Staff Profile
Sophie Sampford
Lecturer in speech and language therapy
I worked in the NHS as a paediatric speech and language therapist in the community for 11 years until 2023. I specialised in stammering, voice disorders, and speech sound disorders in children. I wrote a group intervention called Singing Speech for preschool children with speech disorder that became part of the NHS pathway. I had the privilege of training children's centre staff and fellow SLTs and SLTAs to deliver Singing Speech all over North Yorkshire. I went on to complete a PhD into the impact of Singing Speech on preschool children with speech disorders and their families.
- School – School of Science, Technology and Health
- Email – s.sampford@yorksj.ac.uk
Further information
Teaching
I taught on the speech and language therapy course in Newcastle University for a year before coming to York St John University. Most of my teaching to date has been around child development, assessment, intervention and service provision for children with speech, language and communication needs. I will be teaching a wider range of topics in the upcoming course at York St John and look forward to expanding my teaching topics.
Research
I have recently completed my PhD (with amendments pending) and aim to publish the three parts of my thesis as individual research papers. These include an investigation into the impact of the Singing Speech intervention for preschool children with speech disorder and their families, a survey study into SLT service provision for preschool children with speech disorders, and a scoping review into the use of phonological awareness intervention for preschool children with speech sound disorders.
I have a keen interest in understanding how phonological awareness can support speech production outcomes in children and how these activities can be utilised by families and relevant adults supporting the child.
