“The real question is why he decided, at age 33, to learn”
January 10, 2023 1:38 PM Subscribe
‘What’s up! I can’t read.’ O.C. resident goes viral after schooling left him functionally illiterate by Sonja Sharp for the L. A. Times, is a profile of Oliver James, whose TikToks chronicle his daily progress in learning to read. The article goes into why it was that he never learned to read before, but he also tells his own story in this short video.
Thanks for posting this-- I've been bringing up the need for more work on teaching adults how to read for decades, and mostly run up against people who don't believe it's possible or don't believe it's important.
It's good to have a person to underline the issues.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 1:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [13 favorites]
It's good to have a person to underline the issues.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 1:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [13 favorites]
Amazing. That poor man. I'm glad that his charisma and abilities got him where he is.
When I was a girl, I had a high school reader with various highly anthologized essays. One I've never seen again, and I'd like to. It was about an illiterate man who managed to hold down an office job in NYC. This must have been in the '50s or maybe as late as the '70s. He would hold a newspaper in front of his face on the subway, then leave it lying around in his office. To find out what was going on at work, he'd ask coworkers what they thought about it, or, of course, tell a secretary to read things for him. I forget what happened in the rest of the essay, but I never forgot him. I suppose it was put in there to teach teenagers not to assume too much on appearance or status.
Until today, I thought it would be impossible to get away with that kind of thing after the '80s or so, but a personal trainer has to do enough paperwork that that must have been James' daily reality, in some fashion.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:19 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
When I was a girl, I had a high school reader with various highly anthologized essays. One I've never seen again, and I'd like to. It was about an illiterate man who managed to hold down an office job in NYC. This must have been in the '50s or maybe as late as the '70s. He would hold a newspaper in front of his face on the subway, then leave it lying around in his office. To find out what was going on at work, he'd ask coworkers what they thought about it, or, of course, tell a secretary to read things for him. I forget what happened in the rest of the essay, but I never forgot him. I suppose it was put in there to teach teenagers not to assume too much on appearance or status.
Until today, I thought it would be impossible to get away with that kind of thing after the '80s or so, but a personal trainer has to do enough paperwork that that must have been James' daily reality, in some fashion.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:19 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
This reminds me of Dexter Manley, who revealed after nine years in the NFL following four years at Oklahoma State that he had never learned to read.
posted by jamjam at 2:20 PM on January 10, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 2:20 PM on January 10, 2023 [9 favorites]
Big, big smile. This person is going to make a fantastic parent.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:21 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:21 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
Thank you. I was just talking last night with a special ed teacher who was expressing frustration because the principal at her school had been yelling at her because of accommodations for her eye surgery. And a few years ago, my wife left special ed in disgust because she felt like the system wasn't serving the students, and had replaced teaching with bullying.
Yeah, I'm glad his charisma and drive got him where he is, I'm sad for all of the rest of the kids failed by the system.
posted by straw at 2:21 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yeah, I'm glad his charisma and drive got him where he is, I'm sad for all of the rest of the kids failed by the system.
posted by straw at 2:21 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
My wife grew up in a neighbourhood that is something like exurban Osaka and all of the houses were built in the 80s and the people who moved there back when it was built still live there or their children do. When I was living in Japan we would sometimes run into one of the neighbourhood grandmas on the local bus, my wife had literally grown up in front of her and she would always have something in her bag to give to us even though we were both adults. One time we met her on the bus and she said that she was going to school to learn to read.
This was in the early 2000s and she would have been in her 70s at that time and the Japan she grew up in was a far cry from the modern country with close to a 100% literacy rate and back then her parents decided that as a girl she wouldn't need to read. But here she was, after raising her family and even her grandkids becoming adults, deciding that she would learn to read. It was really inspiring to hear her talk about it and listen to the excitement in her voice.
It actually isn't that hard to make do in Japan if you can't read. The buses and trains will all call out the names of the stops. At restaurants the menus will very often have pictures and there are very often models of the various dishes in a restaurant's front window so you can just see what they have that way. Very convenient for foreigners who may not know much of the language but that made me realize that there probably was a cohort of illiterate seniors that could otherwise live independent lives thanks to measures like this.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:25 PM on January 10, 2023 [42 favorites]
This was in the early 2000s and she would have been in her 70s at that time and the Japan she grew up in was a far cry from the modern country with close to a 100% literacy rate and back then her parents decided that as a girl she wouldn't need to read. But here she was, after raising her family and even her grandkids becoming adults, deciding that she would learn to read. It was really inspiring to hear her talk about it and listen to the excitement in her voice.
