Three Easy Ways to Nurture A Child’s Brain Development | Dana Suskind MD

May 25, 2022

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World-class pediatric surgeon, social scientist, and best-selling author Dr Dana Suskind MD talks about the Three T's (tune in, talk more and take turns) that parents can do to nurture their children’s brain development and the key ways that society needs to change to invest in the next generation.

Dana is the founder and co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning & Public Health, and Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. She is also the director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and is recognized as a national thought leader in early language development. Her research is dedicated to optimizing foundational brain development and preventing early cognitive disparities and their lifelong impact. Honestly, when she talks about raising kids…we need to listen.

Most recently, Dana has released a fantastic new book detailing the powerful blueprint that society should be taking to meet the developmental needs of all children. We talk more with Dana about why she wrote Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child's Potential, Fulfilling Society's Promise and how the status quo for parenting in America is not serving parents and children well.

If you enjoy Dana’s episode on Behavioral Grooves Podcast, you can support our work through our Patreon page. You can also write a short podcast review on your podcast player; doing so helps other listeners find our show.

Topics

(4:58) Welcome and speed round questions.

(9:25) How has American individualism influenced the way we parent our children?

(13:05) How significant is the lack of parental leave in the US?

(17:37) Internalizing parental guilt.

(19:28) Reframing your self talk around raising your kids.

(21:17) The influence of the pandemic on parenting.

(25:19) What has been the impact of the pandemic on children?

(27:28) Why language is so important to early development.

(30:20) The 3 Ts of foundational brain development.

(31:56) The personal trauma that influenced Dana’s writing.

(34:19) What positive support systems are there to help parents?

(39:31) Dana’s ambition to write behavioral economics music!

(41:26) Grooving Session discussing Parent Nation.

Links

“Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child's Potential, Fulfilling Society's Promise” by Dana Suskind MD: https://amzn.to/3wD8YIQ

John List, Episode 296: Fail to Scale: Why Good Research Doesn’t Always Make Great Policy: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/fail-to-scale-john-a-list/

Linda Babcock, Episode 293: Women Do Too Much Non-Promotable Work: How To Say No More with Linda Babcock: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/women-do-too-much/

Meryl Streep: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meryl_Streep

John Amos Comenius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius

Caitlyn Collins, Washington University: https://sociology.wustl.edu/people/caitlyn-collins

TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago: https://tmwcenter.uchicago.edu/

“Thirty Million Words: Building a Child's Brain” by Dana Suskind MD: https://amzn.to/3wJ1MLl

Dolly Chugh, Episode 230: How Good People Fight Bias with Dolly Chugh: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/cristina-bicchieri-social-norms-are-bundles-of-expectations/

David Yokum, Episode 282: Why Applying Behavioral Science to Public Policy Delivers Better Policy: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/behavioral-science-in-public-policy/

Cristina Bicchieri, Episode 102: Social Norms are Bundles of Expectations: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/cristina-bicchieri-social-norms-are-bundles-of-expectations/

Support Behavioral Grooves Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Musical Links

Johnny Cash “I Walk The Line”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5126CibNsk