A couple of Saturdays ago, I was lucky to attend the Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association Fall Conference at Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Dr. Maryanne Wolf, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University was the Keynote Speaker. Her topic? "The Evolving Reading Brain in a Digital World".
Dr. Wolf talked about reading as a human invention, an invention that has changed all of humanity. We have no "Reading Center" in the brain. There is no reading gene. The human brain uses existing circuits of neurons - originally designed for vision, language and cognition - and we forge new pathways and connections. We are changed by what we read. The very act of reading changes the brain neurologically and intellectually. Wow!
She presented so much new information about the latest brain research, my brain was spinning!
I came away from the conference wanting to know more about reading, the reading brain and the dyslexic brain. What an amazing time to be in education. For the first time in history, we can see what happens within our brains when we are reading. This leading edge research will change everything we know about how to teach children to read.
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