Alison McInnes

Email

mcinnes2@ualberta.ca

I completed my graduate education in Speech-language Pathology at the University of Western Ontario, followed by several years of work in the public school system in special education and student services. I completed my doctoral work in Human Development and Applied Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), and a post-doctoral fellowship in the Brain and Behaviour Research Program (Department of Child Psychiatry) at the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), under the supervision and mentorship of Dr. Rosemary Tannock.

My early professional background as a school-based Speech-language Pathologist set the stage for my doctoral and post doctoral research, completed at the University of Toronto. My research to date has focused mainly on discourse level language comprehension and production, and their cognitive correlates in children who have difficulties with behaviour/attention, oral language, and literacy skills. In particular, I am interested in how individual differences in working memory and executive functions influence school-age children’s skills in listening comprehension, and oral and written language expression. I am also interested in collaborative work with schools and teachers in upper elementary and secondary levels to increase capacity and expertise in assessment and instructional interventions in the classroom for students with ADHD, both with and without language-based learning disabilities.

Key words: Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, speech/language disorders, reading disorder, selective mutism, learning disability, listening and reading comprehension, executive functions; strategy-based learning; differentiated assessment and instruction, knowledge transfer for practitioners in education and health, pre-service education