The UM School of Applied Sciences has honored Meliah Grant (left), of Jackson, as its Graduate Student of the Month and Madaline Ball, of Oxford, as Undergraduate Student of the Month for September. Photo by Sarah Sapp/School of Applied Sciences
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Applied Sciences has named Meliah Grant, of Jackson, as its Graduate Student of the Month and Madaline Ball, of Oxford, as Undergraduate Student of the Month for September.
Having completed her undergraduate degree at UM, Grant is in her first semester of graduate school in communication sciences and disorders, or CSD.
“Meliah Grant is an Ole Miss Honors College alumna and McNair scholar who successfully completed her thesis entitled ‘The Effects of Prosthetic Tactile Feedback on Persons Who Stutter,'” said Gregory Snyder, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders.
“However, her more impressive research project, with data collection still underway, is ‘The effects of acetaminophen on emotional pain and stuttering desensitization.’ This latter dataset was presented at the Joint World Congress of Fluency Disorders in Hiroshima, Japan in July of 2018 and was well-received by international leaders in the pharmaceutical treatment of stuttering.
“Her research represents a legitimate paradigm shift in the efficacy and expediency of the stuttering treatment process, using simple over-the-counter medications.”
As part of the CSD graduate program, students are required to clock clinical hours. Grant’s clinical placements are with Aural Rehab, a campus support group for older adults; Early Intervention, helping children ages 0-3; and Augmentative and Alternative Communication assessment.
“Grad school is definitely a lot harder,” Grant said. “It is a bigger workload, and then you’re also balancing clinic and things like that, but it is a lot of fun.”
Upon graduation, Grant would like to work in a hospital setting.
Ball is a senior CSD major. The Oxford native works part time at her family’s restaurant, Pizza Den, in addition to maintaining a 3.7 overall GPA, with a 3.8 GPA in her major courses.
“Madaline displays maturity and leadership that is exemplary,” said Amy Livingston, speech language pathologist and instructor. “This summer, as she worked with us at our Social Skills Camp as part of her undergraduate practicum, she showed natural clinical skills in high-pressure situations while working with children with moderate-to-severe language disorders.
“I often forgot that she was an undergraduate student. She always goes above and beyond to volunteer and help in the CSD department.”
This semester, she is working at Bramlett Elementary School, helping a student with autism transition to an inclusive classroom.
“Based off my summer experience, I was working with one of our clients, transitioning into her first year in kindergarten,” Ball said. “I was asked to help her out in the inclusion classroom.
“It was amazing to see the children. They loved her and wanted to be friends with her. It drew them to her, and it created a lot of social and language skills.”
Ball is considering graduate school at Ole Miss in hopes of pursuing a career in speech pathology.
The School of Applied Sciences calls for nominations by faculty and staff throughout the school to recognize students for extraordinary scholarship, leadership and service. Nominations should be emailed, along with a nomination form, by the fifth of each month to mloftin@olemiss.edu.
For more information about the School of Applied Sciences, visit http://sas.olemiss.edu/.