When does learning to read start? Neurobiology, Development, and Early Identification of Reading Disabilities
Description
Learning trajectories are shaped by the dynamic interplay between nature and nurture, starting in utero and continuing throughout the lifespan. Learning differences/disabilities 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 their environment have long-lasting influences on cognitive and brain development and future academic outcomes. This talk will focus on learning differences in reading acquisition within a learning disability framework. It will present results from our longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging studies that characterize differences in learning to read as a complex outcome of cumulative risk and protective factors interacting within and across genetic, neurobiological, cognitive, and environmental levels from infancy to adulthood. Results are discussed within an early multifactorial framework of learning differences, emphasizing screening in educational and community settings, early identification, and preventative strategies. Finally, using a global lens, the implications of these findings for contemporary challenges in educational and clinical practice and policy are discussed.
Parcours
Early childhood or preschool, Elementary 1st cycle, Elementary 2nd cycle, Elementary 3rd cycle
Conférencier.e(s)
Nadine Gaab is an associate professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work focuses on typical/atypical learning trajectories from infancy to adolescence with an emphasis on language/reading development within a learning disabilities framework. Her work is at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, learning sciences, EdTech, and policy.