My friend Carole Pound, who has died aged 66 of ovarian cancer, was a speech and language therapist. She broke new ground as a champion for the inclusion in services and research of people with language loss (aphasia) after they had suffered a stroke, head injury or neurological illness.
After working in hospitals, in 1995 she moved into an academic role at the speech and language therapy department at City, University of London, where she led research but also continued to work clinically at the university’s aphasia clinic.
In 2000 she co-founded, with Sally Byng, the Connect Communication Disability Network, a charity that provided training for those working with people with aphasia, and where she was director of innovation until 2009.
Born in London, Carole was the daughter of Kathleen (nee Gibson), a receptionist, and Leslie Pound, who worked in public relations for Paramount Studios. From Burlington Danes school in west London she went to the University of Edinburgh, where she gained a master’s in French and Italian (1981). A good tennis player, she then headed to France to become a tennis coach, but a moped crash there permanently damaged the nerves in her shoulder and she had to abandon her plans.
Back in the UK she qualified as a speech and language therapist at City, after which she specialised in working with adults with communication problems arising from neurological conditions, including stroke, brain tumours and traumatic brain injury.
She held clinical speech and language therapist posts at Charing Cross hospital in Hammersmith and then Atkinson Morley hospital in Wimbledon.
After completing a master’s degree in cognitive neuropsychology at Birkbeck, University of London, in 1991, she became one of the earliest speech and language therapists to apply cognitive neuropsychological approaches in aphasia therapy.
Later, in 2013, she gained a PhD from Brunel University, and became a postdoctoral researcher and visiting fellow at Bournemouth University. Increasingly she focused on humanising healthcare, while also working as a consultant and trainer until her death.
Carole possessed a rare ability to combine academic rigour with a very accessible human approach. She was a popular international research collaborator and keynote speaker at conferences, and wrote academic papers on aphasiology that established her as an influential figure in her sphere.
In her spare time she relearnt to play tennis after her injury by switching to using her non-dominant left hand, and was able to rise back to a high standard.
She is survived by her sister Roz and brother Martin, and by two nieces and nephews.
