The Ladder Lab

About the Ladder Lab

Welcome to the Ladder Lab website! The Literacy and Deafness Development Research Lab (LADDER Lab) is made up of a group of researchers based at the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL) at UCL and City, University of London. We are interested in understanding how literacy and language skills are acquired, and investigating the underlying cognitive processes involved in literacy development.

Our studies work with a range of children, including typically-developing children, deaf children, and children with dyslexia and struggling readers.

We conduct internationally–renowned research into deaf and hearing children’s language and reading development and difficulties.  Some hearing children and many deaf children have language delays and find reading challenging. It is important to understand how, and when, the language and reading processes can break down in order to devise effective interventions to remediate difficulties.  As part of this work to identify difficulties, we have developed a range of assessments to measure language skills. We work with practitioners and other key stakeholders.

Our Research

We have several exciting projects looking at language skills and reading development in children. Follow the links below to find out more.

Preschool Language And Literacy

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Understanding Reading Success

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Integrated Phonics And Language Intervention

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Language Development In Children With Cochlear Implants

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Reading And Dyslexia In Deaf Children

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Writing And Spelling In Deaf And Hearing Children

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Latest News

Language and Literacy conference in March 2025

We held a one-day research to practice conference on Language and Literacy in Deaf Children at Frank Barnes. We had a great turn-out with approximately 130 people – mainly teachers of the deaf and speech and language therapists working with deaf children. There were six research presentations followed by a practitioner-led panel discussion on the…

March 2025

Due to overwhelming demand, the Language and Literacy in Deaf Children – Research to Practice Conference has now sold out on Eventbrite! Watch this space for updates about the event. We will be sharing some of our talks from the day on our website soon!

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