By the Burlington Post.
Kayla Cornale continues to impress the scientific community.
The Grade 11 student at Assumption secondary has won another award for a project she developed on behalf of a relative with autism.
Cornale won (US) $4,000 and the First Place Grand Award in Behavioral and Social Sciences/Cognitive Psychology at the just-concluded Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Indianapolis, Ind. (May 7-13).
She won for her patented project, Sounds into Syllables II: Windows to the World of Childhood Autism.
Inspired by a desire to communicate with her autistic cousin, Cornale created a system that uses the universal language of music to teach children with autism emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear and anger.
She also created a book, The Story of the Little Bear, to help autistic children overcome linguistic and social development difficulties.
Cornale captured the First Place Grand Award, Behavioral and Social Sciences and the (US) $3,000 prize; she also received the First Place, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association award of (US) $1,000.
At last year’s global competition Cornale came home with $7,300 in prize money and scholarships.
In early April of this year the Assumption student placed second in the 46th annual Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair at Mohawk College in Hamilton. Later that month, she was a guest speaker at a symposium hosted by the Ontario Genomics Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Cornale is expected to attend this week’s Canada Wide Science Fair (May 13-21) in Saguenay, Que.