Dyslexia Duo Podcast

The Dyslexia Duo: Mark Seidenberg on Language, Reading Science, and Teaching Kids to Break the Code
 
The Dyslexia Duo hosts Melissa Dean and Aimee Rodenroth interview cognitive scientist and neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg, author of Language at the Speed of Sight, about connecting reading research to classroom practice. Seidenberg explains he wrote the book to share foundational science and to critique the gap between research and how reading is taught, which he ties to limited teacher preparation and schools of education being historically isolated from psychology and linguistics. They discuss the central role of oral language—especially encouraging children’s speech production—and how wide variation in spoken language affects reading success, with technology and reduced reading to children contributing to vocabulary gaps. Seidenberg frames reading as “unnatural” at the start, requiring explicit instruction to “break the code,” then increasingly relying on implicit/statistical learning, and argues for efficient early instruction, similarity-based approaches for irregular “sight” words, and developmental resolution of the reading wars.
 
00:41 Meet Mark Seidenberg
02:53 Why He Wrote the Book
05:22 Teacher Prep Gaps
10:42 Language Drives Reading
11:48 Oral Language Variation
16:48 Why Research Gets Ignored
23:04 Science of Reading Basics
24:28 Reading Is Unnatural
28:35 Building Automaticity
32:24 Rethinking Sight Words
39:14 Fluency Timeline Debate
40:31 Too Much Phonics Slog
44:03 Early Screening Tier Supports
45:23 Misidentification Dyslexia
47:37 Language Preparedness Gap
49:33 Screens Reading Decline
53:53 Reading Wars Reframed
57:22 Key Takeaways Recalibrate
01:01:00 Lightning Round Insights
01:03:18 Grassroots Versus Policy
01:04:42 Songbirds Animal Language

The Dyslexia Duo:  Kareem Weaver on Dyslexia, Literacy Policy, and Why Every Child Needs a Champion
 
Aimee and Melissa interview educator and nonprofit leader Kareem Weaver, founder of Fulcrum (Full and Complete Reading is a Universal Mandate) Literacy. Kareem Weaver shares how dyslexia affected his friend Ennis Cosby and his own daughter, and argues for early screening (K–2), evidence-based structured literacy, strong tier-one instruction, and better teacher preparation programs, citing wide variation in Texas higher-ed ratings and state policy implementation. The discussion covers the harms of wait-to-fail models, discrepancies, and passing students along, accommodations, and parents’ advocacy roles, including a 2024 precedent (William A. v. Clarksville-Montgomery County) requiring meaningful progress, not just grades. Weaver connects low literacy to incarceration, describes the federal First Step Act dyslexia screening, critiques autonomy over outcomes, discusses differences for girls and inequities, and emphasizes giving children time, protecting activities, and ensuring every child has a champion.
 
01:08 Introducing Kareem Weaver
01:58 Kareem’s Education Journey
02:50 Fulcrum and Literacy Mission
03:49 Texas Connections and IDA
05:11 What Led Him to Dyslexia
06:01 Ennis Cosby and Landmark Shift
07:56 His Daughter’s Dyslexia Wake Up
09:19 Why Kids Tap Out
10:36 Texas Law and Early Screening
13:08 Teacher Prep and Reading Science
19:38 Boosters Football and Literacy Buy In
27:40 Tier One Instruction Is a Right
30:49 Autonomy vs Consistent Materials
33:06 Parents in ARD and 504 Meetings
35:38 Advocating Without Approval
37:58 IEP Rights and Legal Precedent
40:57 Low Income Advocacy Strategies
44:19 What to Demand From Schools
45:38 Home Habits That Build Reading
48:27 Dyslexia as Strength and Risk
53:32 Prison Screening and First Step Act
57:37 Fixing the System Early
59:37 Third Grade Gate Debate
01:04:20 Gift of Time and Holding Back
01:09:11 Let Kids Be Kids Too
01:12:10 A Student Success Story
01:16:30 Gendered Wait to Fail
01:18:44 Race Class Expectations
01:20:19 Learner Bias in Reading
01:24:17 Post COVID Attendance Shift
01:29:44 Can Public Schools Recover
01:32:48 Parents Rights and Boundaries
01:37:04 Resources to Learn More
01:40:22 Write the Advocacy Book
01:46:04 Every Child a Champion
01:49:59 Closing Thanks and Credits

The Dyslexia Duo:  Dr. Tiffany Hogan on Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Dyslexia, and Language Comprehension
 
On the Dyslexia Duo podcast, hosts Melissa Dean and Aimee Rodenroth interview speech-language pathologist and literacy researcher Dr. Tiffany Hogan about the relationship between dyslexia and developmental language disorder (DLD). Dr. Hogan describes her training and research, including analyses from the NIH-funded Iowa Study that followed children from kindergarten through 12th grade and helped determine DLD prevalence. She explains that dyslexia primarily involves difficulty reading words accurately and fluently, while DLD involves difficulties learning vocabulary, grammar, and discourse, with a high but not one-to-one overlap (about 50–80%). The conversation covers early indicators such as late talking (fewer than 50 words and no two-word combinations at age two), the need to directly screen language (e.g., sentence repetition, story retell), overlap with ADHD, and the importance of systematic, explicit instruction for both word reading and language comprehension, including MTSS approaches. Hogan shares resources including DLDandMe, Empower DLD, RADLD, and her See Hear Speak podcast.
 
