I didn't write this, it's straight from the newspaper article...I'll find the link/name and put it here for the person who wrote it!
Update: Cheryl Stephens takes the podium for the next 20 minute slot while we all pass around a hand out, which is rather fitting since her topic is literacy and the communication of rights. “People who read, think differently,” she speaks about storytelling and the importance of reading. One of her slides is a poster that can probably be seen around town that states, “literacy is a right.” She presents some graphs about the way people learn and statistics on learning and reading skills. Cheryl also speaks to how it can come to be that illiteracy can come to be in today’s society, which can be attributed to learning disabilities, language skills, social problems, along with stress, anxiety, abuse etc. “These things affect the child’s ability to focus, and their ability to process what they are learning.” She notes that it is possible to lose your ability to read if you do not keep it up and keep feeding your brain with literature of all kinds. I just checked in on her website where you can get information about her book, “Plain Language Legal Writing”. Clear + simple + human = good writing (side note, this makes total sense and is also the way I try to approach my blogging). In closing, she just wants us to be aware of these issues and points us to LiteracyBC.
