Lucy McAndrew
Joint Lead Trainer
Lucy McAndrew is Deputy Lead Speech and Language Therapist at the Spires Cleft Centre and Craniofacial Unit in Oxford. She has been based there for the last 15 years. Lucy obtained a BSc (Hons) in Speech Sciences from University College London and following several years working as a community SLT, she joined the Cleft team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge where she worked with Anne Harding-Bell and developed an interest in early intervention.
Lucy has a Masters in Speech and Cleft from Sheffield University (MSc, Distinction). Her dissertation examined hearing impairment and parental concern of hearing in infants with cleft palate. Findings were published in the RCSLT Bulletin, presented at the International Cleft Congress 2017, Chennai, India and more recently in The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 2020. Lucy contributed chapters on hearing impairment and electropalatography to 'Speech Therapy in Cleft Palate and Velopharyngeal Dysfunction' published in 2014.
Lucy aims to provide high quality assessment, advice and therapy to children with cleft palate and velopharyngeal dysfunction from birth into adulthood. She works collaboratively with the multidisciplinary cleft team and closely with community SLTs, providing second opinions across the region. Much of her work focuses on early intervention, providing therapy in a fun, non-confrontational manner, whilst aiming for ‘best speech’ possible by school age. Current clinical and research interests include ENT and hearing difficulties related to cleft palate and electropalatography. Lucy also has a particular interest in phonetics and transcription and welcomes the opportunity to support less experienced SLTs with the challenge of transcribing cleft palate speech.
Published Works
Parental Judgement of Hearing Loss in Infants With Cleft Palate, The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, Feb 2020, Volume 57, Issue 7
Hearing impairment in cleft palate. McAndrew, L. Bulletin: Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists; Jan 2016 (no. 765); p. 13-15
Hearing Difficulties (Chapter 5) and Electropalatography (Chapter 10) in Speech Therapy in Cleft Palate and Velopharyngeal Dysfunction. The Spires Cleft Centre Speech and Language Therapy Team, Ginette Phippen (ed.) (Guildford: J&R Press, 2014)