Discrimination against shoppers who cant read

jack_of_all

As many have stated there are little solutions that can go along way. I was looking at the money saving restrictions. This is probably not the right place to gauge any scale of the problem. But it is real and could be remedied easily. Asda made some changes for some reason.

epsilondraconis

OP - perhaps you need to speak to 'cab-for-hire' MP Stephen Byers about food labelling.

BitterAndTwisted

Just because people aren't specifically catered for doesn't necessarily mean they are being discriminated against. Perhaps people with these particular disabilities are in too small numbers to be worth changing the packaging for. If you can't employ simple strategies to help your clients then I think you and your clients should start canvassing the retailers and manufacturers and ask them to make the simple changes you need. RNIB might be a port of call as well to add weight to your argument

jenniewb

funkymonkey849 wrote: »

I'm confused as nearly all the tesco value range have pictures of the product on???

Unless it's the likes of asda/sainsburys etc but I don't shop there so I don't know

(looks at tin of chopped tomatos) :rotfl:Those little doodles were supposed to be pictures of what I am eating?

There are two issues here, one is the communication level at the supermarket only working with words, the other is the literacy skills of a wide range of people, everyone from refugees who have come to the country (as a means of escaping a war zone) with no English skills to learning disabilities through to people who have not had good education or a chance to learn to read properly.

I guess that although the supermarkets are not at fault here (its not their job to fix the literacy skills of others) but they are missing out on a niche and could make money by adding a service- they have the £multimillions to employ someone to work out a scheme, even if its to have someone to shop for them for a certain amount of times over x months until they feel they know what they are looking for and where to get it or if its to provide free internet shopping delivery where a carer could shop for/with them online and they'd not have to foot the bill for delivery).

Maybe its worth some sort of a campaigne- get an MP or Newspaper involved (The Evening Standard seems to be doing well with their campaigns) add the cometition with each supermarket wanting to be the best to serve the customer and see how far it can go.

bluebeary

i am assuming that alot of the people that cant read can talk ?

maybe they can ask a member of staff what is inside certain packaging ? if they prefer not to disclose their educational levels with members of staff, maybe they can just say they 'left their glasses at home' ?

skintandsad

I think the poster idea is a good one. You could make a poster that you give to all of the people you shop for, with a set of diagrams, for example


1 =
2 =

etc etc


Then, just write the number 1 on all of the tins of beans, number 2 on bags of frozen peas etc.

PS. You might want to make smaller images on your product poster

Owain_Moneysaver

skintandsad wrote: »

Then, just write the number 1 on all of the tins of beans, number 2 on bags of frozen peas etc.

I'm doing an adult literacies teaching course, and there really are people who have such problems with numbers that that approach wouldn't work reliably, all the time.

I assume the problem is mainly with tins - if you open a bag of frozen stuff and it turns out to be sliced carrot instead of the melon balls you wanted with your ice-cream at least you can put the carrots back, but tins are no turning back. (And you may need to teach people that if they open a tin they use it immediately, because if you let them put it in the fridge 'for tomorrow' it's still there weeks later.)

I know I've bought tins of eg 'chicken' soup and then got home to find it's actually 'chicken with bits I don't like in' soup.

Maybe having words-and-pictures of foodstuffs on shelves in the kitchen and helping the people put food away in the right place might help, and provide an opportunity for reading practice.

The other problem with a number code is that it won't work when the person is away from home.

BitterAndTwisted

bluebeary wrote: »

I am assuming that a lot of the people that can't read can talk ?

Maybe they can ask a member of staff what is inside certain packaging ? If they prefer not to disclose their educational levels with members of staff, maybe they can just say they 'left their glasses at home' ?

You have assumed erroneously in this instance. If you had read the OP's comments properly you would have understood that the OP is shopