Literacy Forum

Literacy Forum:

I originally grew interested in literacy and its effects on society because of my older sister, who was born with a severe-profound bilateral hearing loss. My parents were told that she would never hear their voices or learn to speak. My sister was aided with high-power hearing aids, and subsequently received cochlear implants. After years of therapy, she did learn to listen and speak, attended a mainstream school and is now thriving in college! My parents invested heavily in my sister's early literacy development, as they were keenly aware of the importance of early literacy skills in the development of her overall language skills and subsequent educational outcomes.

Growing up, I realized the monumental impact that learning to read and write has on a person's education and subsequent success. I became an avid reader myself and began to advocate for early literacy development in children. Just recently I hosted a forum in partnership with the Shaker Heights League of Women Voters regarding the importance of literacy in the 21st century. I chose to host this forum because while we all recognize that literacy is important, we probably do not recognize the extent to which it affects our world. The purpose of my forum was to spread awareness about illiteracy, specifically in the Cleveland area, and to inform those in attendance of opportunities to make a difference.

The forum touched on a number of topics about literacy and started off by explaining the difference between pure illiteracy- the inability to read, and functional illiteracy- when one only has basic literacy skills, but cannot apply them to everyday activities like reading a bus schedule, a medicine bottle or a job application.

I shared literacy statistics for Cleveland, which are staggering- while 14% of adults in the US are functionally illiterate, 66% of Cleveland adults are (up to 95% in some Cleveland neighborhoods). Literacy is the "great equalizer" as it reduces inequality, gender gaps, and race gaps. By becoming literate, one sets themselves up for future employment success. For example, adults without a high school diploma earn 42% less than those with one and are twice as likely to be in poverty.

It has been proven that the single greatest determinant of a child’s academic success is the reading skill of their mother, above all other factors such as neighborhood and family income level. It follows that if a child’s mother is illiterate, the next generation may be as well, and the next generation, and so on. Without intervention, therefore, illiteracy is just a downward spiral.

My forum featured many community members who are intervening in the Cleveland community to combat illiteracy. For example, the first of the four panelists, Dr. Jenelle Vick of the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, helps those with communication challenges to become independent by developing effective speaking, language, listening, reading, and writing skills. Other guest panelists included those who run outreach programs through my local library and the county's special education department.

As a part of my forum, I collected a generous amount of gently used books that were donated to the Cleveland Kids Book Bank!

                                            It was hard to contain our excitement about literacy!

Books collected were donated to the Cleveland Book Bank.