P2A048: Presentation Illustrates How Long It Takes to Administer Literacy Screens Developed by Dr Susan Gunduz and Dr Stephanie Denton for Administration During yearly Well Visit Exams Starting at Age 4 Years Old to Age 10 Years Old

Background: I am a Pediatrician in Private practice on Long Island NY I have created screens to identify children during well visits stating at age 4 years of age to identify delays in speech, fine motor and literacy

Methods: I have created screens with Dr Denton and I have been administering the screens since 8/2022 and revised the screens 3/2023. Based on the score I refer for early intervention and see them back in three months for follow up to see if intervention has helped the child to achieve their goals.

Results: The screen initially for the first week may take 5 minutes to administer but after one week it only takes 2 minutes. If they struggle with the screen, we give referrals and see them back in three months to make sure they are improving.

Conclusion: It is imperative for every pediatrician to be the gatekeeper for educational challenges. If we all screen for literacy delay, fine motor and speech delay, we can initiate therapy depending on the problem This will allow early treatment that involves the parent, school and other outside referrals. We can ensure that this child will do well in school and feel confident. We clearly know that school struggle leads to low self esteem and emotional distress. We presently plan to publish our data so that we can prove they are valid in picking up literacy delay in childhood. When published I strongly believe that NYS Medicaid will pay for the screens and so every pediatrician will be able to do this test in their office during each well visit. This will help the children, parents and our society as a whole.