It actually isn't that hard to make do in Japan if you can't read. The buses and trains will all call out the names of the stops. At restaurants the menus will very often have pictures and there are very often models of the various dishes in a restaurant's front window so you can just see what they have that way. Very convenient for foreigners who may not know much of the language but that made me realize that there probably was a cohort of illiterate seniors that could otherwise live independent lives thanks to measures like this.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:25 PM on January 10, 2023 [42 favorites]
Recent ProPublica article on adult education infrastructure.
posted by praemunire at 2:40 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 2:40 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
It actually isn't that hard to make do in Japan if you can't read.
Reading is also a lot harder there, as I understand it!
posted by grobstein at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2023
Reading is also a lot harder there, as I understand it!
posted by grobstein at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2023
I made it almost all the way without tearing up till I came to this:
For a time, at least, the community embraced him.
But it didn’t teach him to read.
He did that himself, a word at a time.
One day, he hopes, he’ll teach his son.
That got me. Talent is cheap, Grit is hard. As a talented but gritless mofo; this inspires me.
posted by indianbadger1 at 2:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [15 favorites]
For a time, at least, the community embraced him.
But it didn’t teach him to read.
He did that himself, a word at a time.
One day, he hopes, he’ll teach his son.
That got me. Talent is cheap, Grit is hard. As a talented but gritless mofo; this inspires me.
posted by indianbadger1 at 2:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [15 favorites]
Really great share, thanks for posting. I appreciated how he explains the context of his family's experience in modern history as a pretty simple answer to a question that, for a lot of people, seems almost crazy. How can you get by without reading? When you've had the privilege of growing up with a decent education, it just seems like such an alien concept. I'd wondered about it here and there in the past, but it was only when I visited Egypt that I personally got a taste of what being illiterate in adulthood feels like. Romance languages? I can kind of push through enough context to kind of get by, even though I haven't studied Spanish since high school. But Arabic writing and Indic numerals? I couldn't remember the last time I felt so completely out of my depth. Real strong "should have done my homework for this trip" vibes.
But I still managed to make it through two weeks in a country where I barely understood the spoken language, and definitely had no grasp on the written language (or numbers). Thankfully, in Cairo, there's a lot of English signage, and plenty of people speak English. And French, and Spanish, and German, and Mandarin, and... you almost get the idea they've been doing international trade there for thousands and thousands of years.
posted by Leviathant at 2:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [11 favorites]
But I still managed to make it through two weeks in a country where I barely understood the spoken language, and definitely had no grasp on the written language (or numbers). Thankfully, in Cairo, there's a lot of English signage, and plenty of people speak English. And French, and Spanish, and German, and Mandarin, and... you almost get the idea they've been doing international trade there for thousands and thousands of years.
posted by Leviathant at 2:52 PM on January 10, 2023 [11 favorites]
I used to know a guy-- 75 when I met him as a teen-- who had never learned to read. He had some learning differences, family difficulties, drug problems, and had dropped out of middle school. He went on to become a dancer, then later a driver/security guard, neither of which are reading-heavy careers. He did know a few words here and there that he could catch the context from. His main strategy, if there was a form or something that he couldn't avoid, was to be very charming and confide to the secretary or whoever that he'd forgotten his reading glasses, could she help him fill it out?
posted by blnkfrnk at 3:14 PM on January 10, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by blnkfrnk at 3:14 PM on January 10, 2023 [7 favorites]
In the criminal justice system, I run into people who can't read often enough for it to be a basic screening question I ask. Good for this gentleman for learning. It's much harder as an adult.
posted by Thrakburzug at 4:08 PM on January 10, 2023 [15 favorites]
posted by Thrakburzug at 4:08 PM on January 10, 2023 [15 favorites]
> the Japan she grew up in was a far cry from the modern country
I have one grandmother who has always had some difficulty with reading and writing.
It wasn't a "girls don't need schooling" thing--the women in our family ran their own businesses and so on so everyone had to have basic skills. It was that her grammar school years were cut short by the war. You know how people sometimes say, "I must have missed that day of school"? In her case, it was those key years when you learn the basics. She never got those years back, and eight decades later here I am thinking of her interrupted childhood and how it shaped our family, the doors that closed because of this despite her talents and strong spirit... My other grandparents or relatives, who are/were a few years older or younger than she, could read and write just fine.
