Hello! Welcome! This is my second blog post of the EPID. I am now eight months into the project and many wonderful things have happened so far.
I started my PhD during the first peak in the pandemic (and I’ll be making a separate post about that in the Clinical Academic section). It was a very exciting but equally strange time. I left a great job at a wonderful deaf school and began my new life as a locked-down clinical research doctorate fellow. At first, I felt pretty lost… what does a PhD student do? What do I need to know?
I was (and still am) incredibly fortunate to have a supportive supervisory team. I thought I’d introduce them…
This is Professor Gary Morgan. He is a Psychologist by background and a world-leading expert in the field of deafness. He takes special interest in the language and cognitive development of deaf children. As Co-PI, Prof Morgan received £8 million from ESRC to set up the research centre Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL) with Professor Bencie Woll. DCAL is now recognised as a world-leading centre for deafness. Prof Morgan’s and colleagues worked with the NDCS to develop an evidence-based resource for families (www.familysignlanguage.co.uk). As well as creating the content, Prof Morgan was also involved in training professionals to deliver a family sign curriculum to parents throughout the UK
This is Professor Ros Herman. She is another world-leading expert in deafness. Ros is a Speech and Language Therapist by background and her research interests include sign language acquisition and assessment, language and literacy disorders and communication and literacy interventions. Prof Herman led the development of the first two language assessments in any sign language, followed by a BSL adaptation of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory and the UK Monitoring Protocol for Deaf Infants and Children (DfE, 2004). These assessments are widely used throughout the UK and the original BSL assessments have been translated into 18 other sign languages.
This is Doctor Madeline Cruice. She is a Reader / Associate Professor. She is also a Speech and Language Therapist researcher, clinician, and educator. In the past five years, she has received £1.5m of funding to research linguistic, social, and technological treatments in post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation. Dr Cruice has strong expertise in consensus methodologies, survey, qualitative research, community engagement and patient involvement co-design.
I meet with Gary, Ros and Madeline monthly for group supervision. They each bring such life to the project. They challenge and extend my thinking. They help me to clarify my thoughts, my plans, my message. They are honest, open, friendly and so incredibly experienced and knowledgeable in their fields and as well as research methods.
At the start of the pandemic (and my PhD), they were able to point me towards some courses, some reading and some fellow PhD students so I could start to feel a little more settled in this new role of mine. Even with a very clear plan (my NIHR application), the guidance at the start was welcomed and much appreciated.