Meliah Grant Excels in Communication Sciences and Disorders Field

by Jordan Orris

Her graduate program coordinator could not sing her praises louder. Dr. Greg Snyder says Meliah Grant is “probably one of his top 3 students in 20+ years in higher education.”

Meliah is making an indelible impact on the Communication Sciences and Disorders field. Dr. Snyder shared with the Graduate School that he gave Meliah options for a research project, after informing her that the project would be difficult to complete in an abbreviated time period. However, Meliah, “went for the harder (and admittedly better) project. Astounding. And even more incredibly, she pulled it off. She traveled all over the state of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama to collect the data. This research project measured the effects of tactile speech feedback, on different parts of the body, on stuttering frequency.”

Meliah Grant is from Jackson, MS, and is finishing her Master’s program in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She chose speech pathology because she loves “connecting with others, and I love being able to help someone connect to others. This is a career where I can help people feel seen and give them tools in speech, language, and swallowing (things that are so central to who we are) to connect to the world around them. I hope to work as a speech language pathologist in a children’s pediatric hospital.”

Meliah presently has a paper under review with a major CSD journal, entitled “The Effects of Bodily Location on Fluency Enhancement via Tactile Speech”, based upon her senior thesis in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, and continued through her graduate studies. Meliah details, “This project expanded on previous research that found that a hand-held prosthetic device that converts the speech signal of a person into tactile stimulation could reduce stuttering. My study looked at this same device and tested it on different locations of the body to see what would make an effective design for the device (like in a watch or shoe insert) that wouldn’t interfere with hand use. The part I enjoyed the most was recruiting and running participants. As the stuttering population is small, I had to travel outside of Oxford to Memphis, Tuscaloosa, Montevallo, and Jackson to find all 12 of my participants. I also really enjoyed the conversations we had and seeing the device make a really impactful difference for some of our participants.”

Meliah is very thankful to her advisor, Dr. Gregory Snyder. Of him she says, “He’s been there for me every step of the way since I was a sophomore (5 years!). He has pushed me, fought for me, and encouraged me. He nominated me for the George H. W. Bush Point of Light Scholars Award and it was a huge honor. When I reflected on all of the service that qualified me for this scholarship, I remembered how much these things impacted and served me more than I served them.” Dr. Snyder has also presented his collaborative research with Meliah at the International Fluency Association’s World Congress in Japan.

Meliah completed a clinical placement training at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital, in Memphis, TN. Dr. Snyder remarked that “This is perhaps the most competitive placement out there, and she earned it.” Meliah details: “I evaluated and treated infant/pediatric feeding, swallowing, speech, and language disorders primarily in the NICU, CVICU, Infant/Toddler Unit, and Intermediate Care. I also conducted supervised bedside and assisted in videofluoroscopic swallow evaluations. It was truly a special learning opportunity and it is truly a special hospital! Every day was a new learning experience. It was at this placement that I found what I wanted to do with my career as a speech pathologist.”

During their last semester, CSD master’s students complete a full time clinical placement in a setting of their choice, and Meliah is placed at Vibra Hospital of Boise, ID, a long term acute care facility. She explains, “This placement has given me experience with the adult population in evaluating and treating feeding, swallowing, voice, language, and cognition disorders as a result of injury, developmental disorders, or acute illness. Some of the amazing things about our program are the variety of settings that they provide in our clinical education, how they really listen to your needs, and how they provide the opportunity to learn anywhere in the nation. People are often surprised when I tell them where I go to school! It has been fun representing The University of Mississippi all the way across the country. I am grateful to Mr. Brad Crowe for working hard to help develop a contract and give me a placement in a great facility.”

Bradley Crowe is the Co-Director of the University of Mississippi Speech and Hearing Clinic. He had the following remarks to share about Meliah. “Meliah is a spectacular student and person. Very down to earth and able to accomplish many things with an extremely calm and approachable attitude. Parents loved her and requested her as a clinician. Meliah takes on challenges that reach out of her comfort zone to ensure her growth. She is so good at this that her comfort zone is gigantic.”

Meliah’s academic and clinical success is truly commendable. As she finishes her degree, she shares that she is “excited for graduation, and feel confident going into the working field, because of the fantastic experience I have had as a University of Mississippi student. While I am finishing my degree in Idaho, I’ll be working on my online classes, enjoying clinic and the people here, getting outside, and eating as many fries (with fry sauce of course) as I can.”