Adult Illiteracy - More Prevalent than you Think?

L

Leper

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I don't do Stop-the-World moments, but a few minutes ago I listened to a man on RTE Radio'1 Sunday Miscellany informing the listening public of his difficult passage through our education system and left school without being able to read. He was awaiting in an airport US Visa Hall and was presented with a 3 page document which he was obliged to fill. He had to inform his 13 year old son that he had a reading disability. His son filled out the form for him and that was the moment he decided to do something about his disability. He took Adult Education classes and started from the beginning under no pressure from his teacher and some years later went on to achieving university acknowledgment of his reading endeavours. Please listen to the programme on the radio player. It was my first Stop-the-World moment. The problem with adult illiteracy is far more widespread than we think.

Adult Education classes are freely available nearly everywhere - if you know anybody who would benefit, please inform him/her.

Moderator Note: Link to programme added here
 
Heard the programme this morning and was very impressed by him, a great advocate for returning to education if it didn't go well on when you were a kid. I know how hard it could be and how easy it is to slip through the cracks. It's never too late and believe me it gets easier when you have good patient teacher. Take the plunge you won't regret it.
 
Far more prevalent then people think. I had a family member who taught adult literacy as a volunteer for many years and they were always overbooked.
 
Just under 18% of Irish Adults have a below level 1 literacy level. That's the level at which they are functionally illiterate.
I was 8 before I could read in any meaningful way and I still can't spell very well. I was in what was called "Remedial English" in Primary School which meant I had one on one classes for a few months with a teacher when I was in First Class. My children are dyslexic and on the autism spectrum and so am I, which should come as no surprise to anyone who reads my posts here. All of my children are doing well with 3 in College and one still in Secondary School but the levels of support they received were better than what I got, though really not adequate.

When I was in Primary school the response from teachers was that I was stupid and that I should be singled out, ridiculed and, on occasion beaten. That was in the middle class suburban Dublin in the late 70's and early 80's when corporal punishment has been banned. Due entirely to the teacher I had I can say that nothing that has happened to me since, including deaths of family members and a marriage breakdown, was as bad as being in Third and Fourth Class in Primary School.
I can only imagine what it was like for people who are now in their 60's, 70's and 80's.

So yes, some sympathy and understanding is appropriate for those who struggle with reading.
 
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Child of the 70's and whereas it was never an issue for me, I do recall plenty of my classmates getting battered by teachers because their reading, writing and spelling was not up to scratch. In hindsight, some were dyslexic, some came from homes where education was not a priority( certainly a case with kids of some small/medium farmers) and some were simply ignored by the teachers who wanted their "good" students to go on to boarding schools, get the inter cert and leaving cert and didn't care on those who were destined to emigrate, work the land or get a job in a factory.

I recall myself and the handful of us who were going to go to boarding school ( the junior seminaries as opposed to the posh ones) being taught how to darn our socks by a teacher as it would be good to know without Mammy around. That was time that could have been spent on those struggling.
 
Stories like this illustrate that you can never really know what’s going on in people’s lives and that what you’re seeing when you meet people is just the version of themselves that they choose to share.

Highlights the importance of tolerance, kindness and perhaps just giving people the benefit of the doubt.
 
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