Not being able to read or write

I can't read or write, it's fairly common

Read half the posts on AH and you would come to the same conclusion.

I know someone who has only a very limited ability to read and only able to write her name.

While it must be a pain for her it doesn't seem to have held her back. She is very outgoing and will have no problem asking someone to help for example. Her husband/daughters would fill out her forms etc.

Larianne wrote: »

I have crossed paths with someone who can't read or write.
Wondering how common it is and what support is out there?

Life must be quite a challenge for them with so many forms to fill out for EVERYTHING these days.

A surprisingly common thing around where I live...I know of a case of where an upstanding member of the community gave years codding a local lad who used put e20 into the credit union...get your wan to do it for him and she'd only lodge e10...dirty oul cnut and loadsa money with her
Only found out by pure accident he asked another neighbour to do it one week when she not about....don't know what happened after if im honest

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Plenty of people out there who can't read or write. But you will find they are sharp as a razor in other ways.

This.

Apparently a well known and respected business man in the county Kildare area can't read or write. (supposed to be a widely know secret)

This man is wealthy, and I mean wealthy.

I can't fathom it tbh , imagine not knowing the pleasure in settling down with a real good book, not being able to just lift a tablet/laptop and not access the news, read a letter from a loved one.

I'd hate it.

My uncle by marriage couldn't read or write at all.

He managed to hide it from my aunt (his wife) until they were in their 30s, when she thought he was cheating on her (in reality, he was at a friend's house, learning to read and write).

He was a very intelligent man though, and successful. He amassed a lot of wealth before he died.

Speaking of NALA.

I had to write a paper for an un-named communications regulator a few years ago when they were looking at redesigning their website.
Part of the paper was on readability and guidelines published by NALA.

It was good to see they were looking at making their website readable.

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

At least 10% of the school going population have dyslexia. Due to budget slashing ,these children no longer get resource teaching or in some cases even no learning support. That, coupled with class sizes of 30+ will have far reaching consequences. We had a talk from John Lonergan when he was governor in Mountjoy, he said something like 80% of the prison population were functionally illiterate.

Have you a link on that? Not arguing with you but from personal experience i would have doubts about the figures.

My second lad was having difficulty with maths and the teacher in question wanted him assessed for dyslexia but we refused. I spent the next 8 months helping him with his maths. He was having problems with the teacher and the, frankly, bizarre way she was teaching maths.

He is grand at maths, tbh, but another child in the class was 'diagnosed' with dyslexia, coincidentally keeping a SNA in the school, i'm sure!

A lot of the problems with illiteracy come from the importance or ability of parents to emphasize the need to be literate and, if the parents have poor literacy, it will be difficult for them to help their children and the cycle continues.

The level of literacy for elderly farmers around me is frightening with the level of paperwork needed now to complete even the simplest transaction. Some of the forms sent out intimidate me and i would have a good level of literacy:(