I am a PhD student in the Language Development Department at the Max Planck Institute and the Max Planck School of Cognition.
Children and their brains are growing and building new connections rapidly in the early years. Incredibly, they run, throw with decent aim, sing, joke, understand that others have feelings, and master the rules of language before entering school!
However, for some children, it is particularly difficult to learn and use language. My research attempts to understand what causes their difficulties with communication and cognitive development during the infant through preschool years. I believe that research which includes children of all abilities and backgrounds will lead to better early identification and assistance for those who need it, particularly before they enter school.
I am also an ASHA-Certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in the USA. I love walking the path alongside parents they discover their child’s strengths and leverage those to help them learn and grow. In the past, I studied the systems that encode and process time in mammalian brains. Interesting indeed, but not nearly as fascinating to me as the developing child.