Liesbet Desmet
Liesbet Desmet graduated with a master's in speech and language therapy, with a specialization in neurogenic (communication) disorders. She developed specific expertise in research and treatment of people with peripheral facial palsy (mime therapy). Within this field, she is currently active in teaching, research and clinical practice with both children and adults. Since 2015, she is coordinator and lecturer of the Flemish mime therapy course at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences.
Biography
Liesbet Desmet graduated with a master's in speech and language therapy. She specialized in neurogenic speech and language disorders and followed the training in mime therapy (facial retraining) in Nijmegen in 2004. She is a part-time lecturer and researcher at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences. Furthermore, she supervised several theses and collaborated in international research within the field of peripheral facial palsy. She gave lectures at home and abroad related to this topic. In 2015, she started a Flemish mime therapy course at the Arteveldehogeschool in Ghent as coordinator and teacher. She also works at a service NKO and in a private practice with children and adults with peripheral facial palsy.
In 2020, from this research line, she started her first research project (PWO) on eHealth in facial retraining/mime therapy. This resulted in a digital exercise package accessible via an online exercise platform for Flemish and Dutch speech therapists and physiotherapists with this specialization. In a second project (2021-2022), therapists were questioned internationally about their practical experience and needs regarding the rehabilitation of children with PAV. Currently, she coordinates an IOF project MimiQgame in which the possibilities of gamification in the rehabilitation of facial palsy are explored in collaboration with the research group Digital Arts & Entertainment of HoWest.