268 Emily Cadiz: What If Music Isn’t a Bonus—but the Brain’s Gateway to Reading?
From The Language of Play - Kids that Listen, Speech Therapy, Language Development, Early Intervention by Dinalynn Rosenbush, SLP | Speech Pathologist, Parent Mentor, Communication with Kids
May 28, 2026 · 43 min
About this episode
Emily Cadiz discusses the connection between music and language development, sharing insights from her personal experience and research.
Hey Friends~ Most of us don’t remember what it felt like to learn language for the very first time as young children. We focus so much on letters, books, and what children see—but are we overtraining eyes while undertraining ears? After experiencing a brain injury that forced her to relearn language from the beginning, today’s guest, Emily Cadiz, gained a life-changing understanding of what it truly feels like to struggle with communication and learning. As a music professional already working in special education, she turned to music during her recovery to help regain movement, speech, language, and reading — ultimately leading her into NIH research exploring music’s impact on children’s language and literacy development. In this episode, we explore the powerful connection between music, the brain, communication, and learning. You’ll hear why music is such a natural pathway for language development and discover simple ways parents can use rhythm, movement, chanting, and song in everyday life to support children’s speech, language, and early literacy skills. Always cheering you on! Dinalynn CONTACT the Host, Dinalynn: hello@thelanguageofplay.com WEBSITE…
People in this episode
Host: Dinalynn Rosenbush
Guest: Emily Cadiz
Topics covered
- music and language development
- communication
- early literacy
- brain injury recovery
- special education
Keywords
- music
- language development
- speech therapy
- early intervention
- literacy skills
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NIH
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