Laura Boundy
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Profile

Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of York. I completed my PhD at the University of Manchester in 2018, which examined how infant’s pre-verbal communication skills and early interactions with their caregivers can influence language development, with a particular focus on gestures. From 2019-2024 I was involved in several postdoctoral research projects at the University of Manchester exploring early language, social, and cognitive development. This included being part of a project that used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the efficacy of a language intervention for pre-school children.
Currently, I am part of a team assessing the efficacy of an intervention aimed at encouraging babbling in infants with Down syndrome.

Research

Overview

My main research interests are exploring how pre-verbal infants use their environment and interactions with their caregivers to develop the skills needed for later language. I am also interested in how we can develop and evaluate language interventions aimed at supporting children who are at risk of language delay, including children with Down syndrome.

Recent publications include:

Boundy, L., Hargreaves, S., Baxter, R., Holton, S., & Burgoyne, K. (2023). Views of educators working with pupils with Down syndrome on their roles and responsibilities and factors related to successful inclusion. Research in developmental disabilities, 142, 104617.

Hartwell, K., Brandt, S., Boundy, L., Barton, G., & Köymen, B. (2022). Preschool children’s use of meta‐talk to make rational collaborative decisions. Child Development, 93(4), 1061-1071.

Current project:

Evaluating a new intervention using the BabblePlay app for infants with Down syndrome (in collaboration with Tamar Keren-Portnoy, Sue Buckley, Kelly Burgoyne, Helena Daffern, Mona Kanaan and Sab Arshad).