It is a pleasure and a privilege for us to present this special edition of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology as a Festschrift in honour of Professor Pamela Enderby MBE, DSc (Hon), PhD, MSc, FRCSLT. As can be seen from the letters after her name, Pam has had (and is still having) a very distinguished career, which has been recognized both within and beyond the profession, nationally and internationally, and at the highest levels. Pam Enderby has been a major force in British and international speech-language pathology for over 40 years. The list of the honours bestowed on her testifies to this.
Pam qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1970. Following several appointments in speech and language therapy, she became head of the now renowned Frenchay Speech Therapy Department at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England, which became probably the largest and most influential department of its kind in the UK. Throughout her career, she has sought to add to the knowledge base that underpins professional practice and most significantly to focus on issues that have a direct impact in the clinic and can be readily applied.
Pam completed her MSc in 1973 and her PhD in 1983. Her thesis was on ‘Assessment of Dysarthria’ from which became the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, the first systematically designed battery of its kind and a battery that is still widely used throughout the world over a quarter of a century later. That assessment would have been a significant contribution in itself, but within 3 years she published the Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test, which is also still widely used for the screening of aphasia. It is typical of Pam's modesty that neither of these instruments was named ‘The Enderby Test of …’.
By this time Pam was already becoming a leader in the profession and her contribution was recognized through the award of a Fellowship of the College of Speech Therapists in 1983 and the Jacques Parisot Foundation Fellowship Award from the World Health Organization in 1986. However, it didn't stop there. Rather than resting on her already extensive laurels, Pam also undertook significant programs of work in other areas of therapy; most notably looking critically at service delivery—for example examining the potential contribution of volunteers, selection of people for intensive therapy, and epidemiological issues such as recovery patterns and prevalence; and also the potential contribution to therapy of new and emerging technologies; initially in the form of communication aids but later and most notably in looking at ways in which computers could be used in therapy. This last interest attracted a significant research grant that enabled the setting up of the Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit at Frenchay in 1987, and this Unit is still thriving over 20 years later.
She has been involved in the supervision of over 20 post-graduates, several of whom are contributors to this special issue, and has externally examined as many post-graduate degrees. She has been on the editorial boards of seven academic journals and has published over 100 research papers in refereed journals, numerous books and book chapters with a wide range of colleagues and co-workers, and has presented a long list of invited papers and keynote addresses at international conferences and congresses.
In 1993 her contribution was nationally recognized when she was made an MBE (Member of the British Empire) by the Queen for her services to speech and language therapy. She has also been highly active in the British Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists: she was Vice Chair of the Council from 1993–1994, followed by Chair 1994–1995 and Vice President 1995–1996.
However, she also has left her mark outside the profession and discipline of speech and language pathology and therapy. Her concern and vision has embraced all aspects of therapy and rehabilitation and indeed this was recognized in 1997 when she was appointed Professor of Community Medicine at the University of Sheffield—a position she still holds. She was also appointed Course Director of the Bachelor of Medical Science degree and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, from 2000–2003, and was the first woman and the first from an allied profession to have that role. She was made an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of the West of England in 2000, Honorary Life member of the British Society for Rehabilitation Medicine in 2003, and honoured with the Inspiring Woman award by the Fawcett Society in 2006.
In Britain Pam is well known for her tireless tenacity fighting to gain equal pay for speech and language therapists in line with comparable professionals such as pharmacists. In spite of initially being turned down by a national Industrial Tribunal, Pam followed the process through for more than 10 years to the European Court of Justice where she eventually won her argument. As well as increasing the pay of the profession, her case is a landmark in employment law wherein the judgement stated that the onus is on the employer to prove that the difference is not sexually discriminatory.
These are just the highlights: the list of appointments on university, national, and international committees and expert panels is formidable, suggesting a level of energy that is exhausting simply to contemplate. However, readers who do not know Pam personally may think from her towering achievements that she must be a formidable person—surveying the world from a lofty eminence, but nothing could be further from the truth. Pam has always been a very warm and approachable person with a keen sense of humour—even occasionally at her own expense.
This special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology in Pam's honour is therefore not before time, although it will not be the last. She has published and has won large and major grants for research in assessment and treatment in aphasia, dysarthria, child language and speech, stuttering, and augmentative aids, to mention just the main areas. The papers included cover just some aspects of Pam's own work in speech-language pathology across adult and childhood conditions: in service delivery issues in aphasia and dysphagia, in the assessment and accurate diagnosis of dysarthria, in the application of computers to treatment, meta-analysis of the effectiveness and efficacy of treatments, and the development of measures such as the Therapy Outcome Measures (TOMS). Much of Pam's concern throughout her career, reflected in the contributions and in our title for the special issue, has been with the practical issues of what actually makes a difference for people with communication disabilities, with what is needed, what works, and what doesn't work. The list of contributors to this Festschrift comes from among Pam's research colleagues, her ex-students and those who are simply her admirers. The content reflects Pam's own work in speech-language pathology and therapy and reflects current and central issues in speech-language pathology and therapy. We are grateful to contributors for their work and to the editor Sharynne McLeod for her support and encouragement.