Coronavirus Research with learners by phone, text, email, WhatsApp and FaceTime from March 2020 – March 2021

Briefing Paper by Jackie Hewitt-Main OBE

Briefing on the digital divide devoid of reading & literacy skills within coronavirus lockdown with people with nerodiversity, head injury and mental health.

Evidence from phone calls, emails, WhatsApp, FaceBook and FaceTime between 22 March 2020 and 22 March 2021.

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The Cascade Foundation has had many concerns about the digital divide devoid of reading/literacy skils, which refers to the gap between those able to benefit from the digital age and those who are not.  For the past seven years the Cascade Foundation has been researching digital exclusion, lacking in reading/literacy skills within the Doncaster Marshgate prison and the community.  Our 6,000 learners who took part in all our projects with nerodiversity, head injury and mental health had no access to laptops or computers, also 75% of our learners did not have the income to pay for internet access.

By opening the Cascade Hub at 7.00am each morning for our learners and having mentor support we were able to prevent them from being sanctioned from receiving their Universal Credit benefit.  We supported them with job searching and trained them to use a computer and access the internet.  With their low levels of literacy, we were able to put in place flexible learning programs.

With the Cascade Foundation resettlement back to Essex, and a lack of funding for new projects within Doncaster, our learners had nowhere to go to get help.  Their desperation of not having the monies or knowledge of computer skills became increasingly apparent.  We had built a small network of mentors, many who were learners themselves, to help each other.  Many new learners were asking for help and during the lockdown our CEO was constantly taking phone calls and WhatsApp messages to continue to support the learners both with their learning and with their mental health.

The Cascade Foundation had been working with the Shine TV production and their Executive Producer Lana Salah, as their on-screen, off-screen literacy expert and after-care support.  The show was to be aired in April but due to the lockdown it was not aired until September 2020.  We were inundated with requests for help for schools, prisons, secured units, parents whom have nerodiversity, the list were endless.

“I predict around 12% of our current Y11s will leave school with a reading age of below 10yrs, which is in line with the national 8.5 million statistic across the UK”.

A teacher in a school in the North

What was our challenge during Lockdown?

Facts:

• 26,000 contacted our website
• 2,000 emailed our CEO
• 1,000 phoned our CEO
• Our 3 Facebooks/WhatsApp received over 500 requests of help

We used data from our Cascade devices to help:

• Prison healthcare assistants
• Pupil referral units
• Functional Skills Tutors
• Undergraduates researching for their dissertations, between mental health, learning disabilities and difficulties within the criminal justice system in the UK
• Journalists looking at dyslexia in prison populations
• Ex-offenders offering to support others
• An ex-offender from the USA, trained as a drug counsellor, wanted to go back into the prisons system to help others
• Volunteers across the country – to become mentors or learning coaches
• Teachers wanted to be trained in the different way of learning
• Volunteers to help with the day to day running of the charity
• Companies needed assistance for dyslexia and learning disabilities for their staff
• Parents needing help with their children’s learning disabilities
• Adults needing help with PIP and benefits
• Elderly people who could not engage with on-line food deliveries and other issues

What’s our challenge?

• 9 million adults in the UK have never used the internet
• There are 4.1 million adults living in social housing that are off-line
• The south east had the highest proportion of recent internet users (90%) and Northern Ireland was the area with the lowest proportion (80%)
• 27% of disabled adults (3.3 million) had never used the internet
• Adults aged 16 to 24 years have consistently shown the highest rates of internet use
• Between 75% and 90% of jobs require at least some computer use
• Off-line households are missing out on estimated savings of £560 per year from shopping and paying bills online. Source: ONS 2015, National Housing Federation, The Tinder Foundation
• 9 million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate
• Three-quarters of white working-class boys fail to achieve the government’s benchmark at the age of 16

Digital equality with reading and literacy skills matters to everyone, during the lock down so many families were missing out on the important areas of the digital world.  Many families our CEO spoke to could not manage their finances, as banks and retailers have increasingly encouraged their customers to use on-line services.

In one village it was found that cash was no longer accepted in the local bakery and many of the elderly people had never used a card to pay for food.  Eventually help was at hand and they did managed to purchase food from the bakery.

During the lockdown a food business delivery service had set up fresh meals to buy.  The business was trading solely on-line.  Soon the owner realised that many of her customers did not have this facility, which meant that she would be losing much custom.  She then set up an 0800 number for her business which allowed her business to thrive.

Benefits were another big issue.  Many people that had lost jobs were now claiming benefits, again working on-line to claim help was impossible for so many people.

To find a debt agent to speak to directly was almost impossible.  Only text messages or on-line communication was required.

This also applied when trying to set up the App for Just Eat, Uber Eats and Need Help, nobody could be contacted directly, only by text.

The world is changing so rapidly and millions of people that are digital excluded are the worse affected.  This can only spiral them further into debt and poverty.

Many children across the UK have experienced disruption to their education.  Much of the remote teaching offered by schools, as well as resources offered by other organisations, require internet and/or device access.  An Ofcom survey carried out between January and March 2020 found that 9% of households with children did not have home access to a laptop, desktop PC or tablet.  Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have experienced the greatest disruption widening the attainment gap between disadvantage children and their peers.

“They’re not on internet banking at all. If their building society decides to close for the coronavirus, they’ll have no money.”

A poll of our learners:

A Cascade poll, carried out by our CEO after each phone call.  Sample: 1,000 adults whose household income is below £15,000 March 2020 – March 2021:

Our Charity was being contacted almost daily for these types of issues.  We are giving as much help as we can by signposting them to the relevant places, but due to our lack of funding we are doing the best we can without remuneration.

On Poverty:

• 25% are worried about losing their job in the future
• 75% have been unable to pay their household bills through this year
• 87% have no savings for an emergency
• 80% have debt, which is causing more stress

A dyslexic father, due to not being able to work, became the carer at home.  He is now in debt and because of the benefit system he is trying for the PIP benefit and is required to get a written statement to the cost of £750 to prove that he is dyslexic.  The Cascade Foundation has advised him to speak to a doctor because he has suffered mental health issues for most of his life.  He was advised by The Cascade Foundation to go to a dyslexic centre to have an in-house screening test to prove he has dyslexia to the cost of £35.

On Education: This is what we saw in Doncaster!

• Disengagement puts pupils at risk of being moved to alternative provision (non-mainstream schools for excluded pupils). Once there, they face a bleak future: only 4% of pupils who sit their GCSEs in alternative providers get a standard pass in English and maths.
• Apprenticeships are dropping by a quarter between 2014/15 and 2018/19).
• Putting a stop to isolation booths
• We found during our time in Doncaster that as a lack of assessment or having statements many children with learning difficulties were attacking their parents through the frustration of not knowing what was wrong with them

Many children who suffer with difficulties such as dyslexia or ADHD may have had to find their own way of learning rather than textbook style.

These learners then become disengaged, especially in overcrowded classrooms where they are unable to get the support they need.  This then leads to truancy or they are sent to alternative provisions where they are unable to excel or meet their potential, which often many are unaware of.

Home schooling is not always available to those from deprived areas whose families are unable to afford the necessary technology for them to be supported from home to allow them to communicate with their tutors and peers.  One or both parents could be dyslexic and if the child is also dyslexic this may cause further stress as the parents are unable to understand how to help with the schoolwork.  This lack of support, for many, would lead to a feeling of isolation and loneliness and no doubt mental health issues.  Also, many parents may be unable to use computers, and this is an issue which is often overlooked.

Early development is vital for students to develop their ideas for career pathways and to understand their own strengths in developing their skills for future employment.  In the Doncaster area, isolation booths have been put into place meaning that the students can be left sometimes for a whole day without any support.  Those who may have ADHD would be unable to sit still for this length of time, leading to fidgeting and disruption. These booths are now known as reflecting rooms and are ineffective in meeting individual learning needs.

A parent asking for help:

I have a 13-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with severe dyslexia and attention deficit at the age of 5, she hasn’t had the best school life but tries really hard.  She is now in year 9 and is massively struggling to keep pace with the expectations of school.  She attends one of the top state schools, that has massive academic expectations of their students and whilst they maintain they support for students with learning difficulties, in reality it doesn’t happen, they’re always focussed on results, I guess to maintain their top position in Ofsted’s league table.  

