June 13, 2017

Supporting children’s speech with the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme

Today Dr Pam Williams presented a seminar titled "Supporting children’s speech with the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme" at the Bathurst Community Health Centre. The presentation was supported by Charles Sturt University and the Western Local Health District. The seminar was presented via videoconference and was attended by people dialing in from 21 sites across NSW, Queensland, Victoria, and USA.

 The Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme is widely used across the world to support children with childhood apraxia of speech/developmental verbal dyspraxia. More information is available here: www.ndp3.com
Dr Pam Williams with the speech pathologists from Bathurst and Orange Community Health Centres
Here is some more information about Dr Williams. It was such an honour to have her visit the Central West of NSW.
Dr Pam Williams is a certified practising speech and language therapist who works at the Nuffield Hearing & Speech Centre, Royal National Throat Nose & Ear Hospital, London. Pam has spent much of her working life at the Nuffield Centre and is currently employed as a Consultant Speech & Language Therapist and Team Manager for Developmental Disorders. She was involved in creating the original Nuffield Centre Dyspraxia Programme, published in 1985, co-edited the current NDP third edition with her colleague Hilary Stephens, and has overall responsibility for NDP3’s ongoing development.
Pam is primarily a clinician, who assesses and treats children with severe speech impairments. However, she has lectured widely in UK and Ireland on the subject of NDP and developmental verbal dyspraxia/childhood apraxia of speech. She is also an honorary lecturer in the Division of Psychology & Language Sciences at University College London. Pam was a member of the working party who produced the RCSLT Policy Statement on Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, published in November 2011. She is also a former chair of the UK Dyspraxia Foundation Charity. She was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2013, in recognition of having carried out work of special value to the profession.
Pam carried out her doctoral studies at the University of Sheffield on a part-time basis while continuing to work at the Nuffield Centre and was awarded her PhD in May 2016. Pam’s thesis was supervised by Professors Joy Stackhouse and Bill Wells and investigated diadochokinetic skills in children aged 4-7 years with speech difficulties.

Katrina, Pam, Angela, David, Sharynne and Emily enjoying Australian desserts