Áine holds two part-time roles within the School of Allied Health at the University of Limerick.  She works as a Lecturer and a Regional Placement Facilitator on the MSc. Speech and Language Therapy programme. She has worked as a speech and language therapist with a variety of clinical populations across the life span, working within acute, rehabilitation and community services. 

Áine’s research interests include digital technology usage among individuals with post-stroke communication disabilities as well as digital inclusion.  Her PhD research explored stakeholders’ perspectives of ICT-delivered aphasia rehabilitation.  This research was funded by the Health Research Board. She is currently examining the feasibility of an online conversation partner scheme linking speech and language therapy students and adults with acquired communication disabilities through an online platform. She is a member of the Ageing Research Centre (ARC) within EHS.  

Publications

Kearns, Á., Kelly, H., & Pitt, I. (2020). Rating experience of ICT-delivered aphasia rehabilitation: co-design of a feedback questionnaire. Aphasiology, 34(3), 319-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2019.1649913  

Kearns, Á., Kelly, H., & Pitt, I. (2019). Self-reported Feedback in ICT-delivered Aphasia Rehabilitation: a Literature Review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1655803  

Kavanagh, J, Kearns, Á & McGarry T (2015). The benefits and challenges of student-led clinics within an Irish context. J. of Practice Teaching & Learning 13(2-3), 58-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1921/jpts.v13i2-3.858  

Kearns, Á., Pitt, I., Kelly, H. & O’Byrne, D. (2018) Development of an ICT-delivered Control Programme for use in Aphasia Crossover Intervention Study. Presentation at the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Galway, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1145/3234695.3241026   

Kearns, Á., Kelly, H., & Pitt, I. (2018) Co-design of a Feedback Questionnaire for ICT-delivered Aphasia Rehabilitation. Presentation at the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Galway, October 2018. https://doi.org/10.1145/3234695.3241027