Research output per year
Research output per year
PhD, PGCert (UoL), PGDip, PGCert HE (UoM), BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Pathology, Member of RCSLT, IALP, BAGIS & WPATH, SFHEA; HCPC Registered
UK Professional Body: RCSLT
Other UK professional organisations
International organisations
UK regulatory body
Personal web site
www.speechtherapy.co.uk
The longest running UK web site for speech and language therapists.
Includes knowledge share learning resources on IPA transcription and Speech Sound Disorders (SSD).
I teach on the BSc (Hons) / Integrated Masters Speech and Language Therapy pre-qualification programme.
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:
Year 2 students:
Year 3 students:
Year 4 (Master's Level) students:
Previous / Occasional Teaching
Post-Graduate Teaching
DClinPsy student supervision
Pre-Doctoral Supervision
Previous four year NHS bursery funded programme teaching (2014-2020):
Previous leadership roles
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.
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.
I have been a committee member 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), and am currently the Chair. 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. We now have a successful Theatre Group, Book Group, Social Group and several others.
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.
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:
Employment and consultancy
Clinical Experience
I have almost three decades of experience as a speech and language therapist (1995 to present), having worked in the NHS for almost 20 years and in Higher Education since 2014. I have worked as a highly specialist speech and language therapist, Principal SLT / service manager and student co-ordinator. Clinically I have worked with:
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:
Clinical Specialism:
Trans and Gender Diverse Voice & Communication
I wrote the commissioning document and set up 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 the staff identify as trans or non-binary, and/or are LGBTQIAA+, and all staff strive to be trans allies. The service was one of three Primary Care Pilot Services set up in England by NHS England and is now fully commissioned following excellent service user feedback.
I am an Specialist Adviser on Trans and Gender Diverse Voice & Communication for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2019 to present).
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 was a committee member and Deputy Chair of the RCSLT Clinical Excellence Network (CEN) (11/11/2015 to 28/03/2024), encouraging practitioners to join the network for training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), support and clinical supervision. I remain a member of the CEN and clinical adviser.
I have 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 (March 2004 to present).
National Clinical Guidelines (RCSLT)
Key Awards
2020-2021 The University of London
Postgraduate Certificate in Gender Identity Healthcare Practice
Awarded 10th January 2022
Modules completed:
2020 The University of Manchester
Senior Fellow of the AdvanceHE (Formerly The Higher Education Academy)
University of Manchester. Awarded 15th September 2020
2020 The Open University
Take your teaching online. Completed 29th June 2020
OpenLearn Free course
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:
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, 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.
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Postgraduate Diploma, Postgraduate Certificate in Gender Identity Healthcare Practice, The University of London
Award Date: 10 Jan 2022
PG Cert in Higher Education, The University of Manchester
Award Date: 15 Nov 2018
Postgraduate Diploma, PG Dip Leadership and Management for Health Care Practice, University of Salford
Award Date: 17 Oct 2011
Doctor of Philosophy, Newcastle University
Sept 2000 → May 2007
Award Date: 24 May 2007
BSc (Hons) Speech Pathology and Therapy, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
Sept 1992 → 27 Jun 1995
Award Date: 26 Jun 1995
Board member - Representative - Large Affiliated Societies, International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP)
4 Sept 2023 → …
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
6 Oct 2022 → 9 Oct 2024
Chair of the Nominations Committee, Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
27 Jan 2022 → 9 Oct 2024
Committee member of the Professional Practice and Policy Committee (PPPC), Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
25 Jan 2022 → 6 Oct 2022
Deputy Chair, Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
9 Dec 2020 → 6 Oct 2022
Consultant Speech and Language Therapist, Indigo Gender Service
28 Nov 2020 → …
Consultant Speech and Language Therapist, LIVELY Project, Newcastle University
30 Apr 2020 → 30 Apr 2024
Clinical Adviser - Voice and Communication Therapy for trans and gender-diverse individuals
2019 → …
External examiner for BSC (Hons) Speech and Language Pathology, University of Strathclyde
Jun 2018 → 9 Jun 2020
External examiner for BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Pathology, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Sept 2016 → Jun 2018
Clinical Adviser - Speech and Language disorders in a Bilingual Context, Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
26 Mar 2004 → …
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
Research output: Other contribution › peer-review
Pert, S. (Recipient), 1 May 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Pert, S. (Recipient), 1 Feb 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Pert, S. (Recipient), 27 Sept 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Pert, S. (Recipient), 11 Sept 2012
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Pert, S. (Recipient) & Stow, C. (Recipient), Nov 2005
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Pert, S. (Chair)
Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Teaching
Porter, E. (Trainer) & Pert, S. (Academic founder)
Activity: Consultancy, spin-outs, CPD & licensing › CPD delivery › Teaching and Research
Pert, S. (Trainer)
Activity: Consultancy, spin-outs, CPD & licensing › CPD delivery › Teaching
Pert, S. (Trainer)
Activity: Consultancy, spin-outs, CPD & licensing › CPD delivery › Teaching
Wee, B. (Other) & Pert, S. (Other)
Activity: Internal positions, career professional development, other peer review and other › Other › Research
1/07/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert comment