Two million American adults are considered to be functionally illiterate. According to the National Right to Read Foundation, the statistics are staggering.

>>42 million American adults can't read at all; 50 million are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth or fifth grader.

>>The number of adults that are classified as functionally illiterate increases by about 2.25 million each year.

>>20 percent of high school seniors can be classified as being functionally illiterate at the time they graduate.

Illiteracy leads to serious consequences for society at large*:

>>70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.

>>85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate.

>>43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.

(*Source: National Institute for Literacy)

Dr. Carl O. Myers of the Indiana Vision Developmental Center of Fort Wayne, Indiana, shared other alarming statistics regarding children and learning that homeschoolers would do well  to take heed of.

According to Dr. Myers:

>>1 out of 4 children in the average classroom have a vision problem that is interfering with their performance in the classroom. They are overlooked because they masquerade as other things such as ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities or dyslexia.

>>In the learning disabled population 6 out of 10 people have vision problems that are interfering with their learning.

>>In the juvenile delinquent population 7 out of 10 have vision problems.

The social implications of not having vision problems addressed are enormous.

In future articles we will explore the warning signs parents should look for as their children are beginning to learn that may be indicators of the need for vision therapy.