Acknowledgements
We wish to express our thanks to the following:
- The parents and the children who participated in the research
- Our research assistants Katie Lou (nee Powell) and the late Liane Deasy, and our research collaborators Mr. Fran Hegarty and Professor Myra O’Regan
- Our speech and language therapy colleagues and the cleft teams in Dublin, Ireland and Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, especially Roberta Fleming and Marie Pinkstone
- Georgina Wade, CEO CLAPAI, co-Social Entrepreneurs Ireland 2018 Awardee
- Christina Cotter
- Noreen Carroll
- Julie Davies
- Caroline Hattee
- Eilish O’Connor
- Nicole Prendeville
- Oisin Keenan - Freelance Designer
- Roulla Katiri, Chief Audiologist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
- Aisling Keogh, Speech and Language Therapist, Speech Matters
- Vocational Training Charitable Trust Foundation
- CLEFT- Bridging the Gap
- Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Ireland
- Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
In Memory of Liane Deasy
Liane Deasy, July 26th 1981 – April 20th 2017
Liane was an integral part of the research team who undertook the studies which underpin Speech@Home. Indeed, at the outset, she volunteered to help with the original parent focus group. Following interview, she was selected as the Ireland based research assistant for the two-centre randomised controlled trial between Dublin and London for children with cleft palate speech disorders.
She was involved in the set up and day-to-day work of the project. Her role involved undertaking literature searches, liaising with speech and language therapists nationally, assessing over 50 potential candidates, data collection, analysis and interpretation, maintaining a database and the administration for the assessments and interventions in both arms of the study. A significant part of Liane’s job was to work on a weekly basis with the children who were in the control arm of the study, a task she relished and took on with great enthusiasm and skill. Her gentle, professional and easy way with parents and children were reflected in many of the beautiful messages we received from the PLAT parents following her death
She had the loveliest way with J. She always made the exercises fun and had a great way of connecting with him. What a beautiful, caring person and I am so, so sad to hear of her untimely passing.
It was our privilege to have worked with Liane. Her organisational skills, quick learning ability and passion for what she was doing, always with a smile, impressed us a great deal. She was not only a wonderful therapist but also a promising researcher. Her passing is a huge loss to the entire speech and language therapy community.
Triona Sweeney and Debbie Sell