To this day she'll sweetly send me birthday cards and letters, always with the same spelling errors, and it's an occasional reminder of the many, many ways in which war is hell.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:27 PM on January 10, 2023 [35 favorites]
I have one grandmother who has always had some difficulty with reading and writing.
It wasn't a "girls don't need schooling" thing--the women in our family ran their own businesses and so on so everyone had to have basic skills. It was that her grammar school years were cut short by the war. You know how people sometimes say, "I must have missed that day of school"? In her case, it was those key years when you learn the basics. She never got those years back, and eight decades later here I am thinking of her interrupted childhood and how it shaped our family, the doors that closed because of this despite her talents and strong spirit... My other grandparents or relatives, who are/were a few years older or younger than she, could read and write just fine.
To this day she'll sweetly send me birthday cards and letters, always with the same spelling errors, and it's an occasional reminder of the many, many ways in which war is hell.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:27 PM on January 10, 2023 [35 favorites]
In a past gig I worked at an adult literacy project in Chicago. 15% was considered a good success rate for a cohort to get the GED.
posted by zenon at 7:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by zenon at 7:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
but it was only when I visited Egypt that I personally got a taste of what being illiterate in adulthood feels like
I was thinking about your comment, in the context of travelling in Asia as a uni-lingual English speaker (I mean I *can* speak French, but the French request that I not do so) and yeah I've had the feeling of being so totally lost because the world is covered in writing and I can't make sense of any of it. I can look at signs and menus, know that it is text, and not only not be able to even take a swing at how to say any of it, I have no capacity to even look it up (unlike, say, travelling in Sweden: I can look up Swedish words on my phone because I can read the characters even if I don't speak a word of Swedish). But I have also found that rather quickly I pick up words here and there without really trying. Nothing dramatic, but I learn to recognize the characters for things like bar, temple, train station, the city I happen to be in, things like that. I think that once you know how to read (any language), and the possibility is alive to you, then perhaps your brain is just primed to make these connections without much conscious effort.
I have another story of literacy that is tangential: I often I find myself in the company of men faking their way through the fact that they can't read whatever it is that is in front of us, not because they can't read at all but because they are too proud to admit that they need glasses and they can't actually see the text. Frequently this happens at work with older men who can't read tiny print, won't use reading glasses, and won't admit that they need the font size increased on things. I also bowl with a guy who cannot read the score because the TV screen is too far away and I often have to tell him what's on it because I wear my glasses. I have to say, managing in the world with really limited literacy skills now seems a lot more do-able, especially if you have an abundance of self-confidence and can make other people do the reading for you.
posted by selenized at 9:02 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was thinking about your comment, in the context of travelling in Asia as a uni-lingual English speaker (I mean I *can* speak French, but the French request that I not do so) and yeah I've had the feeling of being so totally lost because the world is covered in writing and I can't make sense of any of it. I can look at signs and menus, know that it is text, and not only not be able to even take a swing at how to say any of it, I have no capacity to even look it up (unlike, say, travelling in Sweden: I can look up Swedish words on my phone because I can read the characters even if I don't speak a word of Swedish). But I have also found that rather quickly I pick up words here and there without really trying. Nothing dramatic, but I learn to recognize the characters for things like bar, temple, train station, the city I happen to be in, things like that. I think that once you know how to read (any language), and the possibility is alive to you, then perhaps your brain is just primed to make these connections without much conscious effort.
I have another story of literacy that is tangential: I often I find myself in the company of men faking their way through the fact that they can't read whatever it is that is in front of us, not because they can't read at all but because they are too proud to admit that they need glasses and they can't actually see the text. Frequently this happens at work with older men who can't read tiny print, won't use reading glasses, and won't admit that they need the font size increased on things. I also bowl with a guy who cannot read the score because the TV screen is too far away and I often have to tell him what's on it because I wear my glasses. I have to say, managing in the world with really limited literacy skills now seems a lot more do-able, especially if you have an abundance of self-confidence and can make other people do the reading for you.
posted by selenized at 9:02 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
"A missed day of school" is sadly a reality for many kids whose schools went online due to Covid. Of course the Covid-19 reality varied greatly depending on what country, region and school you're in, but much of the practical details were left to teachers to decide for themselves.
Eg. in our particular case, I practically was the one teaching my child to read and write, as the "online school" amounted to the teacher sending an email once per week saying something like "this week, learn the letters K and F". Of course, I was doing the teaching while also working from home full-time and taking care of a toddler. And I was spending my limited energy and parenting resources trying to wrangle my sitting-and-practicing-resistant child into doing things for school while also making him do his chores, behave well etc. while not being allowed to play with his friends, do any organized activities, walk more than a couple blocks from his home or travel anywhere.
