Millions of Americans are too ashamed to get help for illiteracy

...to a problem that affects millions of Americans and yet is something of a silent epidemic, that's because the people affected are often hesitant to seek help. The problem is illiteracy. And as our Pierre Thomas reports now, it is an issue that affects people in a myriad of ways.

For nearly all of her 45 years, Monica Baxley has lived with a crippling secret. "I cried a lot over this when I was alone. " Baxley was functionally illiterate, avoiding the doctor out of fear she would have to fill out a medical form, or read a prescription. (Okay)

"My health is poor now, but I really believe that's because I never went to the doctor. " It is a life and death issue, and the reason for this is that literacy affects your health in so many different ways.

The American Medical Association Foundation surveyed patients who could not read. This woman signed a form she could not understand, agreeing to a hysterectomy without knowing it.

…inside, my mouth fell open, and I thought to myself, how could I be so stupid as to allow somebody to take part of my body, and I didn't know it? It's a tremendous problem when you think about the costs for us economically, health-wise.

Undiagnosed learning disorders, poverty, unstable home life are all factors contributing to illiteracy. Monica Baxley finally confronted her illiteracy at age 42, and learned to read. But illiteracy persists for millions who continue to live with it in the shadows.

Pierre Thomas, ABC News, Chipley Florida

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. hysterectomy : n-count

A hysterectomy is a surgical operation to remove a woman's womb.

2. -wise : comb

-wise is added to nouns to form adverbs indicating that something is the case when considering the particular thing mentioned.