Theoretical and Technical Innovation

Haskins Laboratories has a long history of technological and theoretical innovation, from creating the rules for speech synthesis and the first working prototype of a reading machine for the blind to developing the landmark concept of phonemic awareness as a critical preparation for learning to read.

The Integrity of Hard Science

Throughout its history, Haskins Laboratories has been dedicated to fundamental research and innovation, from developing the first interactive software replicating the interplay of the tongue, lips and palate in human speech to using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to study blood flow in the brain as a child reads. These objective research approaches, which Haskins scientists have pursued wherever they lead, have given the work of the Haskins Laboratories special credibility at times when controversy surrounded many issues concerning language and reading.

Meeting a National Crisis

Nothing illustrates the importance and utility of the Haskins Laboratories’ research over the years more dramatically than its national leadership in developing effective, science-based methods of teaching reading and treating reading disabilities. Currently only a third of American eighth-graders read proficiently and as many as 20 percent of all schoolchildren suffer from reading disabilities. Haskins Laboratories has drawn on decades of research and the accumulating scientific evidence in helping to meet this crisis in American education.