LEARNING TO READ GIVES HER NEW HOPE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 2, 1992                   TAG: 9201030328
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
LEARNING TO READ GIVES HER NEW HOPE
In the following story, the subject's name has been changed. The fact that Literacy Volunteers of America could not provide us with a client who was willing to be identified in print is some indication of the fear and shame associated with reading deficiency.
With the help of her twin sister, Marie made it to the 12th grade of her Roanoke County high school, barely knowing how to read.
But when she took English 12 in summer school, Marie knew she was going to fail despite her sister's help. Marie went to the teacher, who had a reputation for being strict.
"I told her straight up, `If you fail me I'm not going back to school and won't get a diploma.' "
She knew then I couldn't read. She told me, "You're going to have a hard time."
Nevertheless, she relented and gave Marie a `D minus minus.'
That's how Marie got her diploma despite having the reading ability of a fifth-grader (according to one recent evaluation) or an eighth-grader (according to another).
Why didn't Marie, now 36, learn to read better? Her family isn't lacking in intelligence; her twin sister is a licensed practical nurse and another sister is a thoracic surgeon.
Marie blames the school system and herself. "The teachers didn't care, and I didn't care because I didn't know I was supposed to. Nobody told me I was getting an education to make money. My philosophy was I was going to be an educated bum. Now, I really regret it."
A learning disability may have also contributed to the problem. Marie has been told recently that she may have dyslexia, a disorder which causes individuals to transpose letters and read words backward.
Despite her reading deficiency, Marie was able to obtain a cosmetology license and a driver's license. She has also kept a job in the central supply department of a Roanoke hospital for 14 years.
On the job, she compensates for her poor reading ability by "being able to observe real well."
But her observational skills haven't made up for everything: "I left notes for people but they didn't understand because I couldn't spell."
Still, Marie was able to cope - until early this year, when her supervisor decided that all employees needed to be certified.
The certification test had 125 questions. "I knew when I got the book, that I would never pass the test," Marie said.
"I could do my job well, but I never could have answered the questions."
That's when Marie called the Literacy Volunteers of America.
Marie began meeting with her tutor once a week at the Williamson Road public library.
"She's real good at pushing me and asking me, `Have you done what we talked about?' "
The hardest part, Marie says, is learning how to spell.
Learning takes a long time and the certification test was coming up soon. Despite fears of being fired, she decided to explain her situation to her boss. Fortunately, her boss was supportive.
Marie's new goal is to make $20,000 a year and get out of working two jobs. She currently supplements her hospital income by cleaning showers at a truck stop.
Marie hopes to enter the licensed practical nursing program at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She plans to keep studying with her tutor at least until she completes LPN school.
Enhanced literacy has opened up other areas as well. "I hadn't gone to a library in 15 years," she says. Now she reads Ladies' Home Journal and Good Housekeeping and goes to the library once a week.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB