Dr Caitlin Holme

Caitlin Holme BA, MA, PhD

Senior Research Associate, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

I completed my BA in Spanish and Linguistics at the University of Southampton in 2016, and then pursued my interest in both acquired and developmental language disorders through an MA in Clinical Linguistics from the University of Amsterdam. As part of my Master’s degree I also completed an internship at the Speech and Language Therapy Department of the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile. In 2019 I joined BSLTRU as a Research Associate, using qualitative methods to evaluate the acceptability of a new tool for assessing children’s speech and language needs.

Between 2020 and 2024 I completed my PhD at the University of Bristol, in collaboration with BSLTRU. The aim of my PhD was to inform the theoretical background of parent-child interaction interventions, by exploring how variation in children’s everyday activities leads to different types of interaction. My findings informed recommendations for speech and language therapists, including working with individual families to understand their meaningful opportunities for interaction, and the potential for using creative methods in clinical practice. My PhD thesis was nominated for the University of Bristol’s Doctoral Dissertation Prize.

Current research

I am currently working on the NIHR-funded MISLToe-SSD project. My role involves supporting NHS sites to collect routine clinical data using the MISLToe_SSD protocol, and conducting qualitative research including focus groups and interviews.

My research interests include:

  • Speech and language development and wellbeing in multilingual children
  • Lived experience of speech and language disorders in children and adults
  • Cultural validity and acceptability of speech and language therapy assessment and intervention
  • Use of qualitative and creative methods in research and clinical practice

Linked profiles of academic outputs