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Lindsay
started school with his name written on a piece of paper
in his pocket because he could not talk. As a child, he
was enrolled in special education classes at Franklin
Academy in Malone. When he graduated from high school in
1996, he couldn't read.
In 2000 his
older sister, Marie, saw him struggling and suggested he
enroll at the local literacy program. Lindsay worked with
his first tutor for about three years but didn't seem to
make much progress. In 2003, the tutor resigned for health
reasons.
Later that
year, Lindsay started working with Jim Byrne, a retired
truck driver who lives outside Malone.
"On the first
day of class, Jim showed me how to understand words in
books," Lindsay writes in his own book. "If it wasn't for
him, I wouldn't be able to read books like
The Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, and
The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. Jim is a great tutor.
He calls me Slick and doesn't let me get away with
anything. My homework has to be done on the spot. We work
hard, but we have fun, too."
Lindsay's
score on the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) has
increased from 1.6 to 4.1, which means his reading skills
have progressed from the first-grade level to the
fourth-grade level. He is a charter member of his
affiliate's learner advisory council, and he serves on the
board's fund-raising committee. He's a frequent competitor
in the Special Olympics, and he currently has a job
working for his mother at the fabric store.
Lindsay was
selected from among adult learners nationwide to receive
the Frank C. Laubach and Ruth J. Colvin Award for Student
Excellence, given in October 2005 at ProLiteracy
Worldwide's annual conference in Tucson, Ariz. Before
that, Literacy Volunteers of Essex/Franklin Counties, a
ProLiteracy America affiliate, selected Lindsay as its
Student of the Year for 2004. He's been featured on a TV
show and interviewed for a radio program.
Byrne is
pleased with his student's progress. "He's getting
recognition for his hard work," Byrne says. "He wants to
learn, and he's got a good sense of humor. He'll be coming
to his tutoring in a limo pretty soon."
Lindsay would
like to earn his GED someday. Byrne feels his student
would stand a better chance of reaching that goal if a
tutor with expertise in special education could be found
for him. So Lindsay's many friends and supporters at the
affiliate are searching for someone else with more
training.
"I think it's
going to be a long time" before Lindsay earns a GED, Byrne
says. "But we don't use the word 'can't' around here, and
we don't use the word 'hard.' He's surprised me before,
and he may surprise me again."
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