After having 6 months away from school with Covid and with very little help during that time from school (despite me complaining on numerous occasions that she was struggling, only to be told not to worry we are in unprecedent times, absolute rubbish in my opinion, they were simply not interested in helping her) she is now trying to cope with her learning difficulties being asked to respond to up to 8 pieces of homework each night, given she only has an attention span of around 30 minutes this is making her life hell, she feels like the teachers don’t care and dismiss her as non-academic and therefore of little interest.  She is by no means thick, stupid and all the other possible names that are used, she is a very bright young lady who simply doesn’t know how to cope with the difficulties she faces day to day.  I have several times complained to school and have had a meeting with the head of upper school on two occasions since the end of July 2020, they say they will try and help but it all seems somewhat inadequate and the teachers still do not understand her situation and continue to discipline her for lack of attention in class and constantly tell her she will get detention for inadequate homework, it’s a complete nightmare!

I am writing to you to ask if there is any support, anything you can advise me to do to help her as she is day by day reverting into a depressive state and becoming angry at life and isn’t coping well at all and I am seriously concerned about her overall mental wellbeing. 

 

A Functional Skills Tutor: Apprenticeships

 I am the Functional Skills Tutor, I joined the company in August this year after being made redundant.  I previously worked for a large training provider where I delivered Hospitality Apprenticeships along with Functional Skills, in this role I had little time to spend on Functional skills and due to the pressure placed on Development Coaches to meet targets, you really had little choice but to “teach for the test”.

I am hugely passionate about apprenticeships and training and the difference that it makes to people’s lives (I think this came across in my interview!)  I am always so proud of my learners when they achieve their qualifications and tell them to be so proud of themselves and what they have achieved, getting to reflect on the journey they have been on and how far they have come from when they started. 

 I am loving working where both learners and staff are not just a number but are genuinely cared about.  I now get to spend the time with the learners that they deserve and can really make a difference to improve their Numeracy and Literacy skills which have such benefits to their everyday lives and life chances. 

It really saddens me to hear the same stories from the learners of how they were constantly kicked out of class, allowed to sit at the back with their phone as long as they were quiet or that they didn’t bother going to school.  Many of these learners are not long out of school and their literacy skills are really poor and many have Dyslexia.  School has been a really negative experience with the familiar cycle of not being able to understand, so mess about and then thrown out of class, being told that they will never achieve anything without their GCSE’s.  The good news is that they have made the positive choice of starting an apprenticeship, so many could of, and some have previously started on the negative journey of crime.  Being able to provide positive role models in the tutors, (some of which were apprentices here themselves) and encouraging aspirations of a brighter future, helping to improve their life choices.

When many of the learners start, they have a very negative view of having to do maths and English and one of the first things that I do say to them is that it isn’t going to be like at School.  I see learners either individually or in very small groups and have time for them.  My classroom rules are that it is a Judge Free Space, and we respect each other. 

Every learner is an individual and they all have such varying needs and abilities.

Anyway, the main reason for contacting you is that I am really keen to help the learners, especially those who find reading and writing so difficult.  I am finding it difficult to find resources/guidance for Adults, I have found things for younger school age children who have dyslexia but really very little for adults.  I am very conscious of not treating the learners as children as they are adults and I don’t want them to feel as though they are being treated as a child and have their already low confidence knocked.  I don’t know if you can recommend anything.  

I saw the ‘Write Off’s’ programme and of course cried through most of it as I see the effects of adults struggling with these skills.  It was a truly amazing program which I have recommended to so many people as I don’t think most people realise how hard it is and how common it is. 

Employment at the Cascade Hub – June 2017 – June 2019

Cascade Hub was our first set up to support many of the local community who were unable to find employment due to learning difficulties.  We were able to help 1,000 individuals to read and write and prepare for job interviews.  It also provided a sense of belonging to those who were lonely without any family support, bringing together new friendships and mentorships to help them to use computers and Nessy software which has proved successful in helping with literacy and numeracy.  Many of these individuals were sent to our Charity from the local job centre and were deemed unemployable because of their lack of skills and education.  Once they joined The Cascade Foundation at the Hub, they had a sense of belonging, mixing with others who may have suffered in a similar way throughout their life.  This brought shared experiences to group discussions, also giving life changing opportunities for them to develop their own strengths and social skills which many did not realise they had.  The more capable individuals became mentors to new recruits, often acting as a mentor/learning coach to help them settle into the Hub.  Sadly, we had to close the Hub down because of the lack of funds and move the Charity away from Doncaster back to Essex where it is hoped we can rebuild with the support of friends and eventually set up another Hub in Essex.

