Aoife founded Sparking Speech in 2020 with the intention of creating a Speech & Language Therapy practice that provides high quality assessment and evidence-based intervention. Aoife believes in a child-centred approach that allows each child to reach their potential.
Career
Since qualifying in 2012, Aoife has gained a wide range of experience working for the NHS in England and in a private capacity in Ireland. She has worked across a variety of settings including community health clinics, primary schools, private clinics and early years settings. An expert in her field, Aoife has worked with children and teenagers with a diverse range of communication needs including:
- Selective Mutism
- Autism
- Hearing Impairment
- Developmental Language Disorder
- Language Delay/Late Talkers
- Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia
- Delayed & Disordered Speech Sound Development
- Down Syndrome & Other Chromosomal Disorders
Qualifications & Professional Development
Aoife graduated from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy in 2012.
Aoife is committed to ongoing professional development and regularly attends seminars and training courses. These have included:
- Hanen Certified – More Than Words & It Takes Two To Talk
- Natural Language Acquisition (NLA)Trained Therapist (Meaningful Speech)
- Goal Writing for Autistic Students
- Attention Autism
- Makaton
- Shape Coding
- Maggie Johnson Selective Mutism Course (Modules 1-4)
- Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) e.g. PODD, LAMP, Proloquo2Go, Grid, SnapCore
- Assessing Minimally Verbal Children with Suspected Apraxia
- Autism Conferences e.g. The Autism Show, Tony Attwood Talks Autism Seminar
- Language & Literacy: Difficulties & Intervention
- Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)