smiletharapy
Karin Schamroth is a Specialist Speech & Language Therapist in Deafness, and
creator of smiLE Therapy. She worked in the National Health Service in the UK
for 30 years. For 20 years, with deaf babies, pre-schoolers, primary and
secondary aged students for Whittington Health NHS (North London). She graduated
with a BSc from Manchester University in 1984, and taught English as a Foreign
Language (TEFL) for 4 years. She qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in
1990 from City University. She has worked with Deaf children & young people, in
a range of setting – units in mainstream schools (both Total Communication and
Oral) and Deaf Schools (Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children, and Blanche
Nevile School for Deaf Pupils). Her background in TEFL teaching, with its
structured test-teach-test communicative approach, was invaluable in the
development of smiLE. In addition, she was trained by Jenny Mosley in Quality
Circle Time. This has had a significant influence on the group respect
principles used in delivering smiLE Therapy. She was advisor for three MSc
projects at City University on the effectiveness of the smiLE approach – Alton
(2008), Lawlor (2009), Curtin (2018) and supported G. Medone with her MEd
project at Birmingham University, School of Education, on Assessing smiLE
Therapy’s relevance to young people with autism, unpublished (2015). She is
currently clinical supervisor for a Clinical Doctorate Research Fellow (NIHR).
Karin now works Independently, developing smiLE Therapy modules with adolescents
and young adults and runs the company that trains professionals in smiLE
Therapy. Karin has trained Speech and Language Therapists, Teachers of the Deaf,
Special Needs Teachers, Mainstream Teachers, SENCOs, Occupational Therapists,
Communication Support Workers and Special Needs Assistants, to use smiLE Therapy
since 2008. Karin, together with Emma Lawlor, wrote the first smiLE Therapy
book, published in October 2015 by Routledge Publishing
