Brain Development Signals Reading Challenges Long Before Kindergarten
By K.C. Compton, The74
Developmental trajectories of children with and without reading disabilities start to diverge around 18 months, rather than at 5 or 6 years old.
Given the complexity of the process, it’s astonishing any human has ever mastered the ability to read. Although written language is ancient — we’ve been at it for roughly 5,000 years — it’s not an innate skill. There is no “reading center” in the brain; human brains aren’t designed to automatically decipher the symbols on a page that add up to reading.
And yet, new research shows that the skills needed for reading begin developing before a child is born, and that signs of reading challenges can emerge as early as 18 months old.
“People don’t understand that children don’t start kindergarten with a clean slate,” said Nadine Gaab, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Education involved in the research. Learning to read “is a long process with many milestones that unfold over many years, and it starts primarily with oral language. Years of brain development lead up to the point where formal instruction puts it all together and enables them to read. The process starts in utero.”