Changing Perspective: The Choice to Read

When I first came across this cartoon several years ago, it meant something very different to me then than it does today.

The cartoon shows two men: one stands atop a large stack of books, looking over a wall before him, while the other stands facing the wall with no books, the wall towering over him. At the time, I saw it as a commentary on those who choose to read vs. those who do not. I assumed access to reading was simply a choice.

I don’t mean access to books. Not having access to safe, stocked libraries or schools with books for students to take home is important, but it is a separate issue.

I mean having access to what is printed on the page, any page or screen, be it a library book or a lease agreement. 

Before learning about literacy, it had not occurred to me that some people (1 in 5, in fact) do not naturally process language the same way as others (and, honestly, I do not believe the standard system serves even 50% of students, let alone the non-dyslexic 80%). Dyslexia is the prevailing learning difference today.

I will never know what it feels like to be dyslexic, to have to work so much harder than most to decode the information on the page, let alone analyze and interact with it. Most of us will never know, but that does not mean the curriculum should write off learners who learn differently as incapable of learning, or worse, unwilling to try.

Today, I do not interpret this cartoon as a judgement of those who choose to read vs. those who do not. It is a stark representation of why equal access to literacy education is vital––‘vit’ as in the Latin root for ‘life’––for reading and communicating are imperative. Soon-to-be-adults’ lives literally depend on their ability to read and communicate with confidence. 

Readers: be not quick to judge those who do not choose to read. If you know a young person who struggles to read and spell, please encourage them to seek dyslexia testing and multi-sensory support. There are resources out there, like Orton-Gillingham, that cater to different learning styles and give every student a chance to succeed. Their future depends on it.