On April 3, 2024, School of Communication Science Disorders (SCSD) graduate student Korrin Sheahan won first place in Florida State University’s fifth annual Master’s in Four competition.

Master’s in Four is a research communication competition where six graduate students presented their research in under four minutes to effectively convey complex research topics in an appropriate language for an intelligent yet non-specialist audience.

Sheahan’s presentation, “Person Centered Planning During Transition for a Young Adult Using AAC,” focused on developing strategies, techniques, and goals to assist a young adult who uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with the transition out of a traditional education setting.

“I’ve been working on this project for the past two years as part of my master’s thesis, so being able to showcase it to a group of people that might not be familiar with augmentative and alternative communication is great, just to be able to provide that awareness of what communication devices are out there for people with disabilities,” said Sheahan.

Reflecting on the experience, Sheahan said, “Preparing for my speech, I was able to practice in front of my classmates, which really helped me feel more comfortable going into the competition. I appreciated all the support my family, friends, classmates, and professors had given me, especially my research advisor Dr. Michelle Therrien. It was a great opportunity to think about how to best explain my research project to an audience unfamiliar with augmentative and alternative communication.”

CCI extends a huge congratulations to Sheahan!