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Triona Sweeney

Triona Sweeney

Cleft Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Working for many years as a Clinical Specialist Cleft Speech & Language Therapist at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, Triona was part of the cleft multidisciplinary team involved in the management of children with cleft speech problems. She was instrumental in setting-up the Dublin Cleft Centre (including Cleft teams from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Temple Street and St James’ Hospital), which continues to work collaboratively to standardise and improve the care of children and adults with cleft palate.

Her role has included clinical management of cleft speech disorders, training Speech & Language Therapists here and abroad in assessment of nasality and nasal airflow and cleft audit for speech, and lecturing at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has collaborated nationally and internationally on research projects on cleft speech assessment and outcomes. Over the past 10 years, she has worked as a volunteer with Operation Smile Ireland, mainly in Ethiopia.

Currently she is a Co-Chief Investigator for the Parent Led Articulation Therapy for Children with Cleft Palate Speech Disorders (PLAT) Study, an Adjunct Professor, Dept of Clinical Speech & Language Studies, Trinity College Dublin and University of Limerick and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Great Ormond Street Hospital. Her research interests are perceptual and instrumental assessment of cleft speech, audit, intervention, assessment of velopharyngeal function, and clinical phonetics.

Triona Sweeney

Cleft Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

Liane Deasy (RIP)
Position: Speech & Language Therapist

Role:
Research Assistant

Katie Powell
Position: Speech & Language Therapist

Role:
Research Assistant

Parent Led, Therapist Supervised, Articulation Therapy for Children with Cleft Palate Speech disorders

This study aims to evaluate if parent led therapy is equivalent to conventional speech therapy for children with cleft related speech problems. Forty-six children, aged 2.9 – 7.5 years were included in this two centre study (Trinity College Dublin & Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital). In the parent training group, parent/s of twenty-three children attended a 2-day training course, were given a detailed speech programme and conducted home-based therapy for 12 weeks, supported a cleft specialist Speech & Language Therapist (SLT). The control group included twenty-three children who received six sessions with the research SLT comparable to that provided by local speech therapy services.

The list of publications below is automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed. As a result, there may be incorrect or missing publications.

Sweeney T, Hegarty F, Powell K, Deasy L, Regan MO, Sell D, 2020 Sep, Randomized controlled trial comparing Parent Led Therapist Supervised Articulation Therapy (PLAT) with routine intervention for children with speech disorders associated with cleft palate. Int J Lang Commun Disord, DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12542
Sell D, Sweeney T, 2020, Percent Consonant Correct as an Outcome Measure for Cleft Speech in an Intervention Study. Folia Phoniatr Logop, DOI: 10.1159/000501095
Chapman KL, Baylis A, Trost-Cardamone J, Cordero KN, Dixon A, Dobbelsteyn C, Thurmes A, Wilson K, Harding-Bell A, Sweeney T, Stoddard G, Sell D, 2016 Jan, The Americleft Speech Project: A Training and Reliability Study. Cleft Palate Craniofac J, DOI: 10.1597/14-027
Sell D, Sweeney T, Harding-Bell A, John AK, 2012 Dec, Measuring quality of life in cleft lip and palate patients: currently available patient-reported outcomes measures. Plast Reconstr Surg, DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e31826d9d53
Sell D, John A, Harding-Bell A, Sweeney T, Hegarty F, Freeman J, 2009 Jul-Aug, Cleft audit protocol for speech (CAPS-A): a comprehensive training package for speech analysis. Int J Lang Commun Disord, DOI: 10.1080/13682820802196815
Henningsson G, Kuehn DP, Sell D, Sweeney T, Trost-Cardamone JE, Whitehill TL, Speech Parameters Group., 2008 Jan, Universal parameters for reporting speech outcomes in individuals with cleft palate. Cleft Palate Craniofac J, DOI: 10.1597/06-086.1
Sweeney T, Sell D, 2008 May-Jun, Relationship between perceptual ratings of nasality and nasometry in children/adolescents with cleft palate and/or velopharyngeal dysfunction. Int J Lang Commun Disord, DOI: 10.1080/13682820701438177
John A, Sell D, Sweeney T, Harding-Bell A, Williams A, 2006 May, The cleft audit protocol for speech-augmented: A validated and reliable measure for auditing cleft speech. Cleft Palate Craniofac J, DOI: 10.1597/04-141.1
Sweeney T, Sell D, O'Regan M, 2004 Mar, Nasalance scores for normal-speaking Irish children. Cleft Palate Craniofac J, DOI: 10.1597/02-094
Kremin H, Akhutina T, Basso A, Davidoff J, De Wilde M, Kitzing P, Lorenz A, Perrier D, van der Sandt-Koenderman M, Vendrell J, Weniger D, Apt P, Arabia C, De Bleser R, Cohen H, Corbineau M, Dolivet MC, Hirsh K, Lehoux E, Metz-Lutz MN, Montañes P, Plagne S, Polonskaya N, Sirois M, Stachowiak F, Sweeney T, Vish-Brink E, 2003 Nov, A cross-linguistic data bank for oral picture naming in Dutch, English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish (PEDOI). Brain Cogn, DOI: 10.1016/s0278-2626(03)00119-2
Sell D, Sweeney T, 2001 Jan-Mar, Re: Treatment of hypernasality. Int J Lang Commun Disord, DOI: 10.1016/s0278-2626(03)00119-2

Funding Agency:Cleft Lip & Palate Association of Ireland
Project Title:Parent Led Articulation Therapy
Start Date/End Date:Jan 1st – Sept 30th 2016
Funding Agency:Temple Street Foundation
Project Title:Parent Led Articulation Therapy
Start Date/End Date:Oct 1st 2016 – June 30th 2017
Funding Agency:CLEFT – Bridging the Gap (UK arm of study)
Project Title:Parent Led Articulation Therapy
Start Date/End Date:Feb 1st 2016 – July 31st 2017
Funding Agency:National Children's Research Centre
Project Title:Parent Led Articulation Therapy (Data Management Support)
Name:Dr Debbie Sell
DepartmentSpeech & Language Therapy, North Thames Regional Cleft Unit; Centre for Nursing and AHP Research
Institution:Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Country:England
Name:Fran Hegarty
DepartmentChildren’s Hospital Group
Institution:St James Hospital
Country:Ireland
Name:Myra O’Regan
DepartmentStatistics
Institution:Trinity College Dublin
Country:Ireland
Name:Chris Theopold
DepartmentTemple Street Cleft Unit
Institution:Temple Street Children’s University Hospital
Country: Ireland
Name:Carlos Pinto
DepartmentData Manager
Institution:National Children’s Research Centre
Country:Ireland
Name:Marie Pinkstone
DepartmentSpeech & Language Therapy
Institution:Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Country:England

Current Trials & Studies

Study NameStudy TitleStudy TypeSponsorSponsor Type
PLATParent Led, therapist supervised, Articulation Therapy for Children with Cleft Palate Speech disordersNon-Interventional Clinical Trial

Professional Associations

  • 2001: President of Craniofacial Society of Great Britain & Ireland
  • 2006: Clinical Excellence award Temple Street Children’s University Hospital
  • 2013 –(ongoing) Executive committee member of International Confederation of Cleft Lip & Palate and related Craniofacial Anomalies

Member of:

  • Irish Association of Speech & Language Therapists
  • Craniofacial Society of Great Britain & Ireland
  • American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
  • International Association of Logopedics & Phoniatrics – Vice Deputy of Craniofacial
  • Dysmorphologies Committee
  • Operation Smile Ireland