Communication Sciences and Disorders Students Shine at State Convention

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CDIS students at 2021 ArkSHA Convention.

University of Arkansas students in the communication sciences and disorders (CDIS) program presented research and participated in professional development recently at the Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing (ArkSHA) Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas.

CDIS undergraduate honors presentations during the convention included:

• "Aphasia Reading Club (ARC)," by Clare Kellough.
• "The Perception of Speech-Language Therapy and Auditory-Verbal Therapy Among Caregivers of Children with Hearing Loss," by Hanna Hartshorn.
• "Evaluation of a Mentor Program for Children with Communication Disorders," by Brooke Pridgen.
• "Impact of Phonology Coursework on Phonological Awareness in Future Speech-Language Pathologists," by Colby Fowler.

CDIS graduate student Samadhi Pusuba Devayalage and her research team that included an undergraduate honors student, Lauren Doyel, as well as two undergraduate research assistants, Andrea Scott and Abigail Hagner, presented their work titled, "Examination of the Colorful Semantics Approach via Telepractice for Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing." This work was the culmination of over a year's worth of work and data collection as part of Samadhi's master's thesis. Samadhi reported she plans to finish her master's thesis and prepare a manuscript of her team's work for submission to a peer reviewed journal in the spring of 2022.

This year was an excellent year for research, collaboration and networking for students and faculty. There were multiple opportunities to share current projects as well as brainstorm innovative projects for the future. Faculty and students are already preparing for the 2022 ArkSHA Convention.