I was just over reading the AA board and came upon a post that made me stop and think.  To be honest, what this post mentioned had never crossed my mind.

We refer people to books and pamphlets, the written word.  Now here in chat or message board I think it is pretty safe to assume the person can read...heehee.  What got to me, is that I've never given a thought to the possibility that someone coming into ftf (face to face) just might be illiterate.  They also may not want others knowing that fact, so might just smile at us when we tell them "you oughta read such and such - it's great!".  That post sure opened my eyes.  Wow.

Kis

Hi all, Kis, Yes. My grandfather figure was not able to read for whatever reason. Perhaps he did not want the liberation of opening his mind. He was a rather dark soul, his effects linger on in the survivors in the family, his darkness I mean. We were raised to be coda and to wreste with the conditioning has been fun (we = family members). I'm very much dragging everyone in my family to alanon. Most regards Kis - thank you for being a great host. Oceans of love in recovery, Wille

Thanks for this reminder Kis.  I remember attending an open AA meeting some years ago when they went around the room reading [I think] the Promises.  The person leading the meeting made a comment to the effect of ...... 'those of you who have remembered to bring their reading glasses'.....   thereby giving anyone who was illiterate or dyslexic an excuse not to join in.  I also remember thinking at the time that I should have thought of that as I did voluntary work for a while at an Adult Literacy Class.

I'll mention this at our next f2f group conscience meeting.   Take care of you,  she 

You're are right.  Some people can't read, or read well, some don't want others to even know that fact.  Some are blind, and some may have some learning disability, or short attention span.  We can't assume everyone can, nor wants to read, but there are tapes I believe.  We could always say that we've read that book & it may be on tape!  Therefore, we're sharing without directing.  Good point though, I have found many walks of life in the meetings online & in f2f meets.  Again good point.  Have a nice day. 

Embarrassment… hmm… a good motivator to get off one’s ass and learn to read? Is there an element of taking care of another’s feelings in this somewhere? Hmm, I was for a moment a volunteer to teach people to read… maybe now that I am healthier I will try again. 12-stepers are so hard on themselves. Just say there is good literature out there. Jeez!

Hugs & Luv,

-- Edited by richard at 00:11, 2005-03-09