Born to Read — What Science Now Confirms About the Brain’s Reading Blueprint

New research proves what many educators deny: the brain is prewired to read. It’s time to rethink everything.

Sections:

🧬 The Visual Word Form Area

• Ohio State study shows newborns have a brain region ready to process words.

• VWFA is connected to language networks — even before exposure.

❌ The Myth of “Reading Isn’t Natural”

• Pamela Snow and others claim reading is a recent invention, so it can’t be innate.

• This ignores both science and lived experience.

🔄 What This Means

• We’re not building literacy from scratch — we’re protecting what’s already there.

• Mislabeling kids and rigid instruction are the real threats.

🧠 The Future of Dyslexia Research

• OSU is scanning 3–4 year olds to track VWFA development.

• This could reshape how we understand reading disorders.

Call to Action: Reading is not a contrivance. It’s a capacity. 

Read the full post below.

For years, I’ve been told that reading is not a natural process — that it’s a human invention too recent to be innate. Educators like Pamela Snow parrot this claim, citing the 6,000-year history of written language as proof. But new research from Ohio State University finally confirms what I’ve observed for decades: the human brain is biologically predisposed to learn to read.

 

🧠 The Visual Word Form Area — Prewired from Birth

The study, led by Dr. Zeynep Saygin, found that newborns already have a brain region — the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) — that’s functionally connected to the language network. Even before exposure to language, this region is “fertile ground” for developing sensitivity to visual words.

 

This isn’t just exciting — it’s revolutionary. It means the brain is not a blank slate waiting for instruction. It’s a prewired system ready to read, provided we don’t disrupt it.

 

❌ The Danger of Dogma

The dominant narrative — that reading must be explicitly taught because it’s unnatural — is not just wrong. It’s dangerous. It leads to rigid instruction, early labeling, and systemic failure. It ridicules human intelligence and ignores both scientific evidence and lived experience.

 

Educators must stop copy-pasting outdated dogma and start listening to those who work directly with children. The VWFA doesn’t wait for permission. It’s ready from birth.

 

🔍 What This Means for Dyslexia and Literacy

Saygin’s lab is now scanning the brains of 3- and 4-year-olds to understand how the VWFA develops. This research could reshape how we understand dyslexia and other reading disorders. It could help us identify what goes wrong — and more importantly, how to prevent it.

 

The takeaway is clear: we are born with the capacity to read. Our job is not to build it from scratch, but to protect it from confusion.