CSD Research Symposium

Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic
Research Building A, off Hastings Road

This year's event features posters from Penn State undergraduate students, as well as students from North Carolina A&T State University, through a collaboration under the National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden Program. NC A&T posters are indicated with an asterisk.

The symposium will occur in two sessions. Posters ending in A will present from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Posters ending in B will present from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

1A) Establishing Usability and Utility of the CVI/AAC Framework

Presented by: Victoria Paylo, Sarah Mento 
Research Mentors: Tara McCarty, PhD, CCC-SLP; Krista Wilkinson, PhD

*1B) Meta-Analysis Review: The Importance of IPE: Learning to Treat Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Presented by: Farrah Cooper, Fallon Cooper
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

*2A) Best Practices for Speech Language Pathologists Providing Intervention for Wernicke’s Aphasia

Presented by: Treasure Carson
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

2B) Longitudinal Changes of Vowel Intelligibility in People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis  

Presented by: Christina Corti, Madison Schmelzer, Marissa Boyer
Research Mentors: Jimin Lee, PhD, CCC-SLP; Elizabeth Krajewski, MS, CCC-SLP

3A) Researching a Framework for CVI Considerations in AAC Design

Presented by: Vivienne Booz, Taylor Kalik
Research Mentors: Krista Wilkinson, PhD; Tara McCarty, PhD, CCC-SLP

*3B) Differences Between ELL Learner versus Developmental Language Disorders: Best Practices for SLPs

Presented by: Trinity Griffin
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

4A) "When I Die, No One will Update his Communication Device": Perspectives of Parents of Adult Children with CCN

Presented by: Isabella Green
Research Mentor: Julia Karnezos, PhD, CCC-SLP

*4B) Overview of Speech and Language Assessment and Treatment Approaches: School Aged Children with ASD

Presented by: Ziyan Owens
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

*5A) Impact on Summer Research Internship Opportunities for Black Male CSD Students at HBCUs

Presented by: Jayden Hall Ingram
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

5B) Learning to Spell: Case Examples from AAC Users

Presented by: Leah Daukshus
Research Mentors: Jessica Caron, PhD, CCC-SLP; Salena Babb, PhD

6A) Phonics Instruction to Improve Literacy Outcomes for AAC Users

Presented by: Mary Pellicio, Abigail Leigland
Research Mentors: Jessica Caron, PhD, CCC-SLP; Salena Babb, PhD

*6B) Meta-Analysis Review: The Utilization of Ultrasound Technology: Enhancing Clinical Practice in SLP

Presented by: Clara Rhinehart
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

7A) Tongue Range of Motion in People with Down Syndrome   

Presented by: Kate Grimsley, Claire Yocum
Research Mentors: Jimin Lee, PhD, CCC-SLP; Sophie Wolf, MS, CCC-SLP

*7B) The Role of AAC Devices: Improving Communication Effectiveness Across Communication Disorders

Presented by: Dachanelle Fryer
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

*8A) The Importance of Culturally Responsive Practices in the Profession of SLP: Why does it matter?

Presented by: Olivia Walters
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

8B) Relationship Between Speech Discrimination and Speech Production Measures for Adults with Down Syndrome  

Presented by: Carolynn Buckley
Research Mentors: Annie Olmstead, PhD; Jimin Lee, PhD, CCC-SLP; Sophie Wolf, MS, CCC-SLP

9A) Using Electrophysiology to Analyze the Auditory Processing of Individuals with ADHD

Presented by: Emily Hacker, Emelia Isola, Bridget Reape
Research Mentor: Maegan Mapes, AuD, CCC-A

*9B) The Impact of Summer Research Internships for UG in CSD: My Boston University Experience

Presented by: Jayln Thomas
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

10A) Bridging Worlds: A Self-Reflective Case Study on the Importance of Deaf Culture Education for Audiologists​

Presented by: Gidey Gezae
Research Mentor: Maegan Mapes, AuD, CCC-A

*10B) Meta-Analysis Review: Brain Power: Impact of MIT on Increasing Language Skills Secondary to a CVA

Presented by: Deja Anderson
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

*11A) Meta-Analysis Review: The Role of the SLP in Feeding and Swallowing for Infants and Toddlers

