Feature Take this test. Read the following and identify the recommended action: jt ols! 2l5> alles > eae Db Sn dale > Jeb Leg 93.9 Ladls glad a= cle sd> oe tof al an \ ws ot ol SLI st as ah yy Can’t answer? Can’t you read? Actually, Review readers aren’t expected to comprehend the above statement — not because they lack intelligence or skill but because most have had no reason or opportunity to learn written Arabic. Similar barriers may keep others from acquiring the skill to read English. Learning disabilities, physical and mental handicaps, economics and cultural differences may all hamper an individual’s ability to tread and write. “There’s aS many reasons as there are people why it has happened,” says Linda Mitchell, executive director of the READ Society. Project Literacy chairman Donna Oswald-Miller estimates 14 per cent of the population in greater Victoria is functionally illiterate. “Often people have fallen through the cracks,” she said. Advances in teaching techniques developed over the past 15 years - now help people learn to read and write more easily. “People are learning that they are not necessarily stupid. It’s a very complex process, leaming to read and write,’ Oswald-Miller said. Technological advances are making literacy even more complex, she added. Mitchell agreed. “What was considered to be functional literacy even 20 years ago has changed,” she said. A 1947 US. Census Bureau survey pegged functional literacy at the equivalent of a Grade 5 education. A 1978 University of B.C. report suggested a minimum Grade 8 education for functional literacy. The current definition of functional literacy is a Grade 9 reading level. The Workforce 2000 study into technology and jobs predicts more than half the jobs created between 1984 and 2000 will require post- secondary education. LS ee ae, TheReview Wednesday, June 13, 1990 — B10 Letter landslide boosts literacy A LANDSLIDE OF LETTERS landed in Brodie Dronzek’s life affer the 17-year-old student requested a pen-pal in a British teen magazine. Brodie is shown with some of the over 900 letters he received. by Valorie Lennox The Review “Who is this Brodie Dronzek? Some kind of overnight rock star?” the mailman asked, lugging another bulging bag of letters up the hill to the Dronzek home. Marla Dronzek sympathized. Her driveway is very long, very steep and her son Brodie was receiving 75 letters daily, most from teenagers in Great Britain. But Brodie is not a rock star — he’s a young man who beat a severe learning disability and achieved literacy. Brodie was in Grade 9 when he first attended the computerized Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS) program piloted by School District 63. By then he had spent years in special education classes, trapped by difficulties with reading and writing. Yet his parents suspected Brodie was more intelligent than his school placement indicated. “He could take a vacuum apart when he was three years old and put it back together again,” Marla recalls. A sports fan, Brodie can reel off statistics dating back almost 20 years. But as a child, Brodie’s speech was garbled. His entry into school was delayed so he could attend a special speech therapy program. “Nobody knew what was wrong with Brodie. They knew he was slow,” Marla said. Brodie had problems with language arts — reading, writing and speaking. But he excelled in math and sports. Marla recalls the stigma associated with being in the special education program. Some of the other students teased Brodie, especially when he joined school teams, since he was the only special education student participating. Elementary school administrators also discriminated. As a special education student, Brodie was not allowed to try for Translation: Baha'u'llah says that education must be universal: — It is decreed that every father must educate his sons and daughters in leaming and in writing ... He who educates his son, or any other children, it is at though he hath educated one of My children. —Tablet of Ishragat, Baha'i writings. See ee ee. ee ee the Canada Fitness medal, until fellow students backed his right to run the course. Brodie was in Grade 8 before his problem was diagnosed as visual and auditory dyslexia at the University of Victoria. “It’s like having a short circuit,” Marla said. Speech comes to Brodie as if he is hearing a conversation through a poor telephone connection, missing important words and phrases. When he reads, many of the letters appear reversed, as if seen in a mirror. Initially Brodie was not : impressed by the PALS program, although he enjoyed the computers. But he found the work too similar to school work and the lab time conflicted with his physical education classes. “T used to hate writing in the journal,” he said. Then, in September 1988, Ben Johnson was disgraced at the_ Olympic Games for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Brodie was appalled: Ben Johnson was his hero and he was convinced the runner had been framed. ‘It was more like a challenge. lf was a game fo see if | could get these people to wrife back’ Determined to show his support for Johnson, Brodie used his developing skills to write a letter to the athlete. He followed that letter with letters to other athletes, then to. other famous people he admired. “Tt was more like a challenge. It was a game to see if I could get those people to write back,” Brodie said. Finally he received a reply, from a lady-in-waiting to Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales, thanking Brodie for his letter. Deciding he wanted to find a pen-pal, Brodie asked PALS teaching assistant Brenda Harfield for help. Hatfield had helped _ Brodie with his letters to celebrities: to find a pen-pal she Suggested Brodie senda letter to the Make-a-Mate column in the British teen magazine Jacki. Brodie’s letter was published last July, setting off a landslide of replies. To date he has received over 900 letters and corresponds regularly with about 30 British teenagers ranging in age from 15 to 18. “I can’t keep up,”’ Brodie said. “T usually cheat and use the computer to write the letter, then switch the names.” Most of the teenagers want information about Canadian lifestyles and trends. Some have phoned Brodie and one is visiting this month. From writing letters on the computer Brodie went to doing his homework on the computer. With Harfield’s help, he designed a data base to help keep track of his correspondence. “Brenda was the best in the whole thing,” he said. He still receives a dozen letters each week. And, although he still struggles with dyslexia when reading and writing, his school work has improved dramatically. Brodie’s teachers are recommending he attend college after graduation. Brodie’s success vindicates John and Marla Dronzek’s faith in their son. “He really tries his best at everything he does,” Marla said, noting her son picked up sports awards as the most improved player in 1985 and again in 1989. “He’s our pride and joy. In er < ae he does, he never gives #@ 1 We STORE HOURS MON-SAT 9AM-5:30PM BONNIE RAITT nick of time HEART brigade LONDON QUIREBOYS a bit of what you fancy M.C. HAMMER please hammer don’t hurt ‘em CASSETTE TAPES $699 CHECK OUR CAPITOL DISPLAY FOR MORE SALE PRICED TITLES! 2447 Beacon Ave. Sidney 656-4148 SUMMER | SMASH HITS. ....ffOM CAPITOL RECORDS COMPACT DISKS 19° heb HURRY SALE ENDS JUNE 23 —¢ Sa aes ore po % eo & Ee Se SS. 5 YY. SS ns wilt — wikis ie Prete