Most people take for granted that they can read well.  I do not.  Reading is one of the most complicated, yet important achievements your brain can accomplish in modern society.  
My research explores individual differences in reading processes and the many ways the brain can adapt to reach end goal of comprehension.

My interests follow two main strands of research:

• The first has to do with the internal cognitive factors that affect reading.  Reading research has demonstrated that phonological awareness, or the knowledge that language is made of smaller phonological units that can be isolated and manipulated, is a key foundational cognitive ability that is highly predictive of reading outcome.  My graduate work examined how reading proficiency is achieved without having knowledge of spoken language and less reliance on phonological information, as is the case in deaf individuals.  I am currently investigating whether similar mechanisms may also apply to hearing individuals with poor phonological skills, but high levels of comprehension.  I am also beginning to study individual differences in the neural dynamics of word identification and how different parts of our brains interact to uniquely identify a word.  Perhaps that can start to answer questions on why some readers can compensate for phonological deficits and some cannot.
  

• The second has to do with external factors of the writing system one is reading.  Writing systems vary in both the time it takes to become a proficient reader and the cognitive and neural profile of skilled reading.  Naturally occurring writing systems are sometimes difficult to compare because they covary along many different dimensions that are hard to tease apart.  I use artificial orthographies to begin to understand how factors such as grain size (e.g. alphabetic vs. alphasyllabic vs. logographic systems), visual characteristics, and instruction methods affect learning and the neural underpinnings of skilled reading.