Our Story
EarlyBird is the product of breakthrough science and a boundless dedication to the role reading plays in the lives of children.
As a developmental neuroscientist at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Nadine Gaab developed a screener shown to be effective at predicting which children would develop dyslexia and other reading disorders. Recognizing that educators lacked easy to administer, evidence-based tools to find these children early, Dr. Gaab partnered with the Boston Children’s Hospital Digital Health Accelerator to create the Boston Early Literacy Screener (BELS).
Dr. Yaacov Petscher’s work blends quantitative methods of measuring and analyzing student reading skills with creative use of emerging technologies in education. Recognizing the potential to transform lives, Dr. Gaab and Dr. Petscher brought together years of research, data and expertise to create EarlyBird.
As the parent of a child with dyslexia, and leader of the Accelerator while BELS was in development, Carla Small combined forces with Drs. Gaab and Petscher to launch EarlyBird.
The Challenge
reading on grade level.
diagnosed with dyslexia.
parent/sibling has dyslexia.