SProut-D Study

WHAT ARE WE RESEARCHING?

Reading disabilities, including dyslexia, are commonly not identified until a child has repeatedly failed to learn to read, which can have deleterious effects on their academic, vocational, and mental health outcomes. Early pre-literacy skills have been identified and reliably predict reading difficulties as early as preschool, when early intervention is most effective. However, early pre-literacy screenings are currently not implemented in pediatric practices. We propose a validity and implementation study of the SPRouT-D, a pediatric checklist developed in our lab, that will lead to a first version of a validated literacy-risk screener for pediatric settings and can identify strategies for implementing early risk identification in pediatric practices, empowering physicians to treat, educate, and advocate for at-risk patients.