The AAC community at Penn State is thrilled to congratulate doctoral candidate Jennifer Thistle on the very successful presentation of her dissertation research on AAC design in completion of her experience with the AAC Leadership Project!
Jen examined the effect of background color and symbol arrangement on speed and accuracy of using PCS symbols to repeat a 3-word spoken phrase. Symbol arrays featuring arrangement (e.g., symbols were grouped together by part of speech) resulted in faster reaction times in children with typical development, ages 3 – 7 years. Background color resulted in faster responding for some participants but slower responding for others, suggesting that from a clinical perspective, we should not assume that children automatically benefit from background color cues. Drs. David McNaughton, Janice Light, Krista Wilkinson, and Carol Miller served on Jen’s doctoral committee.
In August, Dr. Thistle will begin as an Assistant Professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She will be teaching courses in AAC, language development, and research methods, supervising in the clinic, and of course, continuing her research.
We are thrilled for Jen, and of the tremendous impact she will have!