Marica Gatt completed a B Ed (Hons) at the University of Malta in 1996, an accredited course in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in conjunction with the ACE Centre North and Manchester Metropolitan University in 2006, an MSc in Complex Learning Disabilities at the University of Manchester in 2007 and a PhD in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with Tizard Centre, University of Kent in 2021. Her PhD was about ‘Improving Augmentative and Alternative Communication Use between Mothers, Siblings and Children with Communication Disabilities’ supervised by Dr Jill Bradshaw, Professor Glynis Murphy and Dr Nicola Grove. She is the Head of the Primary Education Resource Centre in Malta and a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and the Malta Leadership Institute. She was instrumental in setting up ACTU (Access to Communication and Technology Unit) and has represented the Education Directorates in a number of funded projects including the development of the Maltese text to speech engine and the use of eye gaze technology. In 2016 she was awarded an advanced master class writing workshop at the Monash University Prato Centre, Italy as well as an emerging researcher award at the ISAAC International Conference in Toronto, Canada in August 2016. In 2018 she presented her research at the 5th International IASSIDD Europe Congress in Athens, Greece. Marica has also volunteered in the past with Special Olympics Malta helping in setting up the first edition of the Healthy Athletes program in 2012 and implement the Motor Activity training program (MATP) at her school.
Areas of Expertise
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC); Assistive Technology (AT); severe, complex, profound and multiple disabilities; sensory impairment; families; mothers and sibling interactions; Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), Inclusive Education, Special Education, Systematic Reviews, Disability Equality Training.