Helen Blake

Dr Helen Blake is an Adjunct Fellow in speech pathology at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), working within the Graduate School of Health in the Faculty of Health. As a certified practicing speech pathologist, she has held significant roles including leading the Speech Intelligibility Clinic at the University of Newcastle and contributing to Speech Pathology Australia's national position paper and clinical guidelines for Working in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Society. Her professional background includes previous experience as a standardisation officer in Air Traffic Control, which informs her work in Intelligibility Enhancement for multilingual speakers.

Helen's research focuses on English proficiency, intelligibility, and participation of multilingual speakers in Australia, with particular emphasis on university students and humanitarian migrants. Her work utilizes the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a conceptual framework. She has published extensively on topics including intelligibility enhancement protocols, culturally responsive practice, and the impact of English proficiency on social integration and professional success.

Her recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory toward understanding and improving communication outcomes for multilingual individuals in English-dominant environments. Her research spans clinical interventions, sociolinguistic analysis, and workforce development within speech-language pathology. She has developed the Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention Protocols, which have been validated through single-case experimental designs with promising results.

Helen is actively involved in clinical education and has adapted her approaches to telepractice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her funded research projects focus on building multilingual speech research and enhancing engagement with the global community. She has also contributed to international expert panels, including membership on the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech.

In her teaching and supervision, Helen focuses on speech sound disorders, linguistics (particularly phonetics, phonology, and morphology), and clinical education/placements. Her work bridges theoretical understanding with practical clinical applications, emphasizing culturally responsive approaches to speech-language pathology practice.