OUR STAFF
Soile loukusa
I am interested in the development and challenges of communication and social cognition. I am particularly intrigued by the interplay between mind and language—how understanding another person’s mind influences language use, and conversely, how language skills impact social functioning.
Over my 20-year career as a speech and language therapist and researcher, I have gained diverse experience. I have worked in both university hospitals and the private sector as a speech and language therapist. Additionally, I have served as a researcher and university lecturer at the University of Oulu, and as a researcher at the University of Hertfordshire in England. Currently, I am the chairperson of the Finnish Association of Speech and Language Therapists.
My research has primarily focused on social communication, especially concerning autism spectrum, ADHD, and language difficulties. My doctoral thesis was on pragmatic communication, and I continued my research as a postdoctoral researcher, academy researcher, and participant in several research projects.
From my research, I developed the Pragma Test and contributed to the translation and adaptation of the CCC-2 questionnaire into Finnish. I have published extensively in scientific and professional journals and books and presented my research on social communication at various conferences.
“Language is the light of the mind”
–John Stuart Mill
satu saalasti
I graduated as a speech and language therapist from the University of Oulu in early 2000 and completed my doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki in 2012. I am particularly interested in how the things we perceive visually affect the flow of communication, and particularly the understanding of speech – as part of multisensory perception or speechreading, also known as lipreading. I have studied these phenomena in multidisciplinary research groups using both behavioral and brain imaging methods and published in international and national research outlets.
Through my research, I have gained a deep understanding of how the brain linguistic comprehension takes place in the brain, and how individual differences impact visual and multisensory perception of speech. Better understanding of individual differences also helps in finding more efficient ways to support people with different communication challenges. Relatedly, I have developed digital applications for assessing visual speech perception and language comprehension.
My previous experience of clinical work in university hospitals and the private sector helps me in applying scientific knowledge into practice. I have particularly extensive experience in assessing social communication abilities in children and adults.
Lastly, my higher education, focused on pedagogical studies, ensures transferring knowledge forward effectively.
Research drives progress!