So yeah, I can directly attribute his atrocious handwriting and late-developing reading skills to the amount of energy I personally invested into this. And I am a person capable of actually doing the teaching and very invested in my child learning to read and write. I can't imagine how many people were not even able to do as much.
posted by gakiko at 11:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Eg. in our particular case, I practically was the one teaching my child to read and write, as the "online school" amounted to the teacher sending an email once per week saying something like "this week, learn the letters K and F". Of course, I was doing the teaching while also working from home full-time and taking care of a toddler. And I was spending my limited energy and parenting resources trying to wrangle my sitting-and-practicing-resistant child into doing things for school while also making him do his chores, behave well etc. while not being allowed to play with his friends, do any organized activities, walk more than a couple blocks from his home or travel anywhere.
So yeah, I can directly attribute his atrocious handwriting and late-developing reading skills to the amount of energy I personally invested into this. And I am a person capable of actually doing the teaching and very invested in my child learning to read and write. I can't imagine how many people were not even able to do as much.
posted by gakiko at 11:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
As an aside, I read any portmanteau in a storm 's comment and idly wondered if dyslexia is a thing when reading Japanese, and some superficial googling tells me it's at least different, and probably occurs less often. Logographic scripts probably uses different parts of the brain.
posted by Harald74 at 3:09 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 3:09 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
any portmanteau in a storm's story reminded me of the NYT article a few years ago about older women in South Korea going back to school to learn to read.
posted by terretu at 6:24 AM on January 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by terretu at 6:24 AM on January 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ugh, this story brought tears to my eyes.
But also: GO JAMES!
I know that feeling well that he describes -- the stress of trying to brute-force his way through teaching himself to read. I get that weird, headache-y feeling myself whenever I try to do math in my head. Anything more complex that basic addition or memorized multiplication stuff, it's like my brain just shuts its eyes and starts chanting "no" and then the headache comes.
Same with Sudoku. Just looking at the little chart makes my head throb.
Horrible to hear how he was treated in school, but definitely familiar. My own sister has pretty severe dyslexia, and she experienced much of what he described (isolation, physical punishment, ridicule, etc.).
More than half of Americans (54%) read below a 6th grade literacy level today. 22% are functionally illiterate, on average, nationwide. In some states (i.e., Texas, California, Mississippi, and New Mexico), it's closer to 30%.
As a writer trying to communicate complex ideas to people who need help or guidance, this is a constant challenge for me. How do I write about things like QT prolongation syndrome so that someone who didn't graduate high school can understand this concept, for example? I don't have the budget to turn everything into a simple, voice-narrated video.
We as a nation are letting millions of people fall through the cracks, education-wise, and I fear the continual push for privatization is only making things worse.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
But also: GO JAMES!
I know that feeling well that he describes -- the stress of trying to brute-force his way through teaching himself to read. I get that weird, headache-y feeling myself whenever I try to do math in my head. Anything more complex that basic addition or memorized multiplication stuff, it's like my brain just shuts its eyes and starts chanting "no" and then the headache comes.
Same with Sudoku. Just looking at the little chart makes my head throb.
Horrible to hear how he was treated in school, but definitely familiar. My own sister has pretty severe dyslexia, and she experienced much of what he described (isolation, physical punishment, ridicule, etc.).
More than half of Americans (54%) read below a 6th grade literacy level today. 22% are functionally illiterate, on average, nationwide. In some states (i.e., Texas, California, Mississippi, and New Mexico), it's closer to 30%.
As a writer trying to communicate complex ideas to people who need help or guidance, this is a constant challenge for me. How do I write about things like QT prolongation syndrome so that someone who didn't graduate high school can understand this concept, for example? I don't have the budget to turn everything into a simple, voice-narrated video.
We as a nation are letting millions of people fall through the cracks, education-wise, and I fear the continual push for privatization is only making things worse.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Cheering for Oliver James, who is strong in so many more ways than muscles. And who is pushing himself to succeed despite the many systems that have failed him, and others like him.
I'm glad BookTok seems to be rallying around him.
Thinking of others who may be struggling the same way, without getting the help they need.
posted by SaharaRose at 9:25 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm glad BookTok seems to be rallying around him.
