Speech defines us as human beings, while literacy is the foundation of modern civilization. Yet the relationship between speech and literacy is anything but simple. Although talking and understanding what others say comes naturally to every healthy child, many individuals as well as entire societies do not read or write. Disorders, disease, and trauma impair some people’s ability to speak and/or understand the speech of others. Disabilities and inadequate education prevent many more from learning to read or write.

How do we acquire, produce, and understand speech? How do we achieve literacy? How do these fundamental communicative characteristics breakdown? Exploring such questions opens a window on the inner workings of the brain with profound implications for helping those whose speech, language, and reading problems impact their daily lives. The science of the spoken and the written word promises to help these people participate more fully in society. For more than 80 years, Haskins Laboratories has been a leading multidisciplinary community of scientists studying speech, language, and reading and their disorders, and developing practical applications to help improve human communication.