Grace Meseck (’26)

Grace Meseck majored in Communication Sciences and Disorders with minors in Spanish and American Sign Language at Penn State. She contributed as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Gloria Soto’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Language and Bilingualism lab, which broadly studies Spanish/English bilingual language and monolingual Spanish language among children who use AAC. AAC encompasses any communication method used to supplement or replace speech or writing for individuals with speech or language impairments. For example, AAC can include picture or symbol boards with words or images, speech-generating devices that produce spoken words when symbols or text are selected, or advanced devices that use predictive text. Grace was drawn to this area of research because she noticed that research on AAC among multilingual populations often falls short relative to the field’s knowledge of monolingual AAC. As a research assistant, Grace assisted with a clinical evaluation tool designed by Dr. Gloria Soto to assess and guide expressive language development in Spanish-speaking children who use AAC.  These contributions deepened the lab’s understanding of Spanish language development in AAC users. Grace presented her work entitled “Looking at Patterns of Linguistic Errors in Aided Language Samples of Spanish-Speaking Children Who Use AAC,” developed in collaboration with Drs. Gloria Soto and Karla Armendariz, at the Communication Sciences and Disorders undergraduate research symposium in Spring 2026.

Moving forward, Grace is interested in researching language development through the lens of multimodal and multilingual communication, including AAC, sign language, and spoken language. She takes particular interest in Spanish/English bilingualism. To pursue these research interests, Grace will continue her education in the Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate program at Penn State beginning in Fall 2026.

Outside of research and the classroom, Grace holds a part-time job with the Adults Creating Residential Employment Solutions (ACRES) Project in State College, where she assists neurodivergent adults in their journeys to becoming more independent and finding employment opportunities. She also loves to read and listen to music, with a vinyl collection spanning over 400 records.

The CSC wishes Grace all the best in her future academic pursuits!