Oral Language Strategies You Can Use Tomorrow

For nearly two decades, Lara Speights has worked in adult literacy, family learning, and educational systems that support language development across generations. Currently, she serves as Director of Strategic Projects at Children’s Museum Houston, where she collaborates across teams and community partners to design and scale intergenerational learning initiatives that support all children and families across Greater Houston, with a special emphasis on literacy and neurodivergence.

 

Previously, she led the Adult Literacy Program at Neuhaus Education Center, which serves adults reading at beginning levels, especially those with dyslexia and related reading difficulties. She remains connected to that work as a Research Coordinator and Licensed Dyslexia Therapist, and she is also a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University studying adult literacy development. Her research examines how advancing adults’ reading skills beyond the earliest stages of literacy influences functional literacy, self-efficacy, and professional progress.

 

Across roles, Lara focuses on how adult literacy and family learning systems can work together, guided by a belief that when adults gain access to language and literacy, the benefits ripple across households, communities, and generations.