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Dr Abi Roper

Speech and Language Technologist

School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering Department of Computer Science

Contact details

Address

Dr Abi Roper A210, College Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

Personal links

About

Overview

Abi is a Research Fellow at City, University of London.

She is a speech and language therapist and researcher passionate about technology use within atypical speech & language populations.

She is a researcher co-investigator on the INCA project investigating how to empower people with aphasia to create, curate and access digital content through innovative technologies.

Her PhD examined a novel computer gesture therapy (GeST+) for adults with severe expressive aphasia - exploring its effectiveness, accessibility and usability and looking at the effects of aphasia on technology use in general.

She has worked on a number of key web resources to benefit professionals working in the field of speech, language and communication:
1. http://dcalportal.org - a communication assessment site for teachers & clinicians working with Deaf children & adults.
2. https://cityaccess.org/home - An online, easy to use platform offering training, therapy packages and assessment resources for clinicians and researchers working with people with aphasia.

Qualifications

  1. Introductory Certificate in Academic Practice, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, Oct 2020
  2. PhD Language and Communication Science, City, University of London, United Kingdom, Apr 2012 – Dec 2016
  3. MMedSci Clinical Communication Studies (Speech and Language Therapist Qualification), University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, Sep 2006 – Dec 2008
  4. BSc (hons) Cognitive Science, University of Exeter, United Kingdom, Sep 2000 – Jul 2003

Employment

  1. Speech and Language Technologist, City, University of London, Jul 2017 – present
  2. Research Fellow, City, University of London, Jan – Jun 2017

Memberships of professional organisations

  1. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Jan 2009 – present
  2. Health Care Professionals Council, Jan 2009 – present

Languages

Sign Languages (can speak and understand spoken).

Teaching

MSc Inclusive Design Guest Lecturer

Developed and delivered teaching to introduce postgraduate students on the Human Computer Interaction Design degree course to the principles of design for adults with language needs.

BSc Nursery Placement Clinical Tutorials

Facilitated clinical tutorials with a group of 20 trainee speech and language therapists.

Undergraduate Optometry Communication Skills -

Developed and delivered an interactive 2-hour session introducing trainee optometrists to methods for adapting their communication within practice.

SLT Tasters - Widening Participation Activities

Speech and Language Taster Sessions as a part of the City University London Widening Participation Ambassadors (WPA) Scheme.
Alongside a fellow PhD colleague, I developed an interactive half-day session of activities introducing school-aged children to the study of Speech and Language Therapy. We delivered this session, on request, to a number of different student groups, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old and ranging in number from 20 – 40 students.

Maths Tutoring as a part of the WPA Scheme

Supported a group of eight year six students to prepare for SATs exams. I developed a set of targeted differentiated materials to support the students in practising their maths skills which have subsequently been adopted by the WPA scheme for use by other City University London students working as Maths Tutors across London.

Research

PhD - Computer Delivery of Gesture Therapy

My PhD is entitled Computer Delivery of Gesture Therapy for People with Severe Aphasia. The project has involved designing, administering, analysing and reporting a randomised control group study of a language intervention for adults with severe communication difficulties (aphasia) following stroke.

Deafness, Cognition and Language

I'm presently working with researchers and technology developers to create http://DCALPortal.org - an on-line web portal for clinical and research assessments of deafness, cognition and language.

Computer Therapy for Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech

I've worked as a researcher and clinician on two major trials of computer-based therapy for aphasia and apraxia of speech. These are:

The GReAT Project (https://youtu.be/tnvYpaNuBNQ)
Here, I worked with Professor Jane Marshall, Stephanie Wilson and others at City to develop and trial a novel computerised gesture therapy intervention for adults with aphasia.

Computer Therapy for AoS (http://goo.gl/7fiirG)
I Worked on the SWORD project under Professor Rosemary Varley. This was a large trial of a computer-based speech and language therapy intervention aimed at remediating acquired word production impairments in apraxia of speech (AoS) and aphasia.

Virtual World Communication Rehabilitation

I've also been involved with the EVA Project (http://smcse.city.ac.uk/eva).
Here I acted as a Communication Support Worker to two people with aphasia in EVA Park - an on-line virtual communication environment similar to the on-line virtual community Second Life.

Publications

Featured publications

  1. Roper, A., Davey, I., Wilson, S., Neate, T., Marshall, J. and Grellmann, B. (2018). Usability Testing - An Aphasia Perspective. Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. doi:10.1145/3234695.3241481.

Publications by category

Chapters (4)

  1. Clark, L., Cowan, B.R., Roper, A., Lindsay, S. and Sheers, O. (2020). Speech diversity and speech interfaces - considering an inclusive future through stammering. In Torres, M. and Schlögl, S. (Eds.), CUI '20: Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Conversational User Interfaces New York, USA: ACM. ISBN 978-1-4503-7544-3.
  2. Roper, A. (2019). Computer-Aided Rehabilitation. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders (pp. 455–459). SAGE Publications, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4833-8083-4.
  3. Roper, A., Wilson, S., Neate, T. and Marshall, J. (2019). Speech and Language. Web Accessibility A Foundation for Research (pp. 121–134). London, UK: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4471-7439-4.
  4. Roper, A. Computer-aided rehabilitation. In Damico, J.S. and Ball, M.J. (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders

Conference papers and proceedings (18)

  1. Neate, T., Roper, A., Wilson, S., Marshall, J. and Cruice, M. (2020). CreaTable Content and Tangible Interaction in Aphasia. CHI '20: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
  2. Neate, T., Roper, A. and Wilson, S. (2020). Painting a Picture of Accessible Digital Art. ASSETS '20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
  3. Tamburro, C., Neate, T., Roper, A. and Wilson, S. (2020). Accessible Creativity with a Comic Spin. ASSETS '20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
  4. Wilson, C., McNaney, R., Roper, A., Capel, T., Scheepmaker, L., Brereton, M. … Wallace, J. (2020). Rethinking Notions of 'Giving Voice' in Design. CHI '20: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
  5. Neate, T., Bourazeri, A., Roper, A., Stumpf, S. and Wilson, S. (2019). Co-Created Personas. CHI '19: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
  6. Neate, T., Roper, A., Wilson, S. and Marshall, J. (2019). Empowering Expression for Users with Aphasia through Constrained Creativity. CHI '19: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
  7. Grellmann, B., Neate, T., Roper, A., Wilson, S. and Marshall, J. (2018). Investigating Mobile Accessibility Guidance for People with Aphasia. ASSETS '18: The 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility.
  8. McNaney, R., Wilson, C., Wallace, J., Brereton, M., Roper, A., Wilson, S. … Sturdee, M. (2018). Giving a voice through design. PDC '18: Participatory Design Conference 2018.
  9. Roper, A.H., Marshall, J. and Wilson, S. (2015). Computer Gesture Therapy for People with Severe Aphasia: Effects on tests of spoken naming. British Aphasiology Society Conference September, London, UK.
  10. Roper, A., Marshall, J. and Wilson, S.M. (2014). Assessing technology use in aphasia. the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference 20-22 October.
  11. Roper, A.H., marshall, J. and wilson, S. (2014). Revealing the Effects of Computer Gesture Therapy for Users with Severe
    Aphasia.     British Aphasiology Society Research Update Meeting April, Exeter, UK.
  12. Roper, A.H., Marshall, J., Cocks, N., Galliers, J. and Wilson, S. (2012). Aphasia therapy and computer interaction design shake hands: testing a novel computer tool for gesture therapy in aphasia. 15th International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference 7-10 October, Melbourne, Australia.
  13. Roper, A.H. (2012). Designing a language free technology – lessons from the GReAT projec. Web Accessibility London 19 September, City University London.
  14. Roper, A.H., Galliers, J., Muscroft, S., Cocks, N., Wilson, S., Pring, T. … Marshall, J. (2012). Developing and Evaluating a Computer Therapy Tool for People with Aphasia. British Aphasiology Symposium 2012 6-7 September, Cty University London.
  15. Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Roper, A.H., Cocks, N., Marshall, J., Muscroft, S. … Pring, T. (2012). Words are not enough: empowering people with aphasia in the design process. Participatory Design Conference 12-16 August, Roskilde, Denmark.
  16. Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Roper, A., Cocks, N., Marshall, J. and Pring, T. (2012). Words are not enough: Empowering people with aphasia in the design process. Participatory Design Conference 2012.
  17. Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Muscroft, S., Marshall, J., Roper, A., Cocks, N. … Pring, T. (2011). Accessibility of 3D Game Environments for People with Aphasia: An Exploratory Study. 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility 24-26 October, Dundee, Scotland.
  18. Varley, R.A., Cowell, P.E., Dyson, L., Roper, A.H., Inglis, A.L. and Whiteside, S.P. (2009). Lexical therapy for apraxia of speech. Paper Presented at the Science of Aphasia, 2009. Science of Aphasia 28 Sep 2009 – 3 Oct 2009, Antalya, Turkey.

Journal articles (13)

  1. Behn, N., Moss, B., McVicker, S., Roper, A., Northcott, S., Marshall, J. … Hilari, K. (2021). SUpporting wellbeing through PEeR-Befriending (SUPERB) feasibility trial: fidelity of peer-befriending for people with aphasia. BMJ Open, 11(8). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047994.
  2. Knowles, B., Hanson, V.L., Rogers, Y., Piper, A.M., Waycott, J., Davies, N. … Yuan, I.Y. (2021). The harm in conflating aging with accessibility. Communications of the ACM, 64(7), pp. 66–71. doi:10.1145/3431280.
  3. Caute, A., Dipper, L. and Roper, A. (2021). The City Gesture Checklist: The development of a novel gesture assessment. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 56(1), pp. 20–35. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12579.
  4. Marshall, J., Devane, N., Talbot, R., Caute, A., Cruice, M., Hilari, K. … Wilson, S. (2020). A randomised trial of social support group intervention for people with aphasia: A Novel application of virtual reality. PLOS ONE, 15(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239715.
  5. Roper, A., Grellmann, B., Neate, T., Marshall, J. and Wilson, S. (2018). Social networking sites: barriers and facilitators to access for people with aphasia. Aphasiology, 32(sup1), pp. 176–177. doi:10.1080/02687038.2018.1486387.
  6. Roper, A., Marshall, J. and Wilson, S. (2016). Benefits and Limitations of Computer Gesture Therapy for the Rehabilitation of Severe Aphasia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00595.
  7. Varley, R., Cowell, P.E., Dyson, L., Inglis, L., Roper, A. and Whiteside, S.P. (2016). Self-Administered Computer Therapy for Apraxia of Speech. Stroke, 47(3), pp. 822–828. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.011939.
  8. Wilson, S., Roper, A., Marshall, J., Galliers, J., Devane, N., Booth, T. … Woolf, C. (2015). Codesign for people with aphasia through tangible design languages. CoDesign, 11(1), pp. 21–34. doi:10.1080/15710882.2014.997744.
  9. Roper, A.H. (2014). Accessibility of computer therapy and technology for people with aphasia. ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing, (108), pp. 50–53.

    [publisher’s website]

  10. Marshall, J., Roper, A., Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Cocks, N., Muscroft, S. … Pring, T. (2013). Computer delivery of gesture therapy for people with severe aphasia. Aphasiology, 27(9), pp. 1128–1146. doi:10.1080/02687038.2013.786803.
  11. Whiteside, S.P., Inglis, A.L., Dyson, L., Roper, A., Harbottle, A., Ryder, J. … Varley, R.A. (2012). Error reduction therapy in reducing struggle and grope behaviours in apraxia of speech. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22(2), pp. 267–294. doi:10.1080/09602011.2011.639614.
  12. Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Roper, A., Cocks, N., Marshall, J., Muscroft, S. … Pring, T. (2012). Words are not enough. Proceedings of the 12th Participatory Design Conference on Research Papers: Volume 1 - PDC '12. doi:10.1145/2347635.2347643.
  13. Galliers, J., Wilson, S., Muscroft, S., Marshall, J., Roper, A., Cocks, N. … Pring, T. (2011). Accessibility of 3D game environments for people with Aphasia. The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility - ASSETS '11. doi:10.1145/2049536.2049562.

Report

  1. Roper, A. and Mascetti, S. (2021). ASSETS 2020 UX panel report. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Professional activities

Events/conferences (15)