 

Prisons

The Cascade Foundation has been contacted by many families of prisoners both in the north and south, asking for help.  When the prisoners leave prison there has been a lack of support for those with learning difficulties.  Families are struggling to get support both for continued learning outside of the prison and to also find assistance with benefits or somebody they can talk to.  The Cascade Foundation, whilst working in the education system of the prisons played a huge part in maintaining the aftercare when prisoners left prison by working with families and supplying a mentor to help with everyday issues such as finding suitable living accommodation, registering with doctors and dentists, using public transport, things that most would take for granted.  After spending what could have been many months or years in prison can make it very difficult for ex-prisoners to adapt to living in the outside world.  Some found it so difficult that they would re-offend in order to get back into prison. 

 

Email from an ex-offender:

Please forgive this intrusion, but thought I would drop you a line to see if my life experiences could be of any help to your organisation .

I caught your appearance on radio 5 some months back in the early hours of the morning and was impressed enough to watch the tv program you also contributed to. Which if I’m to be honest, I felt didn’t concentrate enough on the work you’re doing and was perhaps more focussed on entertainment and for non-dyslexics.

Anyway a short cv – I’m a young 59 year old dyslexic who spent a lot of my youth in the thick class and had a particularly upsetting nickname which resulted in many a fight.

Like many dyslexics I developed coping strategies, poor handwriting etc etc .

but after a reasonable successful working start I lost my business .

I then find myself being my late mother’s full time carer (Alzheimers) and using alcohol and recreational drugs, I’m guessing as a sort of crotch ,but eventually resulting in my imprisonment.  Alcohol affecting my judgement of the company I was keeping, where I’m diagnosed as dyslexic.

Cutting a long story short on my release a friend of a friend helps me re find my self-belief. 

Since then and for the last 20 years I’ve been designing, manufacturing and selling mainly niche products reasonably successfully.  I’ve been a finalist in a few design competitions, won awards at the likes of RHS Chelsea flower show and appeared on a few tv shows including Dragons Den.

Point is I’m actually proud of my dyslexia and embrace it as a positive part of my make up NOW. Thankfully we can’t all be the same!

Anyway because of Covid I’ve found myself really at a loose end (were an events-based company) and even my granddaughter’s getting fed up with me being at home so much.

To be honest, I’m not all heart and although not religious I do believe in karma. I’ve been lucky in love and life and just feel it appropriate to try and give a little back.

 

Healthcare assistant within the prison system:

I work in a prison as a healthcare assistant and I’m really passionate about learning disability and I have a level 4 (A level) in learning disabilities I ‘m just wondering if you have any ideas on how I can help these ladies a bit more… at the moment during covid it’s been a bit difficult I create care plans for the ladies and before covid was doing a lot of one to one work, my line manager is happy I’ve got in contact with for a little bit more advice and information.

 

Mental health

• A British Journal of Psychiatry study from 31 March – 11 May found suicidal thoughts increased from 8% to 10% and they were highest among young adults (18-29 years), rising from 12.5% to 14%
• 85% which is leading to a more negative effect on their mental health
• Samaritans are receiving more that 7,000 requests for help a day. They found that men (aged 45 – 49) from low socioeconomic backgrounds living in deprived areas were 10 times more likely to die by suicide than men from high socioeconomic backgrounds living in the most affluent areas.
• New Ministry of Justice figures confirmed that men were significantly more likely than women to kill themselves: males accounted for 77% of suicide verdicts.

 

Company asked for help with their colleague who was just diagnosed with dyslexia:

During lockdown our CEO was invited to visit a company by a manager who had noticed that one member of staff was struggling with dyslexia.  It had cost the company £750 for an assessment to take place online with a registered educational & occupational psychologist.  The man in question was 54 years old, he had always known that something was wrong.  It had taken him a long time to read and process information.  After the assessment whilst in lockdown, which was sent to him, he had to process the information from the registered educational, it upset him so much that he tried to take his own life, ending up in hospital.  We felt that the assessment was not conducted to fit the purpose and a lot more help should have been implemented for him.

