About

Dr Sushie Dobbinson (She/Her) is speech and language therapist (SLT) and experienced clinical diagnostician who provides private services to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

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Within the public sector, Sushie is the clinical lead for the regional NHS Adult Diagnosis Service, working on a daily basis with adults and children of 14 years+ with ASD and ADHD. Spectrum Diagnosis and the services outlined are private consultancy work and are not NHS-provided services.   

Sushie started working with autistic people in 1994 when she began her PhD research focusing on the language and communication patterns of autistic adults. During her academic career, Sushie spent 15 years working as a university lecturer, including posts at the University of Sheffield Department of Human Communication Sciences, and York St John University where she was Head of Programme for Language Studies and Linguistics from 1999 – 2003.

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A desire to work in role with a direct focus on helping neurodivergent people led Sushie to leave full-time academia in 2003, when she trained as an SLT. However, as the field of ASD research is a rapidly developing area, Sushie places high value on staying well-informed on all things ASD and has maintained close links with academia. She is on the expert panel of Conversation Analysis Research in Autism based at Leicester University. She also continues to be an active researcher and educator, with publications in the field dating back to 1998 and as recent as 2021.

Sushie is proactive in building her diagnostic skillset and in 2018 she underwent training for diagnosis of ADHD (DIVA 2). She also expanded her knowledge of the neurology of sensory integration dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders through completion of her level sensory integration (SI) training.

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Sushie sometimes collaborates with her occupational therapist colleague, Victoria Dunn.

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When Sushie has spare time, she likes to spend it walking with her dogs, reading science-fiction novels, and tending to her plants.

• 2021: Sushie Dobbinson. Deception, fantasy and confabulation: What the stories of forensic patients with intellectual disabilities tell us about truth in therapeutic interactions. In: Improving Communication in Mental Health Settings, pp. 127-139. Routledge.
   

• 2017: Sushie Dobbinson. The interaction is the work: Rehabilitating risk in a forensic patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Learning Disability. In: A Practical Guide to Social Interaction Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, pp. 221-246

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• 2016: Sushie Dobbinson. Conversation with an adult with features of Autism Spectrum Disorder in secure care. In: the Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health, pp. 441-458. Palgrave Macmillan.
   

• 2006: Sushie Jayne Dobbinson. Systemizing and empathy in forensic ASD talk. Advances in Autism, Vol. 2 Issue: 4, pp.179-190, https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-05-2016-0013​

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• 2006: Michael R Perkins, Sushie Dobbinson, Jill Boucher, Simone Bol, Paul Bloom. Lexical knowledge and lexical use in autism.
  Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 36(6):795-805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0120-3

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• 2005: Sushie Dobbinson (contributor). Unit 8. In: Phonetics in Introducing Language in Use (Aileen Bloomer et al.). Routledge.

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• 2004: Kate Trott; Sushie Dobbinson, Patrick Griffiths (Eds) "Child Language Reader". Routledge

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• 2003: Sushie Dobbinson, Mick Perkins, Jill Boucher. The interactional significance of formulas in autistic language. Clinical linguistics & phonetics. 17(4-5):299-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269920031000080046

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• 1998: Sushie Dobbinson, Mick Perkins, Jill Boucher. Structural patterns in conversations with a woman who has autism. Journal of communication disorders. 31(2):113-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(97)00085-3