Maria Pomoni

BSc Speech and Language Therapy, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Patras, Greece
MSc in Speech Difficulties, Human Communication Sciences, Sheffield University, UK

I qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in Greece in 2009. In 2010, I was awarded a 3-year full time studentship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (I.K.Y.), after scoring highest in the nationwide speech and language therapy examination. In 2011 I completed my Master’s studies in Speech difficulties at the University of Sheffield. In April 2012, I began my PhD studies at the School of Psychology in the University of Birmingham.

Clinical experience

At present I am an honorary psychology assistant at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
I have been working in the Speech and Language Therapy department, practicing sensory desensitization techniques in newborns with cleft palate and toddlers who have been tube fed and face difficulty in moving to mouth feeding.

I am also working in the Psychology department of the Birmingham Children’s hospital with children who present with behavioural eating problems.

I have been working as a teaching assistant in the modules: Lying Brain (0320740), Parental cognition (0321141), Social Psychology (020395), Cognitive Psychology C (0308653) and I am currently offering teaching assistance in the module Development and Disorders of Language in Children (0312400).

Research interests

• Eating problems in children on the autistic spectrum 
• Food properties in terms of texture and appearance and how they affect eating preferences 
• Development of feeding skills in children of a typical development and children with developmental disorders 
• Sensory aspects of eating behaviour 
• Assessment and intervention in behavioural eating problems 
• Food neophobia across the lifespan

Project Support Assistant for the Research Poster Conference 2014-University Graduate School

Research/Professional Memberships

• National Autistic Society
• Research Autism
• Autism West Midlands
• Autism Europe
• Sensory Integration Network
• Member of the Doctoral Researcher Diversity Network (DRDN) the first cross-University network for doctoral research students studying aspects of diversity.