Dana Suskind, MD
Founder and Director, Thirty Million Words Initiative Director, Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital
Thirty Million Words: Building a Childs Brain
A famous study by researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley (1995) found that some children heard thirty million fewer words by their fourth birthdays than others. The children who heard more words were better prepared when they entered school. These same kids, when followed into third grade, had bigger vocabularies, were stronger readers, and got higher test scores. The bottom line: the kids who started out ahead, stayed ahead; the kids who started our behind, stayed behind. This disparity in learning is referred to as the achievement gap.
Dana Suskind, MD, Professor of Surgery and Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program at The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, learned of this thirty million-word gap in the course of her work as a cochlear implant surgeon. Along with her sister-in-law, Beth Suskind, she founded The Thirty Million Word Initiative, developing programs for parents to show the kind of parent-child communication that enables optimal neural development. The goal is to get parents to follow the three Ts: Tune in to what your child is doing; Talk more to your child using lots of descriptive words; and Take turns with your child as you engage in conversation.
NOTE: Dana Suskind spoke at two FAN events on September 17, 2015.
Both events will be moderated by Heidi Stevens, the “Balancing Act” columnist for The Chicago Tribune.
Event 1: 1:00 PM, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 E. Pearson St., Chicago.
Dr. Suskind will be joined on stage after her presentation by Michael Kaufman, Director, Education Law and Policy Institute
Event 2: 7:00 PM, Skokie School Auditorium, 520 Glendale Ave., Winnetka.
Ms. Suskind is joined on stage with Diana Mendley Rauner, Ph.D., President, Ounce of
Prevention Fund.
Upcoming Events
Year of the Monkey: An Evening with Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Writer, performer, and visual artist
Evanston Township High School Auditorium
Live streaming video of this event will be available, beginning at 7:00 PM, on the ETHS Wildkits YouTube Live Stream channel.
Special thanks to DJ Jeff Pazen for pre- and post-event music!
The Power of Human: How Our Shared Humanity Can Help Us Create a Better World
Adam Waytz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
North Shore Country Day School Auditorium
The Great Juggling Act: Balancing Life as a Parent
Julie Morgenstern
Time-management and productivity specialist, and author of Organizing from the Inside Out, Never Check Email in the Morning, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life, and the brand-new Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You
New Trier High School, Northfield Campus, Cornog Auditorium