00:44 Introducing Dr Tiffany Hogan
01:42 Her Path Into Research
03:11 The Iowa Longitudinal Study
04:38 Dyslexia Versus DLD
06:39 Overlap And Real Examples
10:23 Two Pillars Of Reading
12:19 Early Signs And Late Talkers
14:57 Building Language At Home
18:45 Beyond Phonological Deficits
21:02 Screening For DLD In Schools
23:44 ADHD Comorbidity And Systems
27:05 Tumbleweed Reading Tools
27:25 Dyslexia Services Spotlight
28:25 Research on Dual Deficits
30:11 Language Curriculum Results
31:09 Training and Fidelity
34:15 MTSS for Language
35:56 Why DLD Gets Missed
37:12 Integrating Language in Therapy
40:55 Partnering With SLPs
43:11 Parents Next Steps
44:38 Best DLD Resources Online
47:14 Lightning Round and Wrap
49:47 Final Sign Off

The Dyslexia Duo: Neuroscience of Dyslexia: Genetics, Brain Differences, Stealth Dyslexia, and Early Identification with Dr. Fumiko Hoeft
 
Aimee and Melissa host the Dyslexia Duo podcast and interview Dr. Fumiko Hoeft, a psychiatrist and neuroscience PhD who is Campus Dean and Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury campus and a professor of psychological sciences, about dyslexia research and identification. Dr. Hoeft describes her path from psychiatry and cross modal integration research to dyslexia neuroscience at Stanford, and shares personal connections through her younger son’s dyslexia and her own suspected symptoms. The discussion covers polygenic, multifactorial genetic risk; variability even among twins; evolving definitions emphasizing neurodevelopmental basis, continuum, context, and psychosocial consequences; “stealth”/resilient dyslexia as strong comprehension despite weak decoding linked to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; brain networks involved in reading and compensation; overlap with auditory processing disorder and ADHD; evidence cautions for interventions; and why early, written school referrals and early intervention reduce costs and social-emotional harm.
 
01:06 Introducing Dr. Fumiko Hoeft
02:38 Career Path to Dyslexia
04:12 Family Connection and Early Signs
06:20 Convincing Parents to Test
08:25 Genetics and Risk Factors
11:09 How Genes Are Studied
15:08 Defining Dyslexia Today
22:55 Stealth Dyslexia Explained
28:35 Brain Networks for Reading
37:12 Auditory Processing Overlap
43:19 Neural Noise Hypothesis
44:34 What Brain Noise Means
48:17 Diagnosing Dyslexia Right
51:15 Parent Documentation Tips
53:35 Working Memory Reality Check
57:09 Why Early Identification Matters
01:01:17 Preschool Risk vs Diagnosis
01:06:57 ADHD Dyslexia Overlap
01:13:45 Strength Based Remediation
01:17:19 Resources and Mentoring
01:20:45 Final Wish and Wrap Up

The Dyslexia Duo: Dr. Margie Gillis on Dyslexia, Structured Literacy, and Why Teacher Coaching Matters
 
Aimee and Melissa introduce their podcast, The Dyslexia Duo, and interview Dr. Margie Gillis, founder of the Connecticut nonprofit Literacy How, which provides coaching support for teachers from pre-K through high school. Dr. Gillis shares her personal and professional connection to dyslexia through family members and explains dyslexia as a neurobiological, hereditary, language-based learning disability often co-occurring with challenges such as ADHD, anxiety, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia. The conversation distinguishes instructional programs from instructional approaches like Orton-Gillingham and alphabetic phonics, clarifies structured literacy as language-structure content plus explicit, systematic, data-driven pedagogy, and discusses universal screeners, diagnostic assessment, and progress monitoring. They address insufficient teacher preparation and professional development, RTI/MTSS implementation problems, COVID learning loss, “dys-teach-ia,” and why districts avoid using the term dyslexia due to service costs, and Gillis recommends books and describes her Professional Learning Series.
 
00:00 Meet the Dyslexia Duo
01:06 Why Margie Gillis Matters
03:05 Interview Begins and Literacy How
04:51 Training Roots and Structured Literacy
08:01 Margie Origin Story and Family Dyslexia
10:25 School Pushback and Defining Dyslexia
19:56 Programs vs Approaches OG Explained
27:43 Structured Literacy and Curriculum Must Haves
32:47 Coaching Teachers and Better PD
39:51 RTI MTSS and the Wait to Fail Trap
47:30 Beyond the Score Report
50:33 COVID Learning Loss Debate
54:29 Dyslexia or Dyslexia
58:28 Why Universal Screeners Matter
01:03:16 Sharing Data With Families
01:08:22 Why Districts Avoid Dyslexia
01:12:24 Training Teachers Better
01:14:44 Advice for Parents Teachers
01:18:41 Book Recommendations Roundup
01:24:33 Comprehension and Vocabulary Focus
01:25:53 Closing Thanks and Signoff