Literacy is a word bounced about by various facets of society and educators. But, what does it mean?

It can actually mean different things to different people. It can mean an inability to read or write and it can mean how well one is able to use one’s ability to read, write and function on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, the degree of literacy is determined by how functional the reading ability is within society.

The inability to read can be caused by many factors. It can be the result of an inadequate education. It can be caused by inadequate teaching methods. It can be caused by a learning disability (LD) known as dyslexia. It is important to note that LD is not a form of mental retardation.

It simply means the individual’s brain processes information differently and the teaching methods used do not coincide with that particular way of processing the information. To confuse the issue further, dyslexia means more than just an inability to read and write fluently.

When a person goes shopping for a new pair of jeans they soon discover that the purchase is not a simple process. Jeans come in many different sizes and styles. The same principle applies to dyslexia. It, too, comes in many different forms and degrees.

For instance, there is literal dyslexia, which involves difficulty in identifying letters, matching upper case letters with lowercase, naming letters, or matching sounds with corresponding letters. Phonological dyslexia is a difficulty of converting letters to appropriate sounds. Individuals with this type of dyslexia can read familiar words but has trouble with new words.

Another form, neglect dyslexia, causes either the left or right side of words to be neglected, which presents problems particularly when reading long words. Semantic dyslexia causes a distortion of word meaning or confusing the meaning of the word given.

Spelling dyslexia involves difficulty with all types of words and sometimes having trouble identifying individual letters. Scotopic Syndrome, or Visual Stress Syndrome causes text to appear in motion. Dyslexia can even be caused by short-term memory dysfunction, which means the new information is not stored in long-term memory and is quickly forgotten.

Literacy is an issue that affects our entire community. Low literacy rates are a factor in poverty, crime, unemployment, dependence on social services, health, and high school dropout statistics. The solution to combating illiteracy lies in each person that is able to read and write proficiently.

The solution can be found by volunteering time to tutor an individual that needs to better their literacy skills. Volunteer tutor training will be at 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at Muskogee Public Library, in the conference room.

The Muskogee Public Library is also sponsoring the Yellow Brick Road series of workshops presented by Shirley Carlson, founder and coordinator of ADL Services Foundation, Inc.

The next workshop, “Test Drive Down Memory Lane,” is scheduled at the library from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 26. Seating is limited so please contact Janette Rose, 682-6657, Ext. 246, for further information.