Thinking of others who may be struggling the same way, without getting the help they need.
posted by SaharaRose at 9:25 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Way back when I was a kid trying to polish a resume for college, I volunteered my time at the adult school attached to my high school. (It was also a natural fit since my mom was a teacher there and I come from a long, long line of teachers)
Proudest moment and one I still remember 30 years later as clear as a bell - older white guy - probably late 60's - farmer - knurled hands holding a basic reading primer. It was the look on his face, the brightening of his eyes when he nailed a passage that had been giving him fits.
Literacy is a hell of a gift.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:33 AM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Proudest moment and one I still remember 30 years later as clear as a bell - older white guy - probably late 60's - farmer - knurled hands holding a basic reading primer. It was the look on his face, the brightening of his eyes when he nailed a passage that had been giving him fits.
Literacy is a hell of a gift.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:33 AM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Jay Blades, a British furniture restorer and tv presenter made a documentary about learning to read at the age of 51. He successfully completed a degree in criminology before learning to read.
posted by plonkee at 1:55 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by plonkee at 1:55 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think I’m adding to a derail but any portmanteau in a storm’s story reminds me of my wife’s grandmother who in Kagoshima was an extra mouth to feed so was fostered out to distant relatives who made her a household servant. She was thus never educated, but when her own children started school, she stood all morning in the lane outside the schoolroom window with her own slate, watching, listening and learning.
I don’t think it’s so unusual for very old people here to have any number of explanations for illiteracy but I also think there are many who, like my wife’s grandmother, seized any opportunity to learn as adults.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:30 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don’t think it’s so unusual for very old people here to have any number of explanations for illiteracy but I also think there are many who, like my wife’s grandmother, seized any opportunity to learn as adults.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:30 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I cried while reading Oliver’s story. It’s so heartbreaking how he was treated in school, yet unfortunately I’m not surprised. I teach (among other things) literacy to adults whose skills are around the range of Oliver’s, and I am always impressed by their persistence while being horrified by their stories of educational and other trauma.
I love teaching and have fond feelings for almost all of my students, but I am particularly impressed by my adult literacy students. They have to work SO. DAMN. HARD. to learn a skill that most of us learned when we were children—often while contending with undiagnosed learning disabilities, trauma from earlier education, trauma from systemic/institutionalized racism, and poverty.
Drewbage, that brightening, that aha! moment you wrote about—I have been privileged to see that on my students’ faces, and I am not exaggerating when I say that seeing it can make my entire semester feel worthwhile.
Oh, and—go Oliver! You are amazing.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:48 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
I love teaching and have fond feelings for almost all of my students, but I am particularly impressed by my adult literacy students. They have to work SO. DAMN. HARD. to learn a skill that most of us learned when we were children—often while contending with undiagnosed learning disabilities, trauma from earlier education, trauma from systemic/institutionalized racism, and poverty.
Drewbage, that brightening, that aha! moment you wrote about—I have been privileged to see that on my students’ faces, and I am not exaggerating when I say that seeing it can make my entire semester feel worthwhile.
Oh, and—go Oliver! You are amazing.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:48 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Selenized, your comment about how being literate in one language makes it much easier to become literate in another language is spot on, from my experience. When I taught English as an additional language, it was always much harder for the students to learn English if they were not literate in their first language. They weren’t just learning another language, they were learning how to be literate, which is a weighty endeavour in and of itself.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:52 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:52 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
It's always been amazing to me how far some people can get without being able to read. My very first job involved helping out a unix systems administrator at a regional ISP who was functionally illiterate. He managed to graduate high school without being able to functionally read - he got by in this job with a combination of recognising shapes of phrases, and the mac speech synthesiser. And honestly, he was one of the most switched on guys I"ve met, and he taught me a ton of skills that have led me through my career.
Obviously massive kudos to Mr James for his achievements - this is absolutely stunning,.
posted by jaymzjulian at 10:06 AM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Obviously massive kudos to Mr James for his achievements - this is absolutely stunning,.
posted by jaymzjulian at 10:06 AM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I used to work in a library and one of my coworkers couldn't read.
There's a genre of books for adults who are learning how to read, so they're not stuck reading books for kids. Here's a sample list of "Hi-Lo readers," although I've seen others that are aimed at an older, lower-reading population.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:46 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's a genre of books for adults who are learning how to read, so they're not stuck reading books for kids. Here's a sample list of "Hi-Lo readers," although I've seen others that are aimed at an older, lower-reading population.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:46 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
« Older United Nations says ozone layer is slowly healing... | a legendary fruit of myth and magic, usurped by... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Oyéah at 1:47 PM on January 10, 2023 [6 favorites]