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This New Year's Eve was going to be the one when I finally got to grips with my problem. Reading and writing is my problem. I left school with no qualifications, but more than that I could not read or write. I got married in 1982; my wife has always done the paperwork and this meant it was easy for me to ignore my problem.
Sometimes when we have a dinner party we play games like 'Trivial Pursuit'. I would make the tea, or have a headache. It's hard to take part when you cannot read the question and it is also embarrassing when your friends do not know you cannot read.
I decided to do something about it!
On New Year's Eve 2001 I said to myself ring the college. It still took me until May that year to do it. One quiet moment I picked up the phone and this was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The person on the phone said they would put me in touch with someone that could help. This person would become my tutor, someone for the first time in my life understood what I was going through. She made me feel at ease and not embarrassed. I told her about my problem and she said this could be overcome with time and work. This was one of the best things I have ever heard. My first lesson was on a Friday afternoon. I was very nervous; it seemed like eight hours work but it was only one hour.
I go to college two hours a week. It is not like going to school, it's like doing something you enjoy. I now read books and enjoy the experience of this. I now play games like 'Trivial Pursuit', as I no longer worry about reading the questions. Going to college has given me the confidence to take two tests in English which I have passed. Looking to the future I would like to go on to take GCSE and A level.
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