
East Harlem pediatric clinic combats falling literacy levels with free books for families
NEW YORK — Last week, the new Nation's Report Card showed kids still are not bouncing back academically from the COVID-19 pandemic, with reading scores falling even lower than they were two years ago.
In East Harlem, the Settlement Health pediatric clinic is encouraging families to launch their literacy journey early.
Pediatric patients get free books with every visit
Jenny Hilario said her almost 2-year-old daughter Shirley's love for books has given her tools to show tremendous growth, even compared to her 4-year-old brother. They read aloud together in the waiting room of the clinic, with Shirley responding clearly in English and Spanish.
Hilario thanks God her son is now learning both languages from his younger sister, both born into a post-pandemic world. She also thanks Settlement Health, for putting free books in her baby's hands every time she visits her pediatrician Dr. Genna Ableman, who is the clinic's director of population health.
"Her brother really, really struggled with speech and wasn't really saying much, and I'm sure that that was a concern," Ableman said of Shirley. "Developmentally by 2, you should have two words together. Even earlier today, she was talking to you in full sentences with like three and four words."
Reading is incorporated into every aspect of health in the clinic, helping to reverse lower levels of literacy since the pandemic. Last year, fourth graders nationwide tested two points lower on average than they did two years before.
Ableman said, with the increase in home-schooling, some students are not entering a classroom environment until the first grade.
"You're supposed to be like on the run, learning how to read, learning how to write," Ableman said, "and we're still learning how to sit in the seat."
United Hospital Fund partners with clinics to provide libraries of options
The nonprofit United Hospital Fund started partnering with pediatric clinics like Settlement Health three years ago to provide libraries of options for children of all ages. The program also empowers parents to improve their own literacy.
"Some don't know how to read, they don't know the language," Ableman said of the parents she sees, "but to be able to show them that they can still engage with their kids with books and still help them with learning is really, really amazing to see."
The precocious Shirley proves what is possible, powering past expectations and accelerating her education forward toward academic achievement.
United Hospital Fund's "Pediatric Steps to Literacy" project goes beyond providing the books for the clinics. The nonprofit is also behind the waiting room design and signs, to create a welcoming environment throughout the office.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. names 8 new CDC vaccine advisory members, including skeptics
June 11 (UPI) -- Two days after disbanding the entire 17-member independent vaccine advisory committee, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday appointed eight new members, including prominent vaccine skeptics and pandemic response critics. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is scheduled to meet next on June 25. The new panel included seven men and one woman. "The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America's most accomplished physicians," Kennedy said in a post on X. "All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense. They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations. The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well." On Monday, Kennedy said the former members had conflicts of interest on a panel that "wields the grave responsibility of adding new vaccines to the recommended childhood schedule." He pointed ties to Big Pharma. Kennedy, a long-time vaccine critic, said the "most outrageous example of ACIP's malevolent malpractice has been its stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children. ... ACIP has recommended each of these additional jabs without requiring placebo-controlled trials for any of them. This means that no one can scientifically ascertain whether these products are averting more problems than they are causing." CDC has narrowed its recommendations for mRNA Covid-19 shots, including by children and pregnant women. DHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told NBC News that "all newly appointed ACIP members were thoroughly vetted" but declined to offer specifics. ACIP normally includes pediatricians, geriatricians and other vaccine experts but the new panel includes a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, epidemiologist and biostatistician, and professor of operations management. Kennedy released information on the new members. Dr. Robert Malone, a physician-scientist and biochemist, has been a vocal critic of mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines after making early innovations in the field of messenger RNA. He suggested this year, without evidence, that pediatric deaths from measles were due to medical error. He has served in advisory roles for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. "His expertise spans molecular biology, immunology, and vaccine development," Kennedy said. Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist, co-authored an October 2020 strategy on herd immunity known as the Great Barrington Declaration with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He formerly was at Harvard Medical School, and served on Food and Drug Administration and CDC panels. "He has also been an influential voice in public health policy, advocating for evidence-based approaches to pandemic response," Kennedy said. Dr. Cody Meissner, a Dartmouth professor of pediatrics who also signed the Great Barrington Declaration, has served on ACIP and on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. "His expertise spans vaccine development, immunization safety, and pediatric infectious disease epidemiology," Kennedy said. Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, is former acting chief of the U.S. National Institutes of Health section on nutritional neurosciences. "His work has informed U.S. public health guidelines, particularly in maternal and child health," Kennedy said. "Dr. Hibbeln brings expertise in immune-related outcomes, psychiatric conditions, and evidence-based public health strategies." Dr. Retsef Levi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of operations management, has published studies on mRNA vaccines and cardiovascular events. "His research has contributed to discussions on vaccine manufacturing processes, safety surveillance, and public health policy," Kennedy said. He has been involved in healthcare systems optimization, epidemiologic modeling, and the application of AI and data science in public health. Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician with 40 years of clinical experience from "Level 1 trauma centers to small community hospitals, caring for patients across all age groups," Kennedy said in describing him as a "strong advocate for evidence-based medicine." He has served on hospital committees, including utilization review, and medical executive boards. Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, a pediatric professor at Dartmouth, is the Pacific region director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses. She has served on the FDA committee, as well as a national panel reviewing the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine. "She has worked in the healthcare field for more than 45 years, serving in various capacities," Kennedy said. NBC News reported she is a leading source of misinformation about vaccines. Dr. Michael Ross, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, has served on the CDC's Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer. "His continued service on biotech and healthcare boards reflects his commitment to advancing innovation in immunology, reproductive medicine and public health," Kennedy said. Dr. Noel Brewer, an ACIP member who was fired this week, told MSNBC on Wednesday: "The new panel is missing all of the expertise that has come before them. They don't know how to go about looking at the evidence, how to think about the volumes of data that will be coming their way." Brewer, who said members should be replaced on a rolling basis, is a professor in the department of health behavior at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. "Being a vaccine skeptic is not a bad thing if you follow the science," Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told NBC News. "I'm concerned that the names he's put out so far aren't ideologically balanced. I think he got the slate he was looking for." Benjamin said Kennedy's policies are a danger to public health.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr.'s newest CDC vaccine panel includes critics of COVID shots, lockdowns
The Brief U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has replaced the government's vaccine advisory panel with eight new appointees. The new members include vocal critics of COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic lockdowns, such as Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Martin Kulldorff. Public health groups have raised concerns that Kennedy's changes could undermine long-standing vaccination policies. NEW YORK - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. His selections include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and transformed into a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, and a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns. RELATED: RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine panel Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The backstory Kennedy's decision to "retire" the previous 17-member panel was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations. Dig deeper The new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots. He's even suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Big picture view The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope of vaccination programs. The Source The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from a social media announcement made by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday, in which he introduced eight new members to the federal vaccine advisory panel. This story was reported from Los Angeles.


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New COVID variant linked to painful ‘razor blade throat' symptom
As summer brings another rise in COVID-19 infections, patients across Asia, Europe and North America are reporting a searing sore throat so intense it has earned a dramatic nickname: ' razor blade throat.' Though not a new symptom, the phenomenon has gained fresh attention amid the spread of a fast-moving Omicron subvariant, formally known as NB.1.8.1 and colloquially as 'Nimbus.' Patients in China and elsewhere describe the pain as akin to 'swallowing shattered glass,' with some saying they've been left unable to speak, eat, or even stay hydrated. 'Post-COVID razor blade throat is brutal — swollen, painful, and I can barely speak,' one user wrote on Weibo, China's leading social media platform, according to Chinese-language media. Another said, 'I've been hit with razor blade throat and feel completely drained.' Despite the visceral nickname, health experts emphasize that the symptom is not unique to this latest wave. 'Sore throat is a common symptom of COVID and not novel at all, and not associated with any one variant, including NB.1.8.1,' said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF. 'There has been a range of intensity of sore throat with COVID symptoms all along, including very severe pain.' He noted that up to 70% of people infected with COVID-19 report a sore throat. Other common symptoms include fatigue, mild cough, fever, muscle aches, and congestion — all consistent with earlier strains of the virus. 'Current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,' according to the World Health Organization, which last month designated NB.1.8.1 as a SARS-CoV-2 ' variant under monitoring.' The agency noted, however, that the subvariant appears more immune-evasive than the dominant LP.8.1 lineage. In China, where the current wave began in March, cases are expected to peak by late June. The NB.1.8.1 variant has since been detected in over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, with early outbreaks noted in California, Washington and New York. Last month, an average of about 250 people died each week from COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors continue to urge the public to stay up to date on vaccinations and take precautions, especially those in high-risk groups. 'To me, it is a reminder that even if you don't end up in urgent care or in the hospital, COVID can still make you very sick in 2025,' Chin-Hong said. 'As the summer approaches, we will likely see another wave of infections, likely fueled by variants like NB.1.8.1. Wastewater is already showing a bump in some areas in California and the US.' With COVID-19 expected to remain a persistent — if more manageable — presence, health officials continue to emphasize a familiar message: masks, handwashing, vaccination, and staying home when sick remain the best defense, razor blade throat or not. For those experiencing severe throat pain, Chin-Hong recommends over-the-counter treatments like ibuprofen or acetaminophen.