Media

Illiteracy is major problem for many residents

Guest Commentary BY MARISSA MCDERMOTT
The Times - Sunday, August 22, 2004

If you can read this, consider yourself fortunate. A full 44 percent of Northwest Indiana residents function at or below a fifth grade reading level.

For those who have difficulty reading, even seemingly simple tasks can seem monumental. For example, studies show that a high percentage of functionally illiterate people avoid getting health care because of the paperwork involved. Such avoidance creates a lower quality of life for them and the possibility of increased health risks for others.

People with low literacy face a social stigma that might prevent them from asking for help. Those who want to improve their reading skills should know that there are many organizations and programs available to them.

Hammond Reads, formed in 2001 and representing a partnership among Hammond, the Hammond school system, Hammond Public Library plus representatives from the local universities and various agencies and organizations provides a formal connection for local literacy providers and concerned citizens.

A listing of literacy service providers can be viewed on the Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition Web site www.nwiliteracy.org The Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition can be reached at (800) 348-7798 and serves the seven-county area in Northwest Indiana.

Because of the great stigma attached to illiteracy, many adults attempt to hide the fact that they cannot read.

Signs of illiteracy might include an unwillingness to fill out paperwork in the presence of others or frequent questions when doing so. Nonreaders might make excuses for not reading or writing, such as forgetting glasses or hurting a hand. They might simply order the same meal at every restaurant or ask for verbal information rather than mailed literature.

The results of a national literacy survey indicate that the health of 50 million people in the United States might be at risk because of the difficulty some patients experience in understanding and acting upon health information.

If you identify a nonreader whom you want to refer to literacy services, it is important to emphasize that there is no shame in asking for help and that theirs is a common problem.

Awareness of the widespread problem of low literacy levels and the programs designed to alleviate the problem is the goal of "Time Out for Reading" which will take place on Sept. 8.

Co-sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition and Hammond Reads, this day will serve to increase awareness of illiteracy and promote the benefits of reading. City administrators, students, teachers and business leaders will don red plastic noses and simultaneously "Put their nose in a book" at exactly 10 a.m. (Of course, any reading material, from office memos to the backs of cereal boxes will do).

"Time Out for Reading" is a light-hearted way of facing a serious issue. Indeed, in a T.D. Waterhouse survey last week, illiteracy was named the greatest pressing social issue facing Americans.

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