  1. Language as a Form of Action. (Conference) Rome, Italy (2017).
    Paper: The Clinical Utility of Gesture Coding Frameworks
    Author: Roper, A
    Co-authors: Caute, A.; Dipper, L.; Pritchard, M.
  2. Nordic Aphasia Conference 2017: Meaningful Outcomes. (Conference) Copenhagen, Denmark (2017).
    Paper: Meaningful Individualised Goal-setting within a Computer Training Course for Adults with Chronic Aphasia
    Author: Roper, A
    Co-authors: Lancashire, T.; Byrne, R.; Cruice, M.;
  3. Internal Home Office Research and Design Meetup. (Seminar) London, UK (2016). Invited speaker.
    Paper: Language Light UX
    Author: Wilson, S.
    Co-authors: Roper, A.
  4. 7th Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies. (Conference) Paris, France (2016).
    Paper: Can People with Severe Aphasia Benefit from Computer-delivered Gesture Therapy?
    Author: Roper, A.
    Co-authors: Marshall, J; Wilson, S.
  5. Therapy Ideas Live Conference. (Conference) London, UK (2015). Invited speaker.
    Paper: Work with Clients to Set Ambitious Goals
    Author: Roper, A
  6. British Aphasiology Society Conference. (Conference) London, UK (2015).
    Paper: Computer Gesture Therapy for People with Severe Aphasia: Effects on tests of spoken naming
    Author: Roper, A.
    Co-authors: Marshall, J.; Wilson, S
  7. Conference of Culture and Neuroscience. (Public lecture) Warsaw, Poland (2014). Invited speaker.
    Paper: Computer Rehabilitation – Aphasia joins the conversation
    Author: Abi Roper
  8. ASSETS Accessible Computing Conference. (Conference) Rochester, New York, USA (2014).
    Paper: Assessing Technology Use in Aphasia
    Author: Roper, A
    Co-authors: Marshall, J.; Wilson, S.
  9. ASSETS Accessible Computing Conference. (Conference) Bellevue, Washigton, USA (2013).
    Paper: Accessibility of Computer Therapy and Technology for People with Aphasia
    Author: Roper, A
    Co-authors: Marshall, J.; Wilson, S.
  10. Service User Involvement - from Participation to Collaboration. London, UK (2013).
    Description: Therapy Ideas Live event - lightning talk. Available to watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS8t1BMintM
  11. Gesture Recognition in Aphasia Therapy: The GReAT project. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Registered Office, London (2012).
    Description: Presentation of project methods and research findings at biannual Aphasia Therapy Special Interest Group.
    Part of whole day event entitled:
    "Gesture in aphasia: Assessment, therapy and new technological applications"
  12. Project Information Session - The GReAT project. Watford Stroke Association Communication Support Group (2012).
    Description: Talk and software demonstration given to community support group for people with aphasia following a stroke.
  13. Project Information Session - The GReAT project. Woolwich Stroke Association Communication Support Group (2012).
    Description: Talk and software demonstration given to community support group for people with aphasia following a stroke.
  14. Project Information Session - The GReAT project. Wandsworth Stroke Association Communication Support Group (2012).
    Description: Talk and software demonstration given to community support group for people with aphasia following a stroke.
  15. Project Information Session - The GReAT project. North Kensington Stroke Association Communication Support Group (2012).
    Description: Talk and software demonstration given to community support group for people with aphasia following a stroke.

Keynote lectures/speeches (7)

  1. Can People with Severe Aphasia Benefit from Computer-delivered Gesture Therapy? Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France (2016). International Society of Gesture Studies Conference in Paris
    ISGS 2016, July 18th-22nd 2016
    https://isgs7.sciencesconf.org/?lang=en
  2. Work with Clients to Set Ambitious Goals. London, UK (2015). Therapy Ideas Live Conference. Invited talk.
  3. Computer Rehabilitation: Aphasia joins the conversation. Warsaw, Poland (2014). Conference of Culture and Neuroscience - Invited talk
  4. North West Adult Acquired Neurology SIG: "Computer Gesture Recognition in Aphasia Therapy: Findings from the GReAT project." Abi Roper and Naomi Cocks. Astley Hall, Chorley, UK (2012). Presentation of Project findings at NW Aquired Neurology Special Interest Group
  5. GeST – Computer Delivered Gesture Therapy for People with Aphasia. Frenchay Computers in Therapy Special Interest Group, Bristol (2012). Invited speaker at bi-annual Speech and Language Therapy Special Interest Group: Computers in Therapy. Presentation of Methods and findings from the GReAT project (www.soi.city.ac.uk/great)
  6. Aphasia SIG "Gesture in aphasia:
    Assessment, therapy and new technological
    applications" A study day presented by Professor Jane Marshall, Dr Naomi Cocks,
    Dr Lucy Dipper, Anna Caute and Abi Roper.     Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, 2 White Hart Yard, London SE1 1NX (2012). Presentation of Research Data at Aphasia Special Interest Group
  7. The use of technology in aphasia therapy: The GReAT Project and other applications. City University London, UK (2012). Event for clinicians and those working in the field of human computer interaction to find out about the GReAT (Gesture Recognition in Aphasia Therapy) Project and other technology that used in aphasia therapy.

Online article

  1. Virtual world helping with speech recovery presented at Woburn Safari Park. (2016). City University of London Website - News from the University http://www.city.ac.uk/news/2016/march/virtual-world-helping-with-speech-recovery-presented-at-woburn-safari-park