Lindsay Dryden Speaker Series 2025: Dr. Fumiko Hoeft (PAST EVENT)
Hope & Resilience: Understanding Mental Wellbeing in Children with Learning Differences
Thursday, November 6, 2025 | 6-8 P.M.
Join The Odyssey School for our annual Lindsay Dryden Speaker Series featuring Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD, leading cognitive neuroscientist.
Children with learning differences often face more stress and are at higher risk for mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. Yet, research also shows that resilience factors — like optimism, supportive relationships, and mentoring — can buffer these risks. In this talk, Dr. Fumiko Hoeft will share insights from neuroscience and real-world studies to help families, educators, and communities better understand the emotional lives of children with learning differences, and what contributes to both struggle and thriving.
Key Takeaways:
- Why learning differences are linked with higher rates of stress, anxiety, and depression.
- How resilience factors can buffer risk and shape wellbeing.
- What research reveals about the balance between vulnerability and resilience.
EVent Schedule:
- 6:00 p.m. - Doors open
- 6:15 p.m. - Meet & Greet with Dr. Hoeft, view Brain Workshop materials
- 6:30 p.m. - Presentation begins, followed by Q&A
- 8:00 p.m. - Program ends
This event is free and open to the public. All community members are welcome. Registration required.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD, is the Campus Dean & CAO of University of Connecticut (UConn)’s Waterbury Campus; Professor of Psychological Sciences, Computer Science and Engineering, Educational Psychology, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Pediatrics at UConn; and Adjunct Professor of the Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine (effective July 1, 2025). Her research focuses on the neurobiology of dyslexia and learning disabilities, its socio-emotional outcomes, factors that promote resilience and compensation, and emotional wellbeing. She is also passionate about science outreach to children, parents, educators and policy makers. Honors include awards from the International Dyslexia Association (IDA - Orton, Geschwind), Society for Neuroscience, International Mind, Brain and Education Society (IMBES), Learning & the Brain Foundation and the CT Tech Council, among others. She has published over 300 articles and book chapters; delivered over 300 talks at International conferences, TEDx and the White House; and has been covered in the media such as The New York Times, NPR, CNN, the New Yorker, and Scientific American. https://psychology.uconn.edu/person/fumiko-hoeft/
ABOUT THE LINDSAY DRYDEN SPEAKER SERIES
The Lindsay Dryden Speaker Series is an annual event at The Odyssey School that welcomes compelling speakers who are leading national experts in the fields of learning differences, dyslexia, ADHD, and other areas that are highly relevant to our community.