Presented by: Laila Hayden
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

11B) Processing fMRI Scans of Persons with Aphasia​

Presented by: Johanna Barber, Charles Minnis
Research Mentors: Chaleece Sandberg, PhD, CCC-SLP; Faranak Kianfar, MA, MAS

12A) Feasibility of Online Group Cycling Program for People with Aphasia

Presented by: Abigail Silberman
Research Mentor: Chaleece Sandberg, PhD, CCC-SLP

*12B) Meta-Analysis Review: Significance of Coaching in the Natural Environment: Promoting Communication Skills in Birth-Three

Presented by: Kyndall Dervin
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

13A) Creating Video Article Summaries to Increase Access to Aphasia Research

Presented by: Adela Zhang, Nora Sweeney
Research Mentor: Chaleece Sandberg, PhD, CCC-SLP

*13B) Incidence and Prevalence of Voice Disorders after COVID-19: Implications for SLPs

Presented by: Griffin Williams
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

14A) Preschoolers’ Fast Mapping of Novel Words in Play-Based Versus Story-Based Exposure Types

Presented by: Trina Lord
Research Mentor: Carol Miller, PhD

14B) Difficulty of Speech in Speech Recognition: How Does Listening Environment Modulate Informational Masking?

Presented by: Andrea Burgos, Madelene Tavarez, Arielle Lacap
Research Mentors: Annie Olmstead, PhD; Navin Viswanathan, PhD

15A) Evaluation of a Mobile Training to Support Pre-Service Speech-Language Pathologists in Creation of Effective Visual Scene Displays

Presented by: Kristina Exton
Research Mentor: Janice Light, PhD

15B) Articulatory Data Processing Procedure Beyond SMASH

Presented by: Kieran Sturges
Research Mentors: Jimin Lee, PhD, CCC-SLP; Sophie Wolf, MS, CCC-SLP

*16A) The Representation of Lactation for Black Women and the Role of Speech-Language Pathologists in Increasing Awareness 

Presented by: India Bradsher
Research Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, PhD, CCC-SLP

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 6-7:30 p.m.
Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic
Research Building A, off Hastings Road

This year's event features posters from Penn State undergraduate students, as well as students from North Carolina A&T State University, through a collaboration under the National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden Program. NC A&T posters are indicated with an asterisk.

1) Unheard Signals: TBI- Related CAPD and the Missing Link in Recovery

Presented by: Grace Schneider, Alex Kana, Gabrielle Goldman 
Faculty Mentor: Maegan Mapes, Au.D., CCC-A

2) Utilizing EEG to Determine How Language and Concreteness Affect Semantic Organization

Presented by: Cameron G. Koch
Faculty Mentor: Chaleece W. Sandberg, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

3) Measuring Tongue Range of Motion in People with Down Syndrome

Presented by: Colleen Williams, Alyssa Lynch, Emily Beeghly
Faculty Mentor: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

*4) SLP College Students: The Effect Accents and Dialects Have On Their Communication and Education

Presented by: Alexis Clark, Mina McGee
Faculty Mentor: Joy L. Kennedy, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

5) Associations Between Non-Word Repetition and Sentence Repetition in L1 and L2 English Speakers

Presented by: Sarah Mento, Courtney Gallagher, Leah Daukshus, Tyshia Myers, Abdlrahman Alabdallah, Trina Lord, Raegan Holzhuter
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

6) How Does Final-Consonant Devoicing and Highly Confusable American English Vowels Affect the Production of English in Dutch-English Bilinguals?

Presented by: Merel Padt
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

7) Does the Severity of Dysarthria Experienced by Training Talkers Affect the Perceptual Learning Effectiveness in Listeners

Presented by: Julia McCarthy
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

*8) The Impact of Oral Motor and Sensory Skills on Early Communication Skills

Presented by: Aliyah Hodges
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

9) Examining the Intelligibility Differences Between Two Types of Clear Speech

Presented by: Emma Hoorfar
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

10) Beyond words: Discovering Language Through EEG Technology

Presented by: Mary Lefever, Alex Kana, Gidey Gezae, Maddie Solano
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

11) Using the Accessible Literacy Learning (ALL) App to Improve Early Reading Outcomes for Learners with Complex Communication Needs

Presented by: Riley Outt, Abby Leigland, Emily Maldonado
Faculty Mentors: Jessica Caron, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Salena Babb, Ph.D.

