Ariel Cuadrado

Background

I began my academic training with an undergraduate degree in psychology, and from the very start I was interested in the topics of the psychology of learning and, in particular, learning disorders. This led me to continue my training as a Specialist in Learning Difficulties, then as a Master in Educational Psychology, and finally to complete my doctorate on studies of dyslexia in Spanish, as well as a postdoctorate. I moved into university teaching and research early on, and I am currently a member of the National System of Researchers and Full Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Learning, which I currently direct. My studies on written-language disorders and their acquisition led me to training in neuropsychology and then to research in this discipline, as well as in associated areas such as arithmetic. My connection with academics and professionals in neuropsychology has allowed me to work in networks and to serve as president of the Latin American Neuropsychology Society. But it has been, above all, the interest in understanding the processes involved in learning to read and write that has driven me to develop a research line on that topic, to publish a significant number of articles and books, to supervise undergraduate, Master’s and doctoral theses, to give presentations at international conferences, and to serve as a consultant for UNESCO and the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) for the study of written-language programmes. Given the reality of our countries with regard to learning, I have been concerned—together with several of my department colleagues—with transferring scientific evidence to educational practice, which has allowed us to publish teaching materials, to develop a method for learning written language that is implemented in many educational centres in our country, and to implement various intervention programmes for the prevention, improvement and rehabilitation of reading and writing.

My work in teaching and research has been accompanied by academic-management tasks: undergraduate director, graduate director, dean, academic vice-rector, and serving as an evaluator of academic programmes at various universities, as well as of accreditation processes, research projects and the review of academic articles.