The company had heard about the work of The Cascade Foundation.  We were brought in to help him to understand his strengths and skills and how to process information in his own individual way.

This was his feedback on his first session:

‘It was wonderful to meet you, I think you are an extraordinary human being.

It is inspiring and delightful, to see altruistic and selfless people like you, who constantly put others’ needs and wants before their own’.

 

The importance of digital equality with reading/literacy skills

The cost to the economy is put at more than £37bn a year by the World Literacy Foundation. Adults with poor literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or in low-paid jobs. There is a link between low levels of literacy and shorter life expectancy, depression and obesity.

At the Cascade Hub we found that our learners were more likely to be socially isolated and lacking in self-esteem.  They were unable to read a book, newspapers, emails, use the internet, fill in forms, read road signs, have an on-line bank account, or use instruction leaflets.  They were unable to help their children with schoolwork, reinforcing a cycle of illiteracy.  They were also so ashamed of themselves and they would work so hard to keep it a secret.

At the Hub we used ‘a whole family approach’, we would encourage the child to play being a teacher and working with the adults, the whole fun is working together and playing games of learning, we also engage with Nessy software given families to understand each other differences.  We were always creating new models of learning for families to ensure that no child leaves school unable to read.

 

Nessy multi-sensory approach to learning:

In 2019 we were running a pilot project with Nessy software to see how adults would take to this type of learning, and 23 learners were signed up.  These adults were coming in at a pre-entry level, and had no idea of their disability, they could not use a computer, read or write, their confidence and self-esteem were very low.  Many had suffered depression, social isolation and loneliness by having a disability that nobody had taken the time to help them understand.  Their ages ranged from 18 to 65 years of age, and many had been on benefits for most of their lives.

We worked on Nessy reading & spelling and Nessy fingers, we picked Nessy fingers to help our learners to touch type.  Due to these benefits Universal Credit needs claimants to job research for 35 hours a week and to fill in their online job journey, showing what they were doing to get themselves a job.  At the beginning of this so many of our learners were being sanctioned, getting them even more in poverty. This led to us fighting many court cases that year.

We provided mentors and volunteers to sit beside them to fill in their online journals, some would just type Cascade, and tell their personal advisor at the job centre how excited they were to even go onto the computer and job search.

The Nessy software is fun, taking the tension of the negative time they had experienced w12ith learning when they were young.  We found that some of the learners would sit for hours and play without realising they were learning so much.  We had weekly reports on how much time they spent on learning, also reading and spelling, this was a great motivator every Monday morning for our learners to talk about and engage with each other.  Nobody felt lonely, they all shared their experiences of having a learning disability.

 

Aims of The Cascade Foundation

To work together to help disadvantaged people benefit from new technologies of every type and to raise the awareness of digital inclusion. To reach out to individuals who are currently unaware of the opportunities available to help them embrace their lives and improve their life chances through technology.  We hope to open up pop-up shops or Cascade Hubs within Essex.

Our Key Challenges

We are aiming to target and benefit the 8 million adults that are off-line digitally and the 9 million adults that are functionally illiterate who are both socially and digitally excluded.

Socially excluded and minority groups – There are smaller groups for whom the sources of exclusion are multiple and serious – including factors like disability, learning difficulties, ethnic origin, location, culture or language.  We will work towards gaining funding.  We will also help, mentor & support offenders, people with mental health issues, those who are unemployed, early school leavers and those with literacy and numeracy skills needs.

Older people – Our CEO’s mother who is 89 years of age, needed help with paying for shopping by card, using her iPad.  She could not understand how to get on-line and how to order food.  When taking her dog to the vets she faced another trauma of only being able to pay the bill by card which caused her much distress.  She was then admitted into hospital and was not allowed to have any family attend with her.  She became very distressed and was ready to walk out, because she could not hear what was being said.  The hospital security and staff were amazing and let our CEO, her daughter, accompany her.  Every day we met with different issues through the lock down.  We have now been working on different ideas to help others like our CEO’s mother, helping them to live a more independent life within their community.