*12) Lack of Diversity in the Profession of SLP: Impact on Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Clients

Presented by: Maya Rogers
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

13) Speech Masking as a Determiner of Bilingual Proficiency

Presented by: Brianna Cadavero
Faculty Mentor: John Lipski, Ph.D.

14) Improving Early Writing Skills in AAC Learners

Presented by: Katie Lynch, Bryan Ciabattoni, Mary Pelicio
Faculty Mentors: Jessica Caron, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Salena Babb, Ph.D.

15) Role of Attention in Speech-In-Speech Recognition 

Presented by: Madelene Tavarez, Ashton Hadden, Andrea Burgos
Faculty Mentors: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.; Navin Viswanathan, Ph.D.

*16) Voice Outcomes for Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19: Implications for Speech Language Pathologists

Presented by: Jada Crudup
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

17) The Use of Spontaneous Swallowing Frequency in Evaluating Dysphagia Across Various Clinical Populations

Presented by: Jacqueline Ford
Faculty Mentor: Aarthi Madhavan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

18) Longitudinal Vowel Spectral Changes in People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Presented by: Dani Iodice, Erica Jackson, Merel Padt
Faculty Mentors: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Andrew Geronimo, Ph.D.

19) Longitudinal Changes of Speaking Rate in People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Presented by: Ryleigh Jozwiak, Ashley Joyner, Marissa Boyer, Heather Killian, Krystyn Fajardo
Faculty Mentors: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Andrew Geronimo, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Krajewski, M.S., CCC-SLP

*20) Impact of Classroom Acoustics: Learning Outcomes in School Aged Children

Presented by: Demi Bernard
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

21) Examining Phoneme Discrimination Abilities of Adults with Down Syndrome

Presented by: Emma Ferry, Maddie Kalish
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

22) Developing a Picture Matching Task to Study Communication Between Individuals with ALS and their Interlocators

Presented by: Grace Gonzalez, Maggie DeVito, Francesca Friedman
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

23) Understanding Healthcare Workers Knowledge and Perception of Dysphagia

Presented by: Debra Spaid
Faculty Mentor: Aarthi Madhavan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

*24) The Incidence and Prevalence of Autism Among Underrepresented Populations: The Untold Story

Presented by: Fallon Cooper
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

25) Preschoolers' Fast Mapping of Novel Words in Play-Based and Story-Based Exposure Types

Presented by: Trina Lord
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

26) Bridge the Gap: Studying Dialectal Difference in Interaction

Presented by: Gabriella Mirza, Sara Hiller, Karlie Daschbach, Shannon Long, Kate Coll
Faculty Mentor: Navin Viswanathan, Ph.D.

*27) Speech in Belize: Project SHARE (Speech Language and Hearing Reaching Everyone)

Presented by: Derron McQuitty
Faculty Mentor: Deana Lacy McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6-7:30 p.m.
Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic
Research Building A, off Hastings Road

After two years of being virtual, we are excited to be back in person for this event and in our new Clinic space!

This year's event features posters from Penn State undergraduate students, as well as students from North Carolina A&T State University, through a collaboration under the National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden Program. NC A&T posters are indicated with an asterisk.

1) Sentence Repetition Abilities in Individuals with Aphasia: A Scoping Review

Presented by: Veronica Snell
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

2) Informed Consent for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Value of AAC

Presented by: Abigale Baransky
Faculty Mentor: Krista Wilkinson, Ph.D.

3) Longitudinal Changes of Speech Measures in People with Dysarthria Secondary to ALS: Preliminary Observation

Presented by: Danielle Mazzola, Kristen Taylor
Faculty Mentor: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

4) Musicians and Hearing Health

Presented by: Lauren Bauer
Faculty Mentors: Diane Williams, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL; Maegan Mapes, Au.D.

