Speech-Language Pathology
Post-baccalaureate
General News
The leader of the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department at Drexel University’s Elkins Park campus has some high praise for the Class of 2026. He believes the group's collective creativity has been impressive as they approach graduation in a few months.
“Their collective creativity is boundless. They all have a really nice eye for where our communities can benefit from our services and how they get information about the profession and the services we provide out to the members of the community who need it most,” said Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, chair and program director of the SLP department.
That creativity was on full display recently at the annual Capstone project presentations in the Bennett Lounge at the Hafter Student Community Center on the Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus. This year, students were organized into nine mentor-led groups, with each group producing a poster that reflected their project’s background, distribution, and data they collected.
One group’s project, titled “Aphasia Communication Training for Local Law Enforcement,” was presented by Kayla Herbert, Shannon Kelly, Madeleine O’Donnell, Skyler Parzyck, and Amalfy Torres-Guzman, all ‘26SLP. Aphasia is a language disorder that affects an individual’s ability to communicate effectively. Anne Ruckdeschel, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS, was the faculty advisor for this poster.
“We wanted to get out and spread education and awareness to other professionals about aphasia and the different strategies that can be used to communicate with people with aphasia,” said Herbert.
The group presented its findings to local first responders and a police academy.
“It was informative to learn about how the police cadets didn’t have a large understanding of what our roles were as speech therapists,” said Kelly. “In addition to aphasia communication training, we got to inform them about our role in the profession as well.”
O’Donnell pointed out that if you are a speech-language pathologist, you should really care about the people in which you are providing therapy.
“Our project emphasized our role as advocates for people with aphasia and the role SLPs can play in interprofessional communications and education,” she said. “It’s important to do what you can as those who know about aphasia to educate others in our community about it.”
The purpose of the capstones is twofold — to assess the students’ ability to apply evidence-based research in one of their areas of interest in a way that advances the understanding of SLP services for other professionals and members of the community; and for students to deepen their ability to work collaboratively with their peers to advocate for their profession and the families they serve at the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) of Drexel University and its surrounding communities.
Other posters presented by the SLP Class of 2026 included:
“Aphasia and Access to Communication Supports in U.S. Courtroom Settings” – Julia Foley, Megan Gallagher, Julia McClain, Asi’ayana Russel-Jolly. Faculty advisor: Amy Lustig, PhD, MPH, CCC-SLP.
“A Support Group for Parents of Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech” – Emily Benzinger, Gina Cantoral, Devon Packard, Julie Protasiuk. Faculty advisor: Patricia Martin Mayro, MA, CCC-SLP.
“Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Caregivers” – Madison Gregor, Jaclynn Hernberg, Ava Levitz, Lauren Liebman. Faculty advisor: Kimberly Cafarella, MS, CCC-SLP.
“Empowering Educators to Support Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Total Communication” – Olivia Gould, Vanessa Grandinetti, Jessica Gratkowski, Grace McCall. Faculty advisor: Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP.
“Happy Mealtimes: Supporting Young Picky Eaters”- Annie Braga, Gabrielle Goldman, Skylar Nowmos, Tabitha Ray. Faculty advisor: Kara Maharay, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S.
“Increasing Bilingual Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Within Our Community” – Leah Conover, Gabrielle Dolan, Fatmira Gobeljic, Lauren Thatcher. Faculty advisor: Jennifer Bergstrom, EdD, CCC-SLP.
“Increasing Post-Stroke Dysphasia Awareness in Medical Professionals Through an In-Service Presentation” – Juwayriya Abdul-Hadi, Ryan Albuck, Rabia Sikandar, Madelyn Simpson. Faculty advisor: Kelly Salmon, SLPD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLT-LANA, NDC.
“Social Gathering for People Living with ABI and Caregivers” – Meagan Clyne, Jenna Nurick, Briana Tomlinson, Sarah Vargas. Faculty advisor: Kaitlyn Dietz, MS, CCC-SLP.
