Dr Rebecca Armstrong
Lecturer in Speech Pathology
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Affiliate of Parenting and Family Support Centre
Parenting and Family Support Centre
+61 7 334 67832
Researcher biography
Rebecca is a Lecturer in Speech Pathology at the University of Queensland, and she has a particular clinical and research interest in paediatric populations. Clinically, Rebecca has experience working with school-age children, and she is passionate about sharing her interest and expertise in this area through her teaching and research aspirations. Rebecca's teaching and research focuses on a range of paediatric areas of speech pathology practice, including speech, language, literacy and special needs in communication (including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Developmental Language Disorders). To date, Rebecca has presented at national and international conferences and also has published in peer-reviewed journals published in the areas of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and also population-based research examining the early life predictors and long-term outcomes of language impairment.
Book Chapters
Armstrong, Rebecca M. and Scott, James G. (2022). Patterns of language development from childhood to adulthood and the associated long-term psychosocial outcomes. Language development: Individual Differences in a Social Context. (pp. 281-301) edited by James Law, Sheena Reilly and Cristina McKean. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108643719.015
Harper-Hill, Keely, Wilson, Wayne, Armstrong, Rebecca, Perrykkad, Kelsey, Downing, Cerys and Ashburner, Jill (2021). Sound amplification in school contexts: implications for inclusive practice. Supporting students on the autism spectrum in inclusive schools: a practical guide to implementing evidence-based approaches. (pp. 88-103) edited by Suzanne Carrington, Beth Saggers, Keely Harper-Hill and Michael Whelan. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003049036-10
Westerveld, Marleen F., Armstrong, Rebecca M. and Barton, Georgina M. (2020). Reading Success. Reading Success in the Primary Years. (pp. 1-17) Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-15-3492-8_1
Journal Articles
Morawska, Alina, Mitchell, Amy E., Etel, Evren, Armstrong, Rebecca, McAuliffe, Tomomi, Ma, Tianyi, McBryde, Cathy and Johnston, Leanne M. (2024). A systematic review of parents’ experiences during their child’s transition to school. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10643-024-01780-z
Sandham, Victoria, Hill, Anne E., Hinchliffe, Fiona and Armstrong, Rebecca M. (2024). The translatability of communication interventions in paediatric autism: a scoping review. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2024.2388060
Morawska, Alina, Armstrong, Rebecca, McBryde, Cathy, Mitchell, Amy E., Etel, Evren, McAuliffe, Tomomi and Johnston, Leanne M. (2024). Parent needs and preferences for support during their very prematurely born child’s transition to school. International Journal of Early Years Education, 1-17. doi: 10.1080/09669760.2024.2367508
Mitchell, Amy E., Armstrong, Rebecca, McBryde, Cathy, Morawska, Alina, Etel, Evren, Hurrion, Elizabeth M., McAuliffe, Tomomi and Johnston, Leanne (2024). Children born very or extremely preterm transitioning to school: a cross-sectional study examining predictors of school readiness, school adjustment, and support needs. Early Child Development and Care, 194 (7-8), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/03004430.2024.2352722
Dunstan, Kym, Smith, Helen, Melvin, Katelyn, Loh, Cheryl, Scarinci, Nerina, Frazer-Ryan, Skye and Armstrong, Rebecca (2024). Exploring the impact of a co-designed shared book reading environment for families in a community hub. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 59 (4), 1371-1385. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.13002
Armstrong, Rebecca, Schimke, Emma, Mathew, Akhila and Scarinci, Nerina (2023). Interprofessional practice between speech-language pathologists and classroom teachers: a mixed-methods systematic review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54 (4), 1358-1376. doi: 10.1044/2023_lshss-22-00168
Mulvihill, Aisling, Armstrong, Rebecca, Casey, Charlotte, Redshaw, Jonathan, Scarinci, Nerina and Slaughter, Virginia (2023). Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 41 (3), 227-245. doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12449
Smith, Helen, Dunstan, Kym, Melvin, Katelyn, Armstrong, Rebecca, Frazer-Ryan, Skye and Scarinci, Nerina (2023). Co-designing a shared book reading environment at a community hub. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25 (3), 376-387. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2023.2182742
Westerveld, Marleen F. and Armstrong, Rebecca M. (2022). Expository discourse skills of students with reading comprehension difficulties. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24 (6), 1-10. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2022.2047784
Wilson, Wayne J, Harper-Hill, Keely, Armstrong, Rebecca, Downing, Cerys, Perrykkad, Kelsey, Rafter, Mary and Ashburner, Jill (2021). A preliminary investigation of sound-field amplification as an inclusive classroom adjustment for children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders, 93 106142, 106142. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2021.106142
