2023 Texas ALTA Summit - The Academic Language Therapy Association (altaread.org)
Join the 2023 Texas ALTA Summit: Growing with Dyslexia – to hear about the latest dyslexia research on brain development, including:
From birth to 3 years old
Kindergarten to First Grade
Beyond scores for screening
Executive Function
Best writing techniques for Elementary students
Growing successfully with Dyslexia
8:05 AM – 9:50 AM
KEYNOTE: Solving the Dyslexia Paradox: The Importance of Brain Development, Early Identification, and Intervention
Professor Nadine Gaab, Associate Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
Learning trajectories are shaped by the dynamic interplay between nature and nurture, which starts in utero and continues throughout the lifespan. Learning differences are often not identified until childhood or adolescence, but diverging trajectories of brain development may be present as early as prenatally. Furthermore, children’s experiences and their interactions with the environment surrounding them have long-lasting influences on brain development and future outcomes. This talk will focus on learning differences in reading acquisition and address early identification and screening for literacy milestones and reading disabilities, including developmental dyslexia. It will provide the WHY behind the screening movement with a strong focus on the neurobiology of reading development and reading disabilities. It will introduce the ‘Dyslexia Paradox’ and further outline the important constructs to screen for with a developmental lens and discuss practical steps for implementing a screening protocol in various educational settings. The session will conclude with an overview of different screening instruments and criteria for picking the best screener. Finally, the implications of these findings for contemporary challenges in educational and clinical practice, as well as policy, are discussed.