In the 1990s, psychologists Linda Acredolo of UC Davis and Susan Goodwyn of CSU Stanislaus unlocked a breakthrough in our understanding of how infants process language. Over decades of study, they demonstrated that babies could communicate complex ideas through signs, challenging the idea that such communication would slow speech development. Their research suggested that signing could support language development while strengthening communication between children and their caregivers.
The work to understand how young brains connect and interact with the world around continues through research such as that conducted at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Chancellor May had the opportunity to see firsthand how researchers are learning more about how the brain develops during early childhood in children with conditions such as autism.
