Program Enlists Doctors to Promote Reading

Educational research shows children benefit from early exposure to language and literacy.  That idea has long been touted by teachers and early childhood experts. But Reach Out and Read, a national program with roots in Atlanta, enlists physicians to help spread that message. In the waiting room at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, Marilynn Ward reads a book to 4-year-old patient Deja Mapson. Ward oversees the Reach out and Read program there. The initiative recruits volunteers who read to children while they wait to see the doctor. And the doctors in the program promote reading as part of children’s overall health. Dr. Terri McFadden, a pediatrician at Children’s, says kids are given a literacy assessment as part of their checkup.

“You can look at fine motor skills: can the appropriate-aged child turn the pages of a paper book?” McFadden says, “You can even look at a 12-month old and whether or not they put the book in the right position. So, on many levels you’re able to assess the developmental status of the child.” 

And, McFadden says, doctors also talk with parents about the importance of reading to their children, especially between the ages of 6 months and five years.