As a healthcare worker, Marilyn witnessed firsthand how literacy directly impacts individuals’ health and well-being.

Fat, flu, pill, allergic, jaundice, anemia, fatigue, directed, colitis, constipation, osteoporosis. These are the words in a screening tool called the REALM-R that healthcare workers use to screen for literacy. The results of this short screening tool help us to determine the best way to educate our patients on their post-surgery instructions, medications, sliding scale for diabetes management, and home care instructions. The first three words technically aren’t part of the score and are only there to make the individual more comfortable.

As a healthcare worker, it was hard to see how many of my patients couldn’t read the words on this scale, even the first three words. These are people that aren’t able to read the label on their medication bottle, post-op instructions, and red flags, when and where their appointments are. These are people that are at a higher risk of hospitalization and they need our help.

This was what inspired me to join Literacy Together in their efforts to help the literacy crisis in our community. I’ve seen the life-changing (and potentially life-saving) work that they do. There are multiple ways that you can help with this work, including serving as a volunteer tutor, supporting Literacy Together financially, and spreading awareness in Buncombe County for the need to help address the literacy crisis. Together, we can help keep our neighbors healthier and safer.

Marilyn Lindsley Cortes

Doctor of Physical Therapy

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Ariella and her tutor Penny have been working together for four years. They are devoted not only to the difficult work of building literacy skills; they’re also devoted to each other. I asked Ariella if she would share her story through writing — her experience with dyslexia, her extreme test anxiety, her tutoring partnership with Penny, and the transformations that have taken place in her life because of this work. Ariella wanted to write this narrative for other students so they know it is always possible to make a new life for themselves through literacy. 

Penny has been inspired by Ariella from the moment they met four years ago, and she had this to say about her story:

It is her journey and as she was reading it to me, I could hear initially the fear, the memories of embarrassment and finally the triumph of her journey. I hope you hear the same. She said I could polish it up, give it a shine. There is no shining brighter than this.

“I came to America in my 50s, and I could not read or write. I knew from a very young age that I have dyslexia. My mother tried to get me help, but was not able to because of the teachers/principals at the schools. What happened was when my Mother spoke to the principal about my dyslexia, she told my Mother she should not worry because I had a pretty face and I would get someone to look after me. I was 10 years old.  

So when I was growing up, I learned skills to mask my ability not to be able to read or write. I was very good at memorizing things, hiding and stepping away from when I needed to write. My mother would say that I was the smartest one in the house if I only could read. I don’t know that was true but it helped when I always thought I was stupid because I couldn’t read and write. It definitely was a barrier to what I know now I could’ve achieved had I had those skills and the people to help.  

When I came to America I was very worried about how I was going to cope without the skills. My daughter and I talked and she did research into getting me help. Once I came here, she found Literacy Together and made an appointment for me as soon as I came here to go and meet Rebecca. As you can imagine I was very nervous. This was a very big thing for me and had impacted my entire life. I had tried as an adult back home to get help and to go to classes, but they were no different than when I was at school, which was to say a word, learn it, which did not work for me or in my opinion, any dyslexic person. So, as Rebecca talked I just knew that this was going to be different. She said that I would be paired up with a tutor that she thought would suit me and I would suit them. She was so right. 

Soon after, I met my amazing Penny. I could see straight away why Rebecca had chosen Penny for me. She was perfect. I felt confident. I trusted her and how she began to teach me was completely different from the way I had been taught at home. We began with the vowels and she told me the sounds and also the consonants and their sounds.  

Then she moved on to what I have never been told before. Words are made up of patterns and how to break them up and how they connect to loads of different words. This was like a light bulb being switched on in every class we did. It was amazing. It seemed to be everywhere here you have forms to fill in all the time which is my worst nightmare. Every time I had to go to the Dr. I had to take someone with me. It was my worst nightmare. With Penny‘s help, I have learned so so much. I can fill in my own forms.

I never worry. 

