Faculty

Hugh W. Catts

Professor and Chair
Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences & Disorders
Lawrence Campus

Co-Director, Intercampus Program in Communicative Disorders

Phone: (785) 864-0639
Fax: (785) 864-3974

catts@ku.edu

BA, 1975, University of Florida
MA, 1977, University of Florida
Ph.D., 1979, University of Florida

Principal Investigator, Language and Reading Disorders Laboratory

Research

Dr.Catts research interests include the relationship between spoken and written language development and disabilities. Most recently, he is the principal investigator of a longitudinal study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. This project concerns the early identification of reading disabilities within a response-to-intervention framework. In this project, Dr. Catts and colleagues are identifying multiple cohorts of kindergarten children at risk for reading disabilities. These children are administered a battery of screening instruments, and scores on these instruments will be compared to subsequent reading achievement. Progress monitoring is also used to examine children's response to small group intervention. The project will examine which combination of screening measures and response to intervention is most accurate and efficient in identifying children with subsequent reading disabilities. Dr. Catts is also involved in several other projects focusing on the nature and early identification of reading disabilities.

Selected Publications

Catts, H.W. (2009). The narrow view of reading promotes a broad view of comprehension. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools, 40, 178-183.

Catts, H.W., Petscher, Y., Schatschneider, C., & Bridges, M. (2009). Floor effects in universal screening and their impact on the early identification of reading disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42, 163-176.

Catts, H.W., Bridges, M., Little, T. & Tomblin, J.B. (2008). Reading achievement growth in children with language impairments. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 51, 1569-1579.

Catts, H., Adlof, S., & Ellis-Weismer, S. (2006). Language deficits in poor comprehenders: A case for the Simple View of Reading. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 49, 278-293.

Catts, H., Adlof, S., Hogan, T., & Ellis-Weismer, S. (2005). Are specific language impairment and dyslexia distinct disorders? Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 48, 1378-1396.

Catts, H. & Kahmi, A. (2005) (Eds.) Language and reading disabilities. Needham Hts., MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Catts, H., & Kahmi, A. (2005) (Eds.) The connections between language and reading disabilities. Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum.