and Communication Therapy (VCT) Service in Greater Manchester as part of the Indigo Gender Service. The service has a co-production group and is trans-led to ensure that all care is trans-positive. Many of our staff identify as trans or non-binary, and/or are LGBTQIAA+, and all staff strive to be trans allies. The service is one of three Primary Care Pilot Services set up in England by NHS England.

I am an Specialist Adviser on Trans and Gender Diverse Voice & Communication for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

I developed the NHS commissioned service from an initial voluntary service provision provided in partnership with the LGBT Foundation Trans Programme (Winner of the RCSLT Sternberg Award, 2017 with Louie Stafford and UoM Making a Difference Award 2017 and the Staff Volunteer of the Year 2018). 

I am the Vice Chair of the RCSLT Clinical Excellence Network (CEN) and we encourage practitioners to join our network for training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), support and clinical supervision.

I have recently completed the PG Cert in Gender Identity Healthcare Practice at the University of London. This allowed me to shadow the multi-disciplinary team and gain a deeper understanding of the barriers trans and non-binary people face when accessing healthcare.

Clinical Specialism (Children and Young People):
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and DLD and Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) in a Bilingual Context
I collaborated with Professor Cristina McKean, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and Dr Carol Stow fRCSLT (Retired) to design a language intervention for children with severe language difficulties, Building Early Sentences Therapy (BEST, Winner of the RCSLT Sternberg Award, with Dr Cristina McKean and Dr Carol Stow, 2012).

I worked with Dr Carol Stow, fRCSLT (Retired) to deliver a home-language highly specialist service for bilingual children and their families in the NHS in North West England.

As part of our PhD studies, we published bilingual assessments for speech sound disorder (BiSSS, Joint Winner of the RCSLT Sternberg Award with Dr Carol Stow, 2005) and language disorder (BASS) in Pakistani heritage languages (Mirpuri, Punjabi and Urdu).

In addition to my research publications, I have written advice leafets for the charity Afasic on Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Speech Disorders, Inconsistent Speech Disorder, Language Disorder and Bilingualism (2016).

I am a Specialist Adviser for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists on Speech Sound Disorder (SDD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in a Bilingual Context.

National Clinical Guidelines (RCSLT)

• I was the lead author on the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' Clinical Guidelines on Bilingualism
• I contributed to the RCSLT Trans and Gender Diverse Voice and Communication Therapy Competency Framework. 

Key Awards

• I have been the joint winner of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' Sternberg Award for Clinical Innovation on an unprecedented three occasions.
  
• I have also won awards for teaching, volunteering and media.
• Please see the Prizes section for full details.

2020-2021 The University of London
Postgraduate Certificate in Gender Identity Healthcare Practice
Awarded 10th January 2022
Modules completed:

• GIM400 Practicum 1
• GIM010 Fundamental Ideas in Gender Identity and Diversity
• GIM030 Clinical Responses to Gender Dysphoria Part 1
• GIM020 Gender diversity in the context of Society Part 1

2020 The University of Manchester
Senior Fellow of the AdvanceHE (Formerly The Higher Education Academy)
University of Manchester. Awarded 15th September 2020

2018 University of Manchester
PG Cert in Higher Education

2017 The University of Manchester
Fellow of the AdvanceHE (Formerly The Higher Education Academy)
Completion of the New Academics' Programme (NAP)

2009-2011 University of Salford
PgDip Healthcare management:

• Leading and managing in healthcare organisations
• The 'Me' in leadership
• Leading change for patient and/or service improvement
• Project management and methods of inquiry

2000-2007 University of Newcastle upon Tyne
PhD. Thesis title: Bilingual language development in Pakistani heritage children in Rochdale UK. Intrasentential codeswitching and the Implications for the identification of specific language impairment. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10443/2230

1992 – 1995 Manchester Metropolitan University
BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Pathology
Dissertation: An evaluation of the dysarthria profile (revised) with reference to cerebral vascular accident, head injury, motor neurone disease client groups (Dissertation supervised by Sandra Robertson MScLCEST Reg.MCST LLCM), May 1995. Available at: http://www.speechtherapy.co.uk/PDF/1995SPertDissertation.pdf

Language Intervention in the Early Years (LIVELY) https://research.ncl.ac.uk/lively/

• Professor Cristina McKean
• Dr Carolyn Letts
• Dr Helen Stringer
• Dr Helen Wareham
• Dr Christine Jack

Professor Cristina McKean, Newcastle University on the Building Early Sentences Therapy (BEST) early language remediation package.

LIVELY Project pre-registration
McKean, C., Benson, K., Jack, C., Letts, C.A., Pert, S., Preston, E., Trebacz, A., Stringer, H., Wareham, H., (2020) ISRCTN10974028: Language intervention in the Early Years - comparing the effectiveness of language intervention approaches for pre-school children with language difficultiesISRCTN https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN10974028

Ludovica Serratrice, Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) on Research-based answers to the needs of practitioners working with multilingual children.