![]() ![]() While the power of storytelling and shared reading may seem like a small intervention amidst the turmoil of the pandemic, pediatricians have long seen the power of these routines in families. Promoting Early Literacy Through Evidence-based Programs Storytelling promotes bonding, creating strong foundations, easing feelings of stress-for both adult and child-and fostering feelings of safety and security that can help families cope with adversity. Under this stress, the routines and rituals created within families, like when adults and their children read aloud together, are essential protective factors amidst the storm. It’s commonly said that “it takes a village to raise a child” this year, those villages have been socially distanced and placed under immense stress from heightened physical or mental illness, underemployment, food insecurity, housing instability, loss of family, friends and more-each of which affects a child’s ability to thrive. Although children have largely been spared the harshest medical effects of the disease, there’s no denying they have been deeply impacted. Like in this visit, it’s almost impossible to fully unveil and quantify the impact COVID-19 has had on families. The book we used in that day’s visit reminded her of the void she and Ava were facing each night. Mom explained how her dad was a wonderful storyteller, and would read to Ava before bed most nights. In the moments that followed, I learned how she had lost four family members in the pandemic including, most recently, her father. She shook her head with a manufactured smile. ![]() In that moment, mom looked up at me and I noticed grief cross her face. Then, as my hand reached toward the doorknob, I (Danielle) reminded mom of the book we used to start the visit, provided through our Reach Out and Read (ROR) program. In a recent visit, we reviewed Ava’s* growth and development, touched on all relevant age-appropriate guidance, and on all accounts discussed, she was thriving. In medicine, it’s often called doorknob syndrome-a family’s deepest questions come out as the visit wraps, the doctor’s hand already on the doorknob. ![]()
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