ADULT BASIC EDUCATION

Know someone who can't read or can barely read? Free help is available.

Anyone whose reading or math tests at lower than sixth-grade level can get a tutor from the folks at the Adult Basic Education office at the Cape Girardeau Vocational School or at Hawkins Junior High School or other outposts in a six-county area. A tutor like Dorothy Taylor.

Taylor, a retired customer service representative, meets with two different students one hour a week. Like most of the other volunteers, she's not a professional teacher but has been through training from the professional staff at the center.

One of her students is a young man who quit high school during his sophomore year. "His mother told me that the people at school told him he was dumb," Taylor said, but that isn't Taylor's impression of the young man.

"He can speak to you intelligently," she said.

He told her he wants to learn to read so he can earn a GED and work for more than $6 an hour.

Ford said that illiterate people often earn less working at the same job than those who can read because they can't pass written tests or fill out the right forms.

They run into many other impediments as well. Some can't get a driver's license because they can't pass the written test. Some can't read manuals for the tools for their jobs. Some can't figure out whether their paychecks are for the proper amount.

These facts may account for another phenomenon.

Nearly all the 600 students who enroll in the literacy program each year are highly motivated, said Sandi Hendrix, who runs the ABE program for six counties, including Cape Girardeau.

Motivated students don't learn overnight and must work hard, but "they stick it out," said Sheri Ford, who just started coordinating the volunteer tutor program and is herself a tutor.

She said most can't read because of circumstances beyond their control. Either their parents didn't value learning or they had an undiagnosed learning disorder. "I've had students whose parents forced them to quit school" to earn money for the family.

One of those is the oldest student in the program, an 85-year-old man who is trying to learn how to write his name. His parents took him out of second grade so he could go to work, Ford said.

Poor reading skills affects people from all age groups, ethnic groups and economic classes. As many as 40 percent of all people older than 16 test at a sixth-grade reading level or less, Hendricks said. Three-quarters of all juvenile offenders test at sixth-grade level or below.

The second largest literacy program in Missouri is in its prison system.

The literacy program here faces several obstacles. Hendricks said there are many people in the area who need the services but don't know about it. The program has no advertising budget.

Even if someone gives it free advertising, "How can we reach individuals who can't read because they can't read an ad in the newspaper or a poster?" Ford said.

In addition, the program needs more volunteer tutors. After training, volunteers can work as little as one hour a week. The program supplies tutors and students with materials -- books and computer programs specially designed for adults with low reading skills.

Taylor has been volunteering for years. She loves to read and loves helping others to learn how to do it.