Marta Gomes Pinto

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist with more than 15 years of clinical experience in adult neurological rehabilitation, working primarily with acquired and progressive disorders of language and communication. My core focus is augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and aphasia in adults, alongside the broader spectrum of acquired communication disorders that follow stroke, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative disease, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and Parkinson’s disease. My work is oriented throughout towards communicative participation: sustaining a person’s capacity to express, connect, and take part in the decisions and relationships that matter to them. I completed my degree in Speech and Language Therapy at the Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão (2006–2010), followed by two postgraduate qualifications at the same institution: Complex Communication Needs (2013–2014), which underpins much of my AAC practice, and Clinical Supervision and Human Resource Management in Speech and Language Therapy (2010–2011). I currently practise at Campus Neurológico Sénior (Lisbon) and contribute to clinical software development at HaloNeuroAI, where I work on AI-based AAC solutions for adults with complex communication needs. I am the founder of AAC³, a Portuguese training and consultancy brand dedicated to AAC. For eight years I coordinated the speech and language therapy department at APELA, the Portuguese ALS association, and my earlier clinical career was shaped by my work at the Centro de Medicina de Reabilitação do Alcoitão, where I developed group therapy for people living with aphasia after stroke and built assessment and intervention protocols in AAC. My clinical model is functional, person-centred, and framed within the ICF. I have particular expertise in AAC for adults with acquired and neurodegenerative communication disorders, combining high-tech systems with voice-banking and voice-cloning technologies and emerging AI-based tools. A central strand of my recent work concerns how generative AI and large language models can extend communicative access for people with aphasia and other language disorders, supporting comprehension, message formulation, and re-entry into work and social life. I am co-creator of the E-Tran Helper app and LaserTalk, a low-tech laser solution for communicative accessibility. I have become a recognised voice in Portugal on the clinical application of AI to speech and language therapy, integrating tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and NotebookLM into assessment, intervention, and training, and speaking on AI governance, ethics, and data protection. I authored the chapters on AAC assessment and intervention in the Portuguese Speech Therapy Society’s clinical compendium, contributed to national resources on communicative accessibility in aphasia, and authored a factsheet on communication support technologies for people with aphasia. I teach as an invited lecturer across several Portuguese universities, on neurological communication disorders and the role of the SLP in ALS and palliative care, and I supervise clinical placements and deliver professional training nationally. I am an active trainer, speaker, and mentor in AAC and in AI applied to speech and language therapy, and I continue to develop clinical tools, training programmes, and evidence-informed resources for the Portuguese-speaking SLP community.

ASHA Financial Disclosures:
None

ASHA Non-Financial Disclosures:
None