Profile

I live and work in beautiful York. I live with my husband, Al, and our three boys (ranging from 7 to 17  years old) and two cats, Lemmy and Fast Eddie (Al is a Motorhead Fan…). When not working, I am usually to be found choral singing, eating good food, or marching the kids up a hill somewhere in North Yorkshire.

My research focuses on the development of language and reading in children and adolescents. My PhD studies investigated how the home literacy environment relates to the development of oral language, word reading and reading comprehension in children at high-risk of reading difficulty, through a family history of dyslexia and/or language impairment at preschool age. Since finishing my PhD, I have continued to study how language environments and children’s reading habits predict various aspects of development. For example, I am currently working on a longitudinal study investigating the role of fiction reading experience in the development of advanced “mentalising” skills (i.e. the ability to infer one’s own and others’ mental states) in middle childhood. In a more applied stream of work, I am working with our local council and schools to try to find out how children with autism manage the transition between mainstream primary and secondary school.

One of the best things about being an academic is that each day is different! In a typical work week, I am usually teaching lectures or seminars on Developmental Psychology to our undergraduate and Masters students, and supervising research students. As I recently took on a management role, I will generally have at least one meeting in the diary each day… And also, as often as possible, reading journal papers, collecting data, doing statistics, and writing!