Staff profile

Dr Diane Jacobs

Lecturer

Faculty of Health Sciences

School of Allied Health
Department of Human Communication Sciences

HS1-308, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

B App Sc (Sp Path), La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Grad Dip in Psychology, RMIT University, Melbourne Australia. PhD (Psychology), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Grad Cert in Uni Teach and Learn, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW

Area of study

Speech Pathology

Brief profile

Diane began her academic career as an associate lecturer in speech pathology at Charles Sturt University in 2009. In November 2010, she commenced part time employment as a lecturer in paediatric speech and language at La Trobe University. She has been a practising speech pathologist for 19 years working as a clinician predominantly in the area of paediatrics. Diane has worked with both preschool and school-aged populations. She has spent over a decade working with school-aged children within the education arena and has worked for more than six years in the area of child and adolescent mental health. She currently works one day per week clinically.  Diane has also undertaken studies in psychology and completed her PhD in clinical psychology at RMIT in early 2009.  This research investigated the language, literacy, and behavioural presentation of young children diagnosed with a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) compared with children with a specific language impairment (SLI), specific reading disorder (SRD), and typically developing peers. This research incorporated a cross-sectional study of children in the first three years of primary school as well as a longitudinal study of development across the first five years of school. Diane has presented her research at state, national, and international conferences.   Diane also has an interest in the varied approaches to university teaching and in 2011 completed a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. 

Research specialisation

- Speech Pathology

Recent publications

 McCormack, J., Jacobs, D., & Washington, K. (in press). Specific mental functions- Language (b167). In A. Majnemer (Eds). Measures for children with developmental disabilities: Framed by the ICF-CY. London: Mac Keith Press.  

Jacobs, D., & Richdale, A. (in press). Langauge and literacy subtypes in young children with a High-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. In: Communication in Autism. Arcuili, J., & Brock. J. (Eds.). Trends in Language Acquistion Research series (TiLAR).  John Benjamins Publishing: Amsterdam. 

Jacobs, D., & Richdale, A. (under revision). Predicting literacy in children with a High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Caswell, J & Jacobs, D. (submitted). Language Profiles of Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1.  

Research projects

Language skills of children diagnosed with SLI, HFASD, or SRD

Longitudinal literacy development of children diagnosed with HFASD

Psychopathology and adaptive behaviour of children diagnosed with SLI, HFASD, or SRD: parent, teacher, and child perspective