Words words words

I got a random email today asking if I'd like to participate in a workshop discussing what the barriers to adult literacy are. I won't be attending the workshop - I'm not really qualified anyway, and I'm not really sure how it got sent to me - but it got me thinking. I think that the biggest barrier would probably be embarrassment. The people who I know who find reading difficult or impossible are quite embarrassed about it, and do a pretty good job of covering it up. So it's a bit of a Catch-22 for people who can't read, or can't read very well. Where do you start, when the biggest barrier is their pride, or even their dignity?

I can't imagine not being able to read. I have a vague memory of not being able to read - written words have  held meaning for me from a very early age. I remember copying words out of a book, letter by letter, and I remember wondering why the typed "a" was different from the "a" we'd learned to write - yet I knew it was the same letter. Same with the "g", which I was fascinated by, and copied from the book the curly shapes as they were, to compare how it felt and looked in my own hand. Most of the words I knew, some of them I didn't, but I copied them out anyway. I think it was a Dr Seuss book.

Reading has always held such joy for me, and the thought of adult illiteracy makes me, literally, sad. A typed page must be a barren landscape of meaningless and dry symbols, rather than the rich, immediate images that flash into my brain upon glimpsing phrases and sentences. Don't even start me on calligraphy and the joy of words that are both visually and symbolically beautiful. Yum.

Comments

[Taphophile]

Yup, pride is a real barrier. And once that is overcome, age-appropriate reading resources. What adult wants to start with "Dick and Jane" style books? There's a real lack of material.

[Jejune]

Dotter has literacy 'issues' (reading, spelling and writing) associated with her ADHD, and while she can read, reading a lot at once is very difficult for her. I often read text books aloud to her, and she adores audio books. It's definitely a challenge!

[Adele]

I agree - how awful!

We have a few patients who laboriously write their name letter by letter at the bottom of the Medicare form. I presume they're illiterate in both their native languages (Greek and Italian) and English, as the same script is used in both, so they're doubly disabled.

Come to think of it, I think illiteracy should be a acceptable grounds on which to receive a (part- if not full-) disability pension, as it will prevent people from being able to perform jobs they could otherwise do.