During this year, I have been participating alongside a group of researchers from Greece to apply for funding under the ERASMUS+ program for a research project on the use of AI in speech therapy interventions with children. My role has involved searching for schools in Spain that are interested in collaborating on the project. Currently, we are waiting for the funding decision. If the program is accepted, I will be part of it

I will be presenting a póster from the systematic review on Theory of Mind development in the online Ag Bell International Symposium.

Dates: 25-26 June

I will be presenting a póster from the systematic review on Theory of Mind development in the next AELFA-IF congress 2025, in Salamanca.

Dates: 26-28 June 2025

At the moment I am working in the design of my first study that will start on June. I will assess Theory of Mind using a new developed task of second order false belief to deaf and hard of hearing children (from 7 to 10 years) and typical hearing children (control group). 

Dates: jun 2025 – dec 2025

This subject has helped me strengthen my knowledge in statistics, experimental designs, and inferences. The learning will allow me to apply data analysis techniques to my first study

Dates: sep 2024 – feb 2025

This workshop helped me a lot on learning how to structure an academic article, how to work efficiently towards completing an article, And to choose and interact with journals. I was working on a paper and the assignments have allowed me to make progress in writing and improving the article. Also the interaction with other colleagues and their work was a great opportunity to learn.

Dates: sept 2024- jan 2025

Since february of 2024, this paper has been under writing and will be submited to the Special Issue “Language and Cognitive Development in Deaf Children” from the  Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X) on 25 of April.

Behavioral Sciences is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, behavioral biology and behavioral genetics published monthly online by MDPI. Impact factor 2.5, citescore 2.6.

Abstract: Theory of Mind (ToM) is a construct that includes a range of connected abilities linked to the understanding of others mental states. During the last 3 decades, ToM development has been extensively studied in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals compared to typically hearing (TH) individuals and themselves. As early diagnosis of deafness and hearing technology have greatly improved over the years, differences on DHH ToM task performance across this time span might be expected. The current systematic review (SR) aims to synthesize which ToM skills have been assessed in DHH individuals and answer the following PICO question: Do DHH individuals (Population), compared to a control sample of TH and/or among themselves (Comparator), in an assessment of ToM (Intervention) have differentiated results (Outcome)?. 97 papers were included. The SR found that false belief is the area most studied. Furthermore, TH participants, in general, outperformed their DHH peers in ToM measures. There is variability linked to family hearing status and quality of interactions, language modality and across different ToM abilities assessed. Despite recent advances in diagnosis and hearing technology, DHH individuals continue to differ on ToM development. However, other ToM areas, aside from false belief, require further research.

Assistance to the Family-Centred Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing congress.

FCEI International is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, worldwide network of parents, families, professionals and researchers, both Deaf and hard of hearing and typical hearing, who are engaged in promoting and improving evidence-informed practice and research in Family Centered Early Intervention.

The congress participation provided an excellent opportunity to connect with other researchers.

Dates: 14-17 May 2024

Assistance to the IASCL XVIth International Congress for the Study of Child Language.

The presence on the congress allow me to create new national and international networks on research on the field. Also, I have  learned about the most up-to-date research that will allow me to introduce new methodologies in my thesis.

Dates: 14-20 July 2024

I attended an online symposium from the Ag Bell Association. Mission of this association is to ensure that people with hearing disabilities can listen and speak, which they carry out through various means, one of them being the annual conferences. Since 2020, they have held the conferences virtually, thus tripling attendance from 350-400 people in person to 900-1100 virtually, from over 35 different countries, with representation from students, clinical professionals, and researchers. This event brings together hundreds of clinical professionals and researchers in the field of hearing disabilities, speech therapists, psychologists, ENT specialists, bioengineers, and more. Attending the conference offers both educational value and networking opportunities with other research groups in the same field.

I have presented a talk of 30 minutes of duration focused on how families and others professionals impact cognitive and language development in deaf and hard of hearing children. Also, I have participated in a round table of professionals in deaf and hard of hearing development.

Date: 14 – 16 June 2024