Story Archive
One Word at a Time
31 October 2006: Here's another story about an adult still trying to learn how to read at age 55. She has learned about her reading disability and remains motivated toward her life-long goal of literacy.
Cashier Works Toward Overcoming Dyslexia, Moving Toward Goal of Signing for Deaf Children
I just read an article in People Magazine (9-26-05) about adult literacy. In the US, over 40 million adults cannot read. How can this be?
I had a few non-reading experiences traveling in foreign countries where I could not read the signs, a menu, a map, or a local newspaper. I felt lost and vulnerable.
Angela, the mother in this article, said that she attended school through the middle of the ninth-grade, and her teachers knew that she could not read, but they pushed her through anyway. She felt cheated.
The hard truth about being illiterate is usually faced when a child asks you to read a bedtime story and you can't, or when you need to fill out a job application or other form and can't.
Research does not support retention as a remedial strategy, but research does support providing intensive and specialized teaching methods in reading for those who are not successful with traditional methods. Which reading method is best? The one, or combination of many, that works!
According to the USDE, "The single most significant predictor of children's literacy is their mother's literacy level." Children whose parents have less than a high school education tend to do poorest on reading tests. People with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty. (Source: Skyline Literacy, Newsletter, 8-05)
In "One Word at a Time," Allison Adato writes that a study published in 1992 reported that 20 percent of the adults in this country have severely limited literacy skills, unable to complete a form or read a children's book. New national statistics are expected later this year. Let's hope that any new statistics are better.
To find an adult literacy program, call 1-800-228-8815, or visit http://www.literacydirectory.org. Volunteers are always needed. Perhaps you can help someone learn to read or write, one word at a time.
