Australian Down Syndrome Conference
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Professor Sue Buckley OBE
BA (Hons), CPsychol, CSci, AFBPsS

Sue Buckley is one of the world's leading researchers in the education and development of children with Down syndrome. Sue's research in the early 1980s led to the founding of the charity, Down Syndrome Education International (DSEI).

 

Background
Sue Buckley is a Chartered Psychologist with over 40 years of experience in the field of developmental disability. Sue read Psychology at the University of Reading, UK and then went to Oxford, UK, for training in Clinical Psychology in 1969. She worked in the National Health Service for several years and moved to teaching in the Psychology Department, University of Portsmouth in 1975. Sue continued clinical work in the community establishing early intervention services in the 1970s and began research into the learning needs of children with Down syndrome in 1980. Sue was appointed Professor by the University in 1994 in recognition of her work in research and teaching in developmental disability. In 2000, she left the University to work full-time for DSEI while retaining her research links with the University.

For the past 30 years, Sue has travelled widely to speak at conferences and training events and she is in high demand as a speaker. She has also published widely for families, practitioners and researchers and played a leading role in stimulating growth in research into the education and development of children with Down syndrome worldwide. She has a particular interest in developing the language, reading, number and memory skills of children with Down syndrome.

Sue has first-hand experience of many of the issues that affect families as the eldest of her three children, Roberta, has Down syndrome and was adopted into Sue's family when a baby. Roberta is now an adult living with her partner in supported independent living facilities.

Sue's unique contribution to scientific understanding has been recognized in the following awards:

·       the inaugural scientific award at the first international Biennial Scientific Conference on Down Syndrome in 1998

·       an OBE for her services to special needs education in the Queen's 2004 Birthday Honours List

·       the Theodore D Tjossen Research Award by the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2005

 Current roles
Sue is currently Director of Science and Research at DSEI and Emeritus Professor of Developmental Disability, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK.

 


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Dr Kelly Burgoyne
CPsychol, PhD, BSc (Hons)

Kelly Burgoyne is a psychologist with a wide range of experience and research interests in reading and language development, developmental disorders (children with Down syndrome and children with language and reading comprehension difficulties) and children with English as an additional language. She is currently a Research Associate in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College, London where she is working on an evaluation of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme which aims to improve the language skills of pre-school children with oral language weaknesses. Kelly also works for LETS Go! UK on a part-time basis, providing specialist services for children with Down syndrome including school outreach support, training for parents and professionals and school-age communication groups.

Background
Kelly completed her PhD in 2007, looking at the comprehension skills of children learning English as an additional language, at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.  She taught at the University of Manchester, UK in the School of Psychological Sciences between 2006 and 2008 before moving in January 2009 to work at Down Syndrome Education International for four years.

While at DSEI Kelly was the lead researcher on a recent landmark study of a reading and language intervention (RLI) for children with Down syndrome. She led the randomised control trial of the effectiveness of this intervention over a 3 year period. She played a lead role in preparing the RLI program for publication and in developing RLI training. Kelly also worked on several other research projects including a pilot study evaluating the reading and language program in Texas and intervention projects for teaching phoneme blending and for supporting the development of reading comprehension skills.

As part of her role at DSEI Kelly has assessed and supported a large number of children with Down syndrome in school, and worked closely with school teaching assistants to develop teaching for individual children. Kelly has written and delivered training to parents and educators in a variety of settings, and presented at several DSEI Education Conferences. She has also presented at several national and international scientific research conferences. Her work has been published in high-profile research journals; she has also published articles for parents and practitioners.

 Current role at DSEI
Kelly currently works as a consultant to DSEI providing training to groups around the world.  She is a DSE accredited Reading and Language Intervention (RLI) trainer. Kelly also continues to play a significant role in the development of research programmes investigating aspects of reading and language development in children with Down syndrome in collaboration with staff at other universities.

 


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Becky Baxter 
BSc (Hons), MSc, CertMRCSLT

Becky is a speech and language therapist who has had experience working with children who have a broad range of speech, language and communication difficulties in a range of settings including homes, pre-schools and schools.  She specialises in Down syndrome and has worked with parents, professionals and organisations supporting children with Down syndrome since 1999.

Becky set up LETS Go! UK, an independent practice providing specialist services for children with Down syndrome, in 2011.  LETS Go! UK offers speech and language services including individual assessment and intervention, pre-school education groups and school age communication groups as well as outreach support to schools.  In addition Becky offers training and consultancy for children with Down syndrome, their families and professionals.  

 Background
Becky obtained her undergraduate degree in Speech Sciences at University College London in 2007 and her Masters in Language and Communication Impairments in Children from Sheffield University in 2011.  She is a member of The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the Health and Care Professions Council and the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice.  Becky has also completed her British Sign Language level 2 and received training in Makaton, Cued Articulation and Portage.

Becky worked full time for DSEI for 4 years as part of the Services and Education team.  She provided direct services to children in the Early Development Groups focussing on demonstrating early intervention and specific speech and language activities for practice at home.  She was responsible for the outreach service to local mainstream schools, providing information, training and support to families and school staff on inclusion and related issues.  Becky also provided training and consultancy on a range of topics for children of all ages, through in house workshops, training days and Down Syndrome Education Conferences.  Becky was involved in several of the research projects carried out by the charity and the development and evaluation of the See and Learn speech, language and reading materials published by DSEI.

Current role at DSEI
Becky currently works as a consultant to DSEI providing training and consultancy to individuals and groups around the world.  She is a DSE accredited Reading and Language Intervention (RLI) trainer.  Becky also continues to play a significant role in the development of resources and publications including the See and Learn speech, language and reading programmes. 

 


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