Penny Benford

Contact

• workRoom 1401 Tower Building
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 846 8549
• penny.benford@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

After 11 years as a speech and language therapist working for the NHS in a range of clinical and educational settings, Dr Benford was awarded a PhD studentship from the University of Nottingham, Centre for Social Research in Health and Health Care, to investigate the use of the Internet as a communication medium by people with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism. This was completed in 2008, following which Dr Benford joined the Division of Rehabilitation and Ageing as a Research Fellow, to carry out an external evaluation of a new clinical service developed in Nottingham for adults who have Asperger Syndrome. In December 2010 she joined the Division of Primary Care to work on the "Keeping Children Safe at Home" programme.

Research Summary

I am involved in four components of the "Keeping Children Safe at Home" NIHR programme:

a case-control study to investigate the relationship between a range of safety behaviours, safety equipment use and home hazards and the occurence of falls, poisonings and scalds, poisonings and scalds, with nested studies:

1. Validation of exposures study

2. Measurement of the costs of injury and validation of PedsQL (Paediatric Quality of Life Scale)

3. Parents' perceptions of barriers to, and facilitators for injury prevention

Recent Publications

• BENFORD, P. and STANDEN, P.J., 2011. The use of email-facilitated interviewing with higher functioning autistic people participating in a grounded theory study International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 14(5), 353-368
• BENFORD, P AND STANDEN, P. J., 2010. Internet-based communication and the potential to break down social and communication barriers for higher functioning autistic people. In: Autism-Europe IX International Congress, Catania, Sicily, 8-10 October 2010. (In Press.)
• BENFORD, P. AND STANDEN, P. J, 2009. The Internet: A comfortable communication medium for people with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high functioning autism (HFA)? Journal of Assistive Technologies. 3(2), 48-57
• BENFORD, P. AND STANDEN, P. J., 2008. The Internet: A comfortable communication medium for autistic people? A study to investigate how people with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high functioning autism (HFA) experience the Internet as a communication medium. In: Interactive Technologies: education, disability and rehabilitation, Nottingham, 12 November, 2008.

• View all publications

Past Research

The use of Internet- based communication by people with high-functioning autism/Asperger syndrome

Email-faciltated interviewing

Evaluation of a new NHS service for adults with Asperger syndrome

• BENFORD, P. and STANDEN, P.J., 2011. The use of email-facilitated interviewing with higher functioning autistic people participating in a grounded theory study International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 14(5), 353-368
• BENFORD, P AND STANDEN, P. J., 2010. Internet-based communication and the potential to break down social and communication barriers for higher functioning autistic people. In: Autism-Europe IX International Congress, Catania, Sicily, 8-10 October 2010. (In Press.)
• BENFORD, P. AND STANDEN, P. J, 2009. The Internet: A comfortable communication medium for people with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high functioning autism (HFA)? Journal of Assistive Technologies. 3(2), 48-57
• BENFORD, P. AND STANDEN, P. J., 2008. The Internet: A comfortable communication medium for autistic people? A study to investigate how people with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high functioning autism (HFA) experience the Internet as a communication medium. In: Interactive Technologies: education, disability and rehabilitation, Nottingham, 12 November, 2008.