Rebecca Baxter
BSc (Hons) Speech Sciences, Stage 2 British Sign Language
Becky studied Speech Sciences at University College London and qualified
as a Speech and Language Therapist in June 2007. She is currently
studying for a Masters degree in Language and Communication Impairments
in Children. Becky has also completed her British Sign Language level 2
and received training in MAKATON.
Roles
- Speech and Language Therapist
Responsibilities
Becky is involved in the
Early Development
Groups held at The Down Syndrome Educational Trust. She provides
individual sessions during these groups which focus on demonstrating early
intervention and specific speech and language activities and provide some
ideas and activities for practice at home. Becky also takes part in the
Advice Days, in house
workshops and training days around the country. She is also involved in
several of the research projects that the Trust is currently running.
Current Project Involvement
Background
Becky has worked with children with Down syndrome since 1999. Initially
she worked as a Nursery Nurse before becoming a support assistant in a
mainstream infant school supporting a child with Down syndrome. Becky then
decided to pursue a career in the profession by studying a degree course at
UCL in Speech Sciences. This four year course has enabled Becky to
supplement the practical working knowledge and experience she initially
gained with a strong academic and more theoretically based understanding. The degree course also included long term work placements working with
children at Great Ormond Street Hospital and a Speech and Language
Impairment (SLI) unit attached to a mainstream school. For her final year
at UCL she commenced a longitudinal research project on speech and language
development in children with Down syndrome here at the Trust. With the
support of the Trust and the Psychology Department at UCL, Becky is
continuing this research as part of her role at the Trust.