Biography
Biography
Deirdre graduated with a BSc. Hons Degree in Speech and Language Therapy at the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at UCC in 2013. She then went on to complete a Masters by Research in UCC also. The title of her study was “The impact of an unfamiliar accent on the sentence comprehension of children with Down syndrome.”
She has recently commenced her structured PhD study investigating the perceptual and acoustic features of speech of individuals with Down Syndrome and their impact on speech intelligibility. Deirdre also recently began working as a research assistant in UCC for a HRB funded research project exploring prosody skills in children with spina bifida hydrocephalus. She helps with lecturing and tutoring within the department and wokrs privately, giving speech and language therapy in the local Down Syndrome Association
Prior to working in UCC, Deirdre worked as a speech and language therapist in a variety of settings with both adults and children. She also worked as problem-based learning tutor in UCC.
Deirdre is a member of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists and certified by CORU.
Positions Held:
- Research Assistant- UCC
- Speech and language therapist- Down Syndrome Ireland (adults and paediatrics)
- Problem-based learning tutor in UCC
- Speech and language therapist- HSE South-North & South Lee (adults and paediatrics)
- Speech and language therapist-South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (adult acute)
- Speech and language therapist-HSE South-Kerry (paediatrics)
Research
Current research
- Investigating prosodicskills in children with spina bifida
- Investigating speech intelligibility in Down syndrome using perceptual ansd acoustic evaluation methods
Previous Research
- Investigating effect of speaker accent on comprehension in typically developing children and children with Down syndrome
Areas of Interest
- Accents
- Down syndrome
- Acoustic analysis of speech
- Speech intelligibility
- Children’s speech & language
- Prosody
- Spina Bifida
Research Interests
Spina BifidaProsody
Acoustic Analysis
Accents
Down Syndrome
Language development
Publications
Conference Publications
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2016) | 30th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics O’ Leary, D., Frizelle, P., & Gibbon, F. (2016) The impact of speaker accent on sentence comprehension in Down Syndrome 30th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics [Details] | |
(2015) | Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) Biennial Conference, Dublin, Ireland O’ Leary, D., Frizelle, P., & Gibbon, F. (2015) The impact of speaker accent on sentence comprehension in Down Syndrome Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) Biennial Conference, Dublin, Ireland [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Undergraduate College Scholarship of the College of Medicine and Health | University College Cork |
Professional Associations
Association | Function | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
CORU | Ireland’s multi-profession health regulator | / | |
Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists | professional association of Speech & Language Therapists in Ireland | / |
Employment
Employer | Position | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
Health Service Executive | Speech and Language Therapist | 04-AUG-15 / 13-MAY-16 | |
University College Cork | Problem-Based Learning Tutor | 08-SEP-14 / 21-APR-16 | |
Baby Noah Trust | Speech and Language Therapist | 05-JAN-15 / 25-AUG-16 | |
South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital | Speech and Language Therapist | 20-OCT-15 / 03-APR-17 | |
Down Syndrome Ireland-Cork | Speech and Language Therapist | 17-JUN-13 / 28-DEC-18 |
Education
Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | University College Cork | BSC (HONS) | Speech and Language Therapy | |
2016 | University College Cork | MSc Health Sciences | Speech and Hearing Sciences |
Research Information
Internal Collaborators
Name | Institute | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Damhanit Ni Murchú | Central Remedial Clinic Waterford | IRELAND |
External Collaborators
Name | Organisation / Institute | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Olivia O' Mahony | Cork University Hspital | IRELAND |