Dr Ann Hodson (Ph.D., MA Honours, B.Sc.) is a Senior Lecturer in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Division. She is also a full member of Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre (CASL).
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Research Publications
- Funded Projects
- Teaching & Learning
- Activities & Awards
I have a MA in Linguistics (1st class), University of Edinburgh (1992). My PhD (1999) looked at Speech and Language Abilities of Children with HIV. On completion of my thesis, I studied Speech and Language Therapy at QMU, graduating with a BSc (Distinction) in 2000 and gaining a clinical SLT qualification. My post-doctoral research fellowship at University of Edinburgh looked at on the Genetics of Language Impairment, and Computer-based Intervention with children with Specific Language Impairment. In 2003, I joined QMU, where I am now Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Language in the CASL. I am a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Health Care and Professions Council.
Affiliations/Memberships to Other Organisations:
- Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
- Secretary to Specific Language Impairment in Scotland Special Interest Group
Professional social media:
Research/Knowledge Exchange Centre Membership:
- Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre - Full member
My main areas of research interests are language development and impairment in children and young people, especially marginalized and vulnerable groups. I am currently conducting research with male young offenders and looked-after children and young people, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I am also interested in developmental dyslexia and literacy in children and young people. I supervise MSc and PhD theses in the above areas
Active Research Interests:
- Language Impairment in children and young people
- Language abilities of marginalized and vulnerable groups, including young offenders and looked-after children and young people, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Genetics of Language Impairment
- Developmental dyslexia
- Syntactic and morphological abilities in typically developing children
- Linguistic differentiation of written texts
- SLT Service delivery for marginalized and vulnerable groups
Research Methods:
- Quantitative language and communication assessment
- Qualitative syntactic and morphological analysis
- Interview as a research technique
Research Grants & Contracts Funding:
Carol Spragge Endowment Award, £12,000, SLT Intervention with vulnerable children and their families, November 2015.
QMU Knowledge Exchange, £3000, SLT intervention on a young offender’s institution, October 2015
Carol Spragge Personal Endowment: Intervention with Language and Social Disadvantage, £4000, March 2014-March 2018.
Clark, A & Hartley, K. Audit of SLT services in Scotland’s Criminal Justice System, £2,500, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and QMU, £2,500, 2012
Bremner, L. & Clark, A., £1112, Multimedia resources for Teaching Clinical Skills to SLT students Masters, HEA grant application. QMU Project Investment Fund, 2009.
Paediatric language impairment and delay, developmental dyslexia, language and communication in marginalised and vulnerable groups, grammatical development and clinical analysis, genetics of language impairment, professional and clinical practice, telehealth, social and communication skills for SLTs, childhood aphasia.
External Examiner, 2009-2014, BSc Honours in Human Communication Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester.
Program Leader:
- Post-graduate Diploma/MSc in Speech and Language Therapy
RCSLT Special Interest Group for Specific Language Impairment in Scotland, Secretary, 2007-present
British Association of Clinical Linguistics, Chair 2011-12
RCSLT Special Interest Group for Justice in Scotland, Secretary, 2011- present
Member of Communicating Justice Coalition, January 2011- present
Member of Senate (QMU) December 2014 for 3 years
Member of NHS Lothian Care group for Language and Literacy, 2015 onwards   Â
Representative for Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists at The Treatment of Vulnerable Witnesses Conference, Edinburgh, 17-18th June 2016.
Representative for Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists at Scottish Child Law Centre’s Youth Justice Scotland conference, Edinburgh, 11th September 2015.
Provision of Training Workshops to panel members and Safeguarders within the Children’s Hearing Panels System: Communication Difficulties in Children, May 2013.
Representative for Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists at Scottish Child Law Centre’s Children’s Hearings conference, ‘The Changes and the Challenges: The New Children's Hearings(Scotland) Act 2011’, Edinburgh, 22nd Feb, 2013.
Invited Session Chair at The CASTANG Foundation workshop, Disordered Auditory Processing in the Child: nature, Assessment and Intervention: a multidisciplinary approach, March 2012, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh and QMU.
Live discussion on BBC Radio Scotland ‘Good Morning Scotland’, Mobile technology and its impact of child language development, March 2012.