Wilson, Wayne J., Downing, Cerys, Perrykkad, Kelsey, Armstrong, Rebecca, Arnott, Wendy L., Ashburner, Jill and Harper-Hill, Keely (2019). The ‘acoustic health’ of primary school classrooms in Brisbane, Australia. Speech, Language and Hearing, 23 (3), 1-8. doi: 10.1080/2050571x.2019.1637042
Armstrong, Rebecca M., Paynter, Jessica and Westerveld, Marleen F. (2019). Fiction or non-fiction: parent-reported book preferences of their preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Autism and Developmental Language Impairments, 4, 239694151989673. doi: 10.1177/2396941519896736
Armstrong, Rebecca, Symons, Martyn, Scott, James G., Arnott, Wendy L., Copland, David A., McMahon, Katie L. and Whitehouse, Andrew J. O. (2018). Predicting language difficulties in middle childhood from early developmental milestones: a comparison of traditional regression and machine learning techniques. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61 (8), 1926-1944. doi: 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-17-0210
Armstrong, Rebecca, Arnott, Wendy, Copland, David A., McMahon, Katie, Khan, Asaduzzaman, Najman, Jake M. and Scott, James G. (2017). Change in receptive vocabulary from childhood to adulthood: associated mental health, education and employment outcomes. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 52 (5), 561-572. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12301
Armstrong, Rebecca, Whitehouse, Andrew J. O., Scott, James G., Copland, David A., McMahon, Katie L., Fleming, Sophie and Arnott, Wendy (2017). A relationship between early language skills and adult autistic-like traits: evidence from a longitudinal population-based study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47 (5), 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-3014-z
Armstrong, Rebecca, Scott, James, Copland, David, McMahon, Katie, Khan, Asaduzzaman, Najman, Jake M., Alati, Rosa and Arnott, Wendy (2016). Predicting receptive vocabulary change from childhood to adulthood: a birth cohort study. Journal of Communication Disorders, 64, 78-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.10.002
Banney, Rebeca M., Harper-Hill, Keely and Arnott, Wendy L. (2015). The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and narrative assessment: evidence for specific narrative impairments in autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17 (2), 159-171. doi: 10.3109/17549507.2014.977348
Conference Papers
Mitchel, A. E., McBryde, C., Morawska, A., Etel, E., McAuliffe, T., Johnston, L. and Armstrong, R. (2024). Children born very preterm transitioning to school: Predictors of school readiness and adjustment. 42nd National Conference of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 13-14 October 2024.
Wilson, Wayne J., Harper-Hill, Keely, Armstrong, Rebecca, Downing, Cerys, Perrykkad, Kelsey, Rafter, Mary and Ashburner, Jill (2023). Improved acoustics puts students on the autism spectrum in a better position to learn, but they still have to learn. Acoustics 2023, Sydney, NSW Australia, 4-8 December 2023. Melville, NY USA: AIP Publishing. doi: 10.1121/10.0022980
Lo, D., Waite, M., Rose, T., Armstrong, R. and Hilton, N. (2023). Understanding the experiences of adolescents with post-stroke aphasia. 15th World Stroke Congress, Toronto, ON Canada, 10-12 October 2023. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.
Wilson, Wayne J., Harper-Hill, Keely, Downing, Cerys, Armstrong, Rebecca, Perrykkad, Kelsey, Rafter, Mary and Ashburner, Jill (2023). Soundfield amplification for primary school students on the autism spectrum: Research findings and classroom applications. 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Chicago, IL United States, 8-12 May 2023. Melville, NY United States: AIP Publishing. doi: 10.1121/10.0018399
Morawska, A., McBryde, C., Mitchell, A. E., Etel, E., McAuliffe, T., Armstrong, R. and Johnston, L. (2022). Preferences of parents of children born very pre-term for parenting support at the transition to school. 42nd National Conference of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 13-14 October 2022.
Morawska, A., Mitchell, A., Etel, E., Ma, T., McAuliffe, T., Armstrong, R., McBryde, C. and Johnston, L. (2022). A systematic review of barriers and facilitators experienced by parents of typically developing and preterm children during the transition to school. 76th Annual Meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, Las Vegas, NV United States, 21-24 September 2022.
Armstrong, Rebecca, Scott, James G., Whitehouse, Andrew J. O., Copland, David A., Mcmahon, Katie L. and Arnott, Wendy (2017). Late talkers and later language outcomes: Predicting the different language trajectories. Speech-Pathology-Australia National Conference, Perth Australia, 2016. Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: TAYLOR & FRANCIS. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2017.1296191
Thesis
Armstrong, Rebecca Mary (2017). Language disorder from infancy to adulthood: predictors and outcomes. PhD Thesis, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2017.785