2022 Lectures
The Center for Children and Families welcomed parents and professionals for its 14th annual series of lectures titled “Fostering Resilience in the Face of Adversity.”
March 25, 2022
| Mandy Maguire, Ph.D. and Carlos Benitez-Barrera, Ph.D. “More Than Just Words: The Impact of Environment on Children’s Language Growth” |  |  |
Children from lower SES homes exhibit lower language skills than their peers from higher SES homes. There are many reasons for this, beyond the number of words a child hears. This talk will explore the impact of noise and other environmental factors on Spanish-speaking children’s neural language processing and behavioral outcomes.
April 8, 2022
| Heidi Kane, Ph.D. and Danica Slavish, Ph.D. “Understanding Families’ Sleep Health Using a Social-Ecological Approach” | | |
Sleep is critical for health and well-being across the lifespan. Research shows that people sleep better when they feel psychologically secure and physically safe. Dr. Kane and Dr. Slavish will use the social-ecological model of sleep health as a framework for understanding how community and neighborhood factors, family dynamics, and individual factors affect parents’ and children’s sleep during the early childrearing years. They will also highlight ways to promote good sleep during this critical period of development.
| Taylor Toynes, M.Ed. “Bolstering the Superblock: How One Organization is Working to Build Community and End Oppression in South Dallas” | |
South Oak Cliff in Dallas is a community with great needs for basic necessities. This talk will focus on how For Oak Cliff is uplifting this community with dual-generation, trauma-informed work for children and parents. Included will be a focus on their LENA Start program, a 10-week dual generation program for children ages 0-3 and their caregivers, working to improve children’s language and communication skills.
| Kim Noble, MD, Ph.D. “Socioeconomic Inequity and Child Brain Development” | |
Socioeconomic disparities in childhood are associated with differences in cognitive and socio-emotional development during a time when dramatic changes are occurring in the brain. Recent work has focused on understanding the neurobiological pathways through which socioeconomic factors shape development. A theoretical model will be presented whereby differences in experience likely impact particular brain systems, which in turn support distinct neurocognitive skills. Evidence for the model, as well as ongoing and future work testing aspects of the model, will be discussed. Finally, early findings from Baby’s First Years, the first clinical trial of poverty reduction in early childhood, will be presented.