INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT INTERVIEWS

There were more female participants than males in the interview sample and they had a lower mean level of education and were younger than the males.

All three men were married with children. Two of them said they were dyslexic. Two were employed and the third was receiving Workers' Compensation. The latter could have accepted a job at $5.00 an hour, but that was not enough to support his family. And, as the job required filling out orders and totalling the till, he decided to take the literacy course and retrain as much as possible. Two of the men found that the use of computers helped them to learn and to express themselves. The third man was making progress by having his special learning needs individually catered in class. Of the six women, two were young and single; two were married with young children; and two were mothers not living with the father of their children.

Problems with schooling

The majority of this group had had problems in their schooling. One had had an unsettled childhood and got caught up with gangs and became a problem and dropped out. Another had experienced substance abuse in the home and in herself since the age of 10 years, so was not interested in school and dropped out. One was sent to an alternative school because she was in conflict with the staff of the regular school. One felt she had problems in school and should have had extra attention, but did not receive it so she fell behind and dropped out. Another came from a home where the mother tongue was not English and the family went and lived abroad for a year which put her behind in school when they returned to Canada. She was tall for her age and known as the "dumb kid". She would fight back and ended up being sent home and missing school. She went to a special school where the students were allowed to cheat. She said she was a Grade 5 dropout but promoted to Grade 7. The sixth woman had been in "slow classes" all the time and quit in Grade 8. One of the men said he was beaten up on his second day of school and made to wear a dunce's cap. He had a modified Grade 10, but was "really much lower".