“The shock was the fact that they looked like anyone and everyone”

Last year on Gogglebox, the families watching an episode of SBS series Lost for Words were moved to tears by seeing ordinary Australians revealing that they couldn’t read or write.

Like watching Love on the Spectrum, it was one of the show’s more moving reactions from the couch because literacy is something most of us take for granted.

“It was great. It really meant a lot purely because you know that they identify with it,” host Jay Laga’aia recalls.

“They’ve got friends like that or they’ve got family, so it’s something that resonates. It’s also something that you hope people will say, ‘We should do something about this.’ As I keep saying to people, it’s not a disease, it is fixable, if you’re brave enough to step forward.

“For me, the shock was the fact that they looked like anyone and everyone. Apart from being a little nervous about being in the classroom, they were as normal as they come. I mean, I thought Mike the arborist was in sales or something because he was so articulate. When we asked him to write down, what they like to do and stuff, and he wrote, ‘I l-i-k- to’ and then he drew surfboards because he didn’t know how to write it.”

A staggering 43% of Australia’s adult population, or seven million deal with some form of illiteracy. The SBS series sees nine adult students overcome and conquer their fears to realise that they are valued members of society.

It again centres around a classrom situation where as strangers the nine come together for lessons.

“There are lots of people who slip through the cracks” 

“This is a really an important visual documentation purely because there are lots of people who slip through the cracks. There are lots of our Nonnas, Nanas, granddads, uncles and aunties, parents…. when you start looking at this, you realise the reason they might prefer to tell you a bedtime story than read one is because they can’t read. And when you start delving into it further, you realise the shame (associated with being) the head of the family,” he continues.

“In my own family, my father was like that. I’d bring something to my dad, and he’d say ‘You read it to me.’ Or he’d say ‘I’ve got no time.’ You think he’s just not interested. But no, it was that he couldn’t read it.”

This season includes a mother & daughter and a grandmother of 72 who wants to read stories to her grandkids.

Returning to the series is Jo Medlin, President of the Australian Council for Adult Literacy, as class teacher. Season 2 also addresses problems with numeracy.

53%, or 9 million Australians are also challenged by everyday numeracy, which Laga’aia maintains is more problematic than admitting you have trouble with maths.

“There’s a lot of people, including myself, who have, some numeracy issues”

“Numeracy is about people not being able to read timetables or can’t follow recipes, and I thought ‘That’s me then!’ There’s a lot of people, including myself, who have, some numeracy issues,” he explains.

But it’s the ‘workarounds’, the shortcuts and tricks employed by the nine, which Laga’aia found most enlightening.

“Some of them are really articulate you would never guess that the reason why they declined to come to dinner with you is because they don’t want to have to read the menu.

“One of the guys basically said, ‘I would much rather be sent to the principal’s office, than be asked to read a paragraph because I just couldn’t read and I couldn’t let my friends know that I was dumb.’

“They would record things, and then listen to the words to see what a word started with. If they’re going shopping… they would look for the picture or the logo.

“People who suffer from literacy issues … don’t window shop”

“One of the things that I found with people who suffer from literacy issues is that they don’t window shop because eventually they would either have to own up or ask ‘How much is that?'” he asks.

“One person told me they look for one of those ‘zapper things’ that will tell them what the price is because they’re too embarrassed to go and ask somebody.

“There’s some things I had to learn about comprehension. As an actor of 40 years, it took me until the last 15 years to realise when you read scripts if you can’t comprehend what you’re saying, you can’t shorten it down or abbreviate it to get your message out … with numeracy, it’s the same thing.”

But it is the bravery of the nine which Laga’aia finds most remarkable.

“The dynamics were interesting because they were all quiet to start off with until they realised that they were in a classroom where they can verbally make mistakes and not be ridiculed for them,” he explains.

“What you rejoice in is the bravery that it takes to step forward”

“What you rejoice in is the bravery that it takes to step forward onto a national stage to say, ‘I can’t read.’

“Some of them suffer from medical episodes when they were young, that weren’t diagnosed, whether it be dyslexia, or, some of them had to leave school early, because their parents were either drug addicts, or they died. If there were family issues somebody had to look after the young kids. All of these things, whether they be cultural or otherwise, caused them to be in the situation.

“But they came together as strangers and they left as family.”

Lost for Word screens 7:30pm Wednesday on SBS.