Grandpa Can Read E-Mail Now
Word of mouth helped this Long Island man find a nearby literacy program
Johnny Gilchrist held a steady job for 28 years, raised a family on Long Island, N.Y., and sent one child to college–even though he was barely able to read. For decades, while Gilchrist was working full-time at a warehouse, there was no chance to improve. But when he retired he found himself with time on his hands, so he vowed to master the skill that had eluded him since he was a child.
Even with many of life's biggest accomplishments behind him, learning to read was a challenge because Gilchrist had always struggled to decode words longer than dog or cat.
"It's hard, when you're 60 years old, to tell people you can't read as good as a second-grade kid," Gilchrist says.
One of the first obstacles Gilchrist had to overcome was being unable to read advertisements about adult reading programs. So he relied on word of mouth. One day he took his two grandchildren to the Roosevelt Public Library to play computer games. He couldn't read notices on the bulletin board, but a friendly staff member there answered his questions. That's how he learned about services offered by Literacy Nassau, a ProLiteracy America affiliate.
Gilchrist came back to the library a few days later and was tested. Six months passed, and Gilchrist feared he had been forgotten. But then the phone rang and he was told he'd been assigned a tutor. Carol Davan has been working with him ever since.
"He's a fine student, very motivated," Davan says.
Progress has been slow and irregular, but today Gilchrist can read stories in News for You, the weekly newspaper published by New Readers Press. When he dines at a restaurant he can read the menu. He can pay bills online, and he can read his daughter's e-mails. She loves that part, because she often sends him his babysitting schedule that way.
As Gilchrist's reading skills have become stronger, so has his self-confidence when speaking to people. Davan, who is a trainer as well as a tutor, encouraged him to start small by attending one of her training sessions and providing the student's perspective. Then he worked his way up to being able to speak before a large room of people at Literacy Nassau's annual recognition night.
"He was phenomenal–very articulate," Davan says.
Now Gilchrist has gained enough confidence to speak at training events even when Davan is not present.
Says Davan: "He is definitely growing."
Someday Gilchrist would like to earn his GED. Meanwhile, he wants to learn to write his own e-mail messages so he can answer his daughter's e-mails without picking up the phone.
If another person is thinking about going back to school to learn to read and write as an adult, here is what Gilchrist would advise:
"Join a program as fast as possible. Go out and seek help. It's there."
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