As you all know, ever since Reach Out and Read was first described in the pediatric literature, we have given the first book, with its accompanying guidance, at the 6-month visit.  This reflected a tactical awareness that a 6-month old child is ready to sit up on a parent's lap, and begin to grab and move the pages of a board book - though of course language development begins at birth, and looking at books with babies should, and often does, begin much earlier as well.   But even though many of our training materials include some recognition that the conversation about language and learning should start at birth, the reality is that many of us have come to regard that 6-month visit as "the first official Reach Out and Read visit," and you can see this reflected in our materials and our mindset.

 

But as we also all know, the first six months of life are tremendously important, for early brain development, and for establishing the patterns of parental responsiveness and the family routines that shape a child's development.  Developing those nurturing relationships will support children as they grow and help buffer them against adversity.  The AAP statement on literacy promotion in primary care recommends literacy promotion starting at birth.  That's the right thing to do, and the right way to put into practice everything that we are learning about early brain development and responsive parenting.

 

There are Reach Out and Read medical champions who have made this a priority for a long time - a special shout-out to Dr. Jean Harty and the folks in Kansas City, who have for years given a book - and guidance - at every visit starting from birth.  With these "early adopters" (no pun intended) and forward-thinkers leading the way, we want to make it a major goal now for the entire Reach Out and Read network to acknowledge the importance of literacy promotion at health care supervision visits during those first 6 months of a child's life, and to help us find ways to bring the Reach Out and Read message to parents as early and as consistently as we can.

 

We encourage sites with sufficient funding to consider an additional board book earlier than 6 months, and to consider partnering with other literacy organizations that may give a book at birth.  But most of all, we want to emphasize the importance of having medical providers start as early as the newborn visit recommending to parents the importance of talking, reading, singing, and playing with their babies.  We ask for your help in emphasizing this message-and in gathering ideas and best practices that can help us better convey this message with the parents of our very youngest patients.

 

At the National Center, we are working to produce revised program materials, such as the Developmental Milestones, and the Talking Points documents-and will incorporate this into a new iteration of our training curriculum, as well as into other materials which describe the program. We believe that this will help us do our job more effectively with families, bring us clearly into alignment with current scientific thought and best practices, and help us partner more effectively with other organizations in the field. 

 

Most of all, we think it will help us all to think carefully and seriously about what we can do to get this guidance to parents during those complicated, joyous, and sometimes overwhelming months when they are learning to care for their new babies.  We want Reach Out and Read providers to use those formative early visits in the most helpful, practical, developmentally appropriate, supportive ways, helping parents develop the responsive, positive, language-rich interactions, which should surround babies from the very beginning.

 

Thank you so much for all you do.

 

Perri Klass, MD

National Medical Director, Reach Out and Read

Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics, New York University

 

Pamela High, MD

Board Vice-President, Reach Out and Read Rhode Island

Professor of Pediatrics, Alpert Medical School of Brown University

 

Robert Needlman, MD

Co-Founder and National Board Member, Reach Out and Read

Professor of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Tom DeWitt, MD

National Board of Directors Co-Chair, Reach Out and Read

Professor and Associate Chair for Education and Primary Care, Department of Pediatrics,
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center / University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

 

Jay Berkelhamer, MD

National Board Member, Reach Out and Read / Advisory Board Member, Reach Out and Read Georgia

Past President (2006-2007), American Academy of Pediatrics

 

Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD

National Board Member, Reach Out and Read / Medical Director, Reach Out and Read Wisconsin

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

 

Benard Dreyer, MD

President-elect, American Academy of Pediatrics

Professor of Pediatrics, Director of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine 

 

Mariana Glusman, MD

Medical Director, Reach Out and Read Illinois

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics-Academic General Pediatrics and Primary Care, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine

 

Trude Haecker, MD

Medical Director, Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia

Medical Director, International Patient Services and Quality Improvement, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

 

Alan Mendelsohn, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health, New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center