Dr Rebecca Baxter

About

Dr Rebecca Baxter is a speech and language therapist who graduated from University College London in 2007. She completed her Masters in Language and Communication Impairments in Children in 2010. She has a background working in both the charity and private sectors having run her own successful independent practice for 15 years, leading a specialist team of education advisors.

Rebecca’s areas of interest are language and communication development in Down syndrome. Rebecca has worked with individuals with Down syndrome from babies to young adults. She delivers training to parents and professionals and has developed a number of evidence-informed programmes to support those working in early years and school settings. Her varied experience with families and professionals has developed her wide range of knowledge and skills across speech and language development and education. She has experience of writing and publishing research and is passionate about evidence-based practice and embedding research into teaching.

Rebecca joined the University of Chichester in April 2026 as senior lecturer and programme lead for the Speech and Language Therapy course.

Professional

• Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Member of the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP)

Publications

Journal articles:

Burgoyne, K., Baxter, R., Hartwell. Pagnamenta, E. & Stojanovik, V. (in press). Parent-delivered early language intervention for children with Down syndrome: A feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Hickman, A., Baxter, R., Hartwell, K., Pagnamenta, E., Stojanovik, V., Loveall, S.J., & Burgoyne, K. (2026). Concurrent and longitudinal associations between the Home Literacy Environment and the language skills of children with Down syndrome. Frontiers in Psychology. 17:1795715. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1795715

 Kelly, O., O’Brien, N., Burgoyne, K., Baxter, R. & Bagnall, C.L. (2026). A case study, nested approach of children with Down Syndrome, their parents’ and teachers’ experiences of navigating primary–secondary school transition. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 26, e70070. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.70070

Hartwell, K., Pagnamenta, E., Stojanovik, V., Baxter, R., & Burgoyne, K. (2025) The power of partnership: Adapting Early Language Intervention for children with Down syndrome through family-researcher collaboration. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 60(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.70139

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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104617.

Baxter, R., Rees, R., Perovic, A., & Hulme, C. (2022). The nature and causes of children’s grammatical difficulties: Evidence from an intervention to improve past tense marking in children with Down syndrome. Developmental Science, 25(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13220

Burgoyne, K., Buckley, S., & Baxter, R. (2021). Speech production accuracy in children with Down syndrome: relationships with hearing, language, and reading ability and change in speech production accuracy over time. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 65(12), 1021–1032. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12890

Hargreaves, S., Holton, S., Baxter, R., & Burgoyne, K. (2021). Educational experiences of pupils with Down syndrome in the UK. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 119, Article e104115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104115

Books:

Baxter, R. & Burgoyne, K. (in press). Working with children and young adults with Down syndrome. Routledge

Burgoyne, K., Baxter, B., & Buckley, S. (2014). Developing the reading skills of children with Down syndrome. In R., Faragher, & Clarke, B. (Eds.), Educating learners with Down syndrome: Research, theory, and practice with children and adolescents. Routledge.

Research

Rebecca has conducted research across a range of topics related to speech, language and education. Rebecca’s research focus is on Down syndrome and evidence-informed practice.

Rebecca completed her PhD in 2023 at University College London, which involved developing and evaluating a language intervention for children with Down syndrome.

Since finishing her PhD, Rebecca has worked on a feasibility project working in partnership with families to adapt and evaluate an evidence-based language intervention for preschool children with Down syndrome. She is currently the external supervisor for an ESRC-funded PhD project looking at supporting friendships and interaction in school-aged children.

PhD

The Friendship Project: Supporting friendships and social participation for children with Down syndrome in mainstream primary schools.

Rebecca is currently the external PhD supervisor in this collaborative project between the University of Manchester and Down Syndrome UK.

This project involves a feasibility randomised controlled trial of a novel school-based intervention, which was developed by Rebecca and her team working with local primary schools.