The simple, yet crucial process of learning to read – as an adult

It’s 10 a.m. on a Thursday in Kiln, Mississippi. The cracked window blinds let the passing sights of coastal life into Carl Plessala’s home. He logs onto Zoom for his last tutoring session of the week with Beth John, who is located less than 30 minutes away in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

After a routine prayer, the two pick up their reading of a “Doctor Dolittle” book. Plessala, who is 67 years old, has attended weekly tutoring sessions for seven and a half years at Hope Adult Learning to improve his literacy skills as an adult learner.

There are currently approximately eight million such adult learners in the United States. Generally defined as non-traditional students over the age of 25 who are participating in institutional learning, adult learners also comprise a subset of individuals who possess a high school diploma or equivalent but have gaps in basic skills such as reading, math or spoken English.

I wrote about Plessala and his initial efforts to overcome his inability to read for Mississippi Today in 2021 and recently sat down with him again to talk about how doing so has changed his life. Much of what has changed for Plessala might sound routine to someone who has been able to read from an early age, but being able to comprehend written words has had a powerful impact, giving him courage and confidence to navigate the world around him.

Hope Adult Learning, which was established in 2008, is a Christ-centered adult literacy program. It is also an itinerant organization, meaning its staff often travels to where the students are. Most students receive tutoring in Gulfport, Mississippi. The center is funded by the local Southern Baptist Association and provides in-person tutoring sessions on pre-phonetics skills, reading comprehension skills and fluency skills. All the center’s staff are volunteers, and materials are acquired by tutors.

Before working with John at Hope Adult Learning, Plessala could not read or write. He admitted to being the “class clown” in his youth, and his humor is still evident in jokes about receiving the “bullwhip” from John if he misses a tutoring session. However, his memories of being a troublesome student paint a far more complex portrait of the effects of low literacy as Plessala details experiences of isolation from his family, which is often a barrier for people with limited education.

“When they would start trying to use high language and stuff, I just walked away and would play and stuff like that instead of sticking around,” Plessala says. “Because why stick around and visit if I don’t even know what they’re talking about? They knew I didn’t have the education.”

Late recognition of special needs in the classroom also played into Plessala’s low level of literacy. The nation’s first special education act, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, was officially enacted in 1975. At that time, Plessala was 18, transitioning out of high school. IDEA requires public schools to create an individualized education program for each student who is found to be eligible under both federal and state eligibility/disability standards. Had the act been implemented a few years earlier, Plessala’s class-disruptive behavior might have been properly identified and supported as a learning issue.

Disabilities identified under the act often mask students’ other skills. John shares how Plessala “reworked a tractor that had sat in someone’s yard for a while” and managed to get the machine operable, underscoring the complexity of adult learning in which many participants are highly skilled in a particular field or area of expertise yet may lack basic skills in reading, writing or math.

Organizations similar to Hope Adult Learning in Mississippi are the Salvation Army’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program in Hancock County and at The Salvation Army Kroc Center in Biloxi, as well as the General Education Development programs in Hancock and Harrison counties.

Plessala is now a model student, typically reading several pages ahead on assignments to prepare for his sessions with John. His latest achievements include filling out an online form for a dentist appointment and comprehending a set of procedures by mail from his doctor regarding a kidney test. Again, these would be routine endeavors for a conventional reader, but for Plassala they represent life-altering achievements.

Plessala attributes much of his increased autonomy and confidence to John.

“I give God the glory, and I give her [John] the glory, too, because she got patience with me,” Plessala says. “I have a feeling that now I know I can go over there and fill something out or I can pick up something and read it.”

John says working with Plessala reminds her of her own experiences in attempting to learn a foreign language. She emphasizes the need for patience and curiosity when acquiring or strengthening a new skill, and ultimately removing the stigma of rigid societal milestones for adults.

“Lot of people think adult literacy is learning to read, but it’s so much more,” John observes. “It’s family dynamics. It’s security in the world. It’s jobs, you know. It’s not getting lost. It just encompasses so much.”

Candace Mckenzie is a Mississippi-based writer whose work has appeared in Mississippi Today and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting; Mississippi History Now; Red Noise Collective; and Poets Choice. She writes for herself and for those who need people to truly see them as they are.

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Image: Carl Plessala participates in a Zoom session with Beth John (courtesy Janet Plessala)