Speech sound disorders form about 75% of all communication disorders in children. Yet, little is known about the neurological deficits and the linguistic processes that underlie the variety of symptoms of speech sound disorders. This forms a major bottleneck for diagnosis and treatment. The fundamental problem in isolating the underlying deficits is the developmental interaction between the different linguistic levels of processing. For example, poor articulation of particular speech sounds affects the patients perceptual acuity for contrasts involving these speech sounds. Individual patients vary widely in these developmental interaction patterns, and the effects of developmental interaction between linguistic levels on individual development is largely unknown. In my thesis, I used a modelling approach to address this problem. It was demonstrated that, by manipulating parameters independently and systematically, computational modelling studies can provide a unique insight into the relationship between core deficit, derived or consequential deficits, and adaptive strategies, and in how all of these express themselves in symptomatology. In particular, this pioneering work showed drastic differences in the linguistic level of a specific speech-motor impairment depending on the ability of the system for auditory self-monitoring, while the clinical expression remained largely the same. The current project expands these modelling studies to higher levels of the speech production process. Based on clinical theories, specific processing deficits will be implemented in the computational model, which will lead to specific predictions regarding a developmental trajectory. These predictions are then tested against speech data from speech production experiments involving children with the hypothesised diagnosis. The results will lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the mechanisms involved in speech sound disorders. This knowledge is essential for focused and purposeful treatment for children that suffer from these disorders.

Bringing together an international and multi-disciplinary team of researchers, this project investigates potential inequalities experienced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people at three ‘transition’ points in life highlighted in the call for application themes: school to work transitions; employment progression in mid-life; and the transition into retirement and its implications for end of life. The key objective is to provide cross-cultural evidence, for the first time ever, concerning life course inequalities experienced by LGBTQ people, comparing and contrasting these across four European countries with different yet interrelated social, historical, economic and political backgrounds: England, Scotland, Portugal and Germany. Additionally, the project examines how inequalities related to gender identity and/or sexuality vary and intersect with others, such as social class, ethnicity, citizenship status, health status, dis/ability, religion and geographical location across the life course. Work-packages, led by research team members will be conducted in each of the four countries to gather data from existing national and international surveys, new qualitative research and the critical examination of relevant legal, policy, organisational and practitioner documents. The accumulated data will be integrated into social simulation models, which will be used to inform theoretical development in relation to the LGBTQ intersectional life course and impact in terms of indicating future policy and research agendas. The findings will be disseminated to other academics and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. organisations/service providers) through reports, social media, presentations and knowledge exchange activities in each applicant country.