(DASSH Chair)

Professor of Developmental Psychology; Head of the School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University

John Clibbens is Professor of Developmental Psychology and Head of the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University. John has academic qualifications in Psychology, Linguistics and Philosophy. His core research interests are in language and cognitive development in typically developing children and in a number of special groups, including deaf children and children with Down syndrome, and he has published extensively in these areas. Other recent work has included studies of hemispheric lateralisation in deaf and hearing users of signed and spoken language, evaluation of a multi-professional intervention package for children experiencing difficulties at school, assessing the benefits of a physical exercise programme for children with learning disabilities, evaluation of children and young people’s experience of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the assessment and impact of dementia in people with Down syndrome. These projects have been funded by various bodies, including the ESRC, NHS, Department for Education and local authorities.

John has worked in the NHS, and has held a series of academic and managerial positions in universities. These include Head of School, Associate Dean and Dean roles in Psychology, Social Sciences and Health at the Universities of Plymouth and Essex, before taking up his current position at Birmingham City University. He has held a number of positions within the British Psychological Society and is currently Chair of the Undergraduate Education Committee and Deputy Chair of the Research Board. He is Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees for the charity Down Syndrome Education International and Chair of the charity’s Research Ethics Committee. He served as a member of the Advisory Committee for the ESRC Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre at University College London for its first five year term and is a member of the ESRC Peer Review College, amongst other external roles.