I don’t have to take anybody with me to do it for me.

I can be independent.  

Then I found the love of reading which I now absolutely adore. Reading is everything. I can now do what children and adults around me were fit to do all my life. It’s like stepping into their world.  Dyslexic people are in one box and all the other people of the world are in the other box and now I can find the door to the box. I always loved listening to audiobooks, murder mysteries, and autobiographies and now, I can read them myself with my own voice in my head not listening to a stranger.  

Still sometimes it’s hard. When I’m tired or stressed, the dyslexia comes flooding back, especially when I have to do the yearly test which to me is a nightmare. I panic every time, no matter what Rebecca or Penny says to me. When I walk into the room I still get very stressed and my dyslexia comes back. The first 15-20 minutes are the worst. Everything on the page is what I call Chinese writing and I cannot read Chinese. My brain flicks back to all the times when I was in school and I have to do exams. I do not see any of the words properly even though now I can read words, spell words and break down sounds to make words. When it comes to the exam, the dyslexia comes back with a vengeance. 

I feel over the moon to be able to pick up a book or magazine and be able to read and enjoy them. I am not perfect yet. A lot of the times the spelling is a big stumbling block, but I do have much more skills to be able to figure it out mostly. I enjoy the learning so much. I would say to anybody who started off like me please, please go for it because as I say, it’s just like a light bulb going on in your head every single class.”

David is a beautiful, creative, driven, and rare person in this world that we are grateful to know through our GED tutoring program. In this interview, David shares his experience with ADHD and dyslexia, two commonly intertwined learning disabilities/differences. While ADHD and dyslexia have been significant obstacles in David’s education, they have also been the source of his uniqueness and artistry, which he expresses through drag. You can find him performing as Ophelia Love at O. Henry’s, Asheville Beauty Academy, Miss Gay Latina, and other drag shows in the Asheville area. 

David’s essay explores the role that art, performance, beauty, passion, and PRIDE have played in his life. He chose to write this essay with spellcheck off and completely unedited so the audience can get a small glimpse into how language works in the mind of a dyslexic person. “Ophelia Ballet” is a complicated, liberated work of art — just like David himself:

Ophelia Balla

“I wish that you could see the ballai that in my mind. Each day we all straggle with something. I have learned new ways to adapet to these curstamances. To give you some background this is how I interpret my mind through music dance and performing. My bally is about me reaching for my dreams as a female inpersonater. Lets take a trip through my mind t let you see how beautiful I am. Not to be confused I know that I am beautiful and I love myself and proud of what  I have became as an entertainer. My balla starts with the three people and the main charter as Ophelia love and the struggles from her life that are from the past to present. Ophelia started out dancing as kid. Throughout the years she would learned this was they only thing that help me get through those though times. Then engment between these three people would last a life time though that never happen as we all got older and parted our ways. I think of those days and remember how it impacted me in ways no one would be able to usndertand. I’ve yet to perform this on any stage. But one day everyone will see the inter beauty that has come a long with this understanding. The music is soft a then travels through others people body mind and soal. Then is transfered  into the mind of a dancer that dose not know how to tell anyone of this gift in fear that it would be taken from them. As the music slowly reaches Ophelia she in transvered to  different unitferse and starts to think of what is happen to her. Then she come to the conclusion that maybe she is craxy but that not the true. I once read something that I could alawalys rember this qout “To be Or not to be which was written by William Shakespears. Wow how much this would inspire Ophelia. Ophelia begen to wonder how this would be perceived though the other dancers only to find that she was the only on that would be able to see it. I then beagn to dance as if I was a ballarrina only to have people make fun of me. This didn’t stop me I know that I would on day be able to perform it on stage. That time has come but have to work with dancers that don’t know. This such a scury thing I want people to see the interbeauty inside of Ophelia only to tell her she not any good or that she has talent.”

Would you like to support students like David? Learn how to become an Adult Literacy Program volunteer tutor!

Read more Adult Literacy Program success stories