Since 1977, she has been employed as a professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington, with adjunct appointments in the departments of Linguistics, Psychology, Otolaryngology, Neuroscience, and Education.
Kuhl is internationally recognized for her research on early language and brain development, and studies that show how young children learn.
Kuhl's work has played a major role in demonstrating how early exposure to language alters the brain.
It has implications for critical periods in development, for bilingual education and reading readiness, for developmental disabilities involving language, and for research on computer understanding of speech.
Kuhl was one of six scientists invited to the White House in 1997 to make a presentation at President and Mrs. Clinton's Conference on Early Learning and the Brain.