Anja Kuschmann

I am a Lecturer/Chancellor's Fellow in Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Strathclyde with an expertise in speech problems in children and adults with motor disorders.

After receiving my MA in General and Clinical Linguistics (Patholinguistics) from the University of Potsdam in Germany, I moved to Strathclyde to do my PhD on intonation in Foreign Accent Syndrome. My British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship allowed me to extend my work to prosody in children with cerebral palsy.

As a clinical linguist and speech and language therapist I am aware of the close links between research and practice, and the importance of advances in theoretical and applied linguistics for developing approaches to the assessment, treatment and evaluation of speech, language and communication disorders.

I am a keen advocate of the mutual benefit of research and practice, and this principle underpins my approach to research and teaching.

• Motor speech disorders in adults and children 
• Cerebral palsy
• Foreign Accent Syndrome
• Prosody and intonation
• Acoustic analyses of speech

My primary research focus is on motor speech disorders in children with cerebral palsy and adults with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. I am interested in understanding the underlying nature of their speech problems, how these problems manifest, and how current treatment approaches target these difficulties. I harness the power of detailed acoustic analyses to aid the understanding of these aspects. My goal is to undertake research that advances our theoretical understanding of speech disorders and drives clinical practices, which can improve well-being and social participation for those affected by communication disorders.

I am also very interested in how advances in technology shape current approaches to assessment and treatment in acquired motor speech disorders.

PhD and MPhil students

• Rebecca Wagstaff, PhD candidate: Mechanisms of cognitive and language impairment in Parkinson's disease.
• Nameeka Shahid, PhD candidate: Impact of dysarthria in a Pakistani cultural context
• Manali Sharma, MPhil candidate: Comprehension and Production of passive constructions in bilingual aphasia (Hindi and English)

I am happy to supervise students with research interests involving any area of motor speech disorders or multilingualism. Also, please contact me if you are interested in pursuing postgraduate research on the use of technologies and electronic devices in speech and language therapy.