*5) The Power of Technology: Impact on Early Communication Development in Infants and Toddlers

Presented by: Delanie Robertson
Faculty Mentor: Deana McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

6) Predictors of Sentence Repetition in Mexican Spanish-English Bilinguals​

Presented by: Tyshia Myers, Raegan Holzhuter, Courtney Gallagher, Caitlin Connor
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

7) The Clinical Application of ABR on a Patient's Testing Battery

Presented by: Bryan Ciabattoni
Faculty Mentors: Maegan Mapes, Au.D.; Carol Miller, Ph.D.

8) Acoustic Predictors of Vowel Discrimination: The Effect of Language Background

Presented by: Merel Padt
Faculty Mentors: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

9) Sentence Training Tasks

Presented by: Ashton Hadden, Maggie DeVito
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

*10) The Impact on Communication Skills on Infants and Toddlers Prenatally Exposed to Illegal Substances

Presented by: Cassidy Gilliam
Faculty Mentor: Deana McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

11) Informed Consent in Intellectual Developmental Disabilities

Presented by: Brooke Baetens
Faculty Mentor: Krista Wilkinson, Ph.D.

12) Group Game Therapy for People with Aphasia

Presented by: Mahika Sampat
Faculty Mentor: Chaleece Sandberg, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

13) Qualitative Research Analysis in the Underrepresentation of Women with Autism

Presented by: Brooke Bourgeois, Alyssa Lynch
Faculty Mentor: Krista Wilkinson, Ph.D.

14) Predictors of English Verbal Fluency in Mexican Spanish-English Bilinguals​

Presented by: Raegan Holzhuter, Tyshia Myers, Caitlin Connor, Courtney Gallagher
Faculty Mentor: Carol Miller, Ph.D.

*15) The Relationship Between Poor Prenatal Care of Mothers and Early Communication Development in Infants and Toddlers

Presented by: Aiyanah Akbar
Faculty Mentor: Deana McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

16) Vowel-specific Articulatory Kinematic Patterns in Individuals with Dysarthria Secondary to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Presented by: Erica Jackson
Faculty Mentor: Jimin Lee, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

17) Why Reliability and Procedural Fidelity Matters: A Study Teaching Peers to Offer Opportunities to Communicate Choices to Students with Multiple Disabilities

Presented by: Simone Garafalo
Faculty Mentor: Krista Wilkinson, Ph.D.

18) Effect of the SO(A)R Intervention on the Communication Functions of Children with Autism Using AAC

Presented by: Julia Sultana
Faculty Mentor: Diane Williams, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL

19) Aphasia and Art Therapy: A Narrative Synthesis

Presented by: Amelia Reese
Faculty Mentor: Chaleece Sandberg, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

*20) Recruitment, Retention, and Leadership of Black Males in CSD: Student Perspectives

Presented by: Derron McQuitty, Griffin Williams, Ziyan Owens
Faculty Mentor: Deana McQuitty, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

21) Three Perspectives on Use and Access of AAC in Hospitals

Presented by: Jenna McCrea
Faculty Mentors: Maegan Mapes, Au.D.; Jessica Caron, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

22) Does Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (lag) Affect the Target Listener’s Transcription Accuracy in Background Speech?

Presented by: Grace Caplan, Andrea Victoria Burgos Mercado
Faculty Mentors: Navin Viswanathan, Ph.D.; Annie Olmstead, Ph.D. 

23) The Training Comparison Between Matching, Clear, and Baseline Speech

Presented by: Grace Gonzalez, Lauren Rosztoczy
Faculty Mentor: Annie Olmstead, Ph.D.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 6-8 p.m.
Virtual Undergraduate Research Event

Presenters prepared a poster and a recorded summary of their research, which is available for viewing online. 

During the event, student presenters were available via Zoom to answer questions and discuss their research.

Visit https://sites.psu.edu/ugcsdresearch/ to view the posters.

November 18, 2020
Virtual Undergraduate Research Event

Presenters prepared a poster and a recorded summary of their research, which is available for viewing online. 

During the event, student presenters were available via Zoom to answer questions and discuss their research.

Visit https://sites.psu.edu/csdresearch/ to view the posters.

February 27, 2019, 5:30-7 p.m.
HUB 233A

The CSD Research Symposium highlighted student research by providing the opportunity for student poster presentations from undergraduate and graduate students.