Cedarhurst child psychologist takes a shot explaining vaccines

Dr. Laurie Zelinger, a Cedarhurst board certified child psychologist, recently published her newest children’s book, “Please Explain Vaccines to Me: Because I Hate Shots,” on Oct. 15 with a goal to help children overcome the fear of hypodermic needles.

In the past, Zelinger has written and published seven other books, six of which are in the same Please Explain series, breaking down topics such as anxiety, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, terrorism, time out, Alzheimer’s disease, and, her latest topic, vaccines.

The book is written with the intent to not promote any specific vaccine, but to help children prepare for visits to the doctor’s office and manage their anxiety inducing feelings towards injections of medication, pain relievers, numbing agents, blood work, IV insertion or other needle-procedures that generally frighten most children.

As a child, Zelinger said she had an extreme fear of shots. She realized this fear was prevalent among her young patients, and upon doing research, Zelinger found that 68 percent of kids share this intense fear, and that anxiety increases one’s perception of pain, she said.

“I figured if it was that common, I wrote the book and then, in addition, knowing that the Covid vaccine was becoming available, I thought that we were going to see ramped up anxiety in kids about it,” Zelinger said.

After the colorful, kid-friendly section of the story, there is a parent’s section which includes tips towards coaching children to ease their anxiety, and other relevant, footnoted, science-based information with a reference section.

The publication was reviewed by a pediatrician, a pediatric dentist, a nurse, a psychologist and a social worker, who approved of it because of its inclusion of both a kids and a parents’ section, Zelinger said.

“I thought it was fabulous,” said psychologist Dr. Gale Grobstein, who has a practice in Hewlett. “It really addressed all of the pertinent areas of children’s fears about doctors, dentists and especially getting shots, which is so anxiety provoking for many of them.”

Darlene Glasser, a retired nurse and health teacher, thought the timing of the book’s release was advantageous with children aged 5 to 11 now being allowed to receive a Covid vaccination.

“I think that, as an educator, preparing children for the things they fear is the way to go,” she said. “I thought it was a very good learning tool and a great tool to use with parents and kids together to open up dialogue and talk about fears and role play.”

Zelinger put her book to the test by reading it to the children she treats in her practice. “They all said that, after I read it to them, they felt less scared,” she said.

What Zelinger likes most about this book is that the illustrations have diversity and represent people of different races and ethnicities. “I really wanted to make sure that it appealed to all kinds of families,” she said.

To purchase Zelinger’s book, go to https://bit.ly/3wgXOc4 or https://amzn.to/3bZGgrX.