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Article: Recovering illiterates ... 'reconnecting with life.' (functional illiteracy)
- Article from:
- San Diego Business Journal
- Article date:
- January 9, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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20% of U.S. population functionally illiterate; 26% in S.D. County
Alva Roberson has always had a quick mind and keen memory, but she did not always use them to her best advantage.
What Roberson calls "survival tools" helped hide her illiteracy for years.
As a child, she would feign a headache and go home ill rather than read out loud in the classroom. As an adult seeking to rent an apartment or apply for a job, Roberson got the paperwork and took it with her so friends could complete it later. She memorized her driver's license tests.
Those kinds of tricks are not lost on Oceanside businessman John Corcoran, who did not learn to read and write ...