The story of Joke van Heumen (68) from Hilversum proves that reading and writing are not equally obvious for everyone. She kept her low literacy a secret for years, but now wants to be open about it to motivate others. “Go do something about it, take that step, I’m very glad I did it!”
“You’re stupid, you can’t.” Joke van Heumen (68) heard these kinds of comments with some regularity. She has dyslexia, which was ignored in primary school. “I couldn’t keep up with the class, then you were put in the back,” says Joke. It was no different at the nursery school. “After a year I was removed from it: you go to work, my parents said.”
Out of shame, she always hid that she could not read and write. “If I had to write down someone’s address, I would make a start and then I would say: do it yourself, then I can’t make mistakes,” says Joke. “I covered it up and you get really smart about that.”
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Joke encourages everyone to take that step too – NH Nieuws
When Joke has children of her own, she cannot help them with their schoolwork. “That felt like failure. I still get nauseous when I think about it.” That made her think: I’ve had enough, I’m going to do something about it. She followed courses at the ROC for years. “A huge step, but when you enter the class the first time you think: ah, these people all have the same problem as me! And the second time you cross that threshold more easily.”
Joke can now cope well with reading and writing. “Subtitles are still too fast and I don’t read complicated books, but I can read to my grandchildren.” And if it doesn’t work out for a while, she’s open about it. “Grandma grabs another book, it contains too difficult words, I say. And they think that’s perfectly fine.”
take that step
She has made great gains especially in writing. “I just dare to write something down, then I’ll just make a mistake, I’m not afraid anymore.” Joke is very relieved that her low literacy is no longer a secret. “I’ve become a happier person.”
She therefore wants to encourage others to also take Dutch lessons. “There are countless people who are ashamed of it, but for God’s sake: take that step! It always makes you better.” Her message is therefore clear: “People, please go do it. See where you can go. I’m so glad I did it, I have a different life now!”