Meet the team

John is interested in the development of social communication skills in children, both typically developing and those with complex communication needs (e.g. autism, severe cerebral palsy). John have studied the development of joint attention skills and also more general cognitive processes that might influence communication. He also studied attention and face processing in relation to social communication, including in autistic children who are deaf.

Email: j.swettenham@ucl.ac.uk

Tom is an interdisciplinary clinical academic, with over 20 years’ experience across health and research settings. Currently working at University of Dundee, his work sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI), eye movement science, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), with a focus on participation and enablement.

Email:  tgriffiths001@dundee.ac.uk

Mike Clarke examines clinical and theoretical issues related to the development and support of children who cannot relay on speech to communicate and who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), along with their communication partners. He uses both quantitative and qualitative methods, with a particular interest in Conversation Analysis.

Email: mclarke@psu.edu

Dr. Jenefer Sargent is a Consultant Paediatrician in Neurodisability and has been in this role since 2001. She has particular interests in the developmental needs of children with severe visual impairment, and in the communication and learning needs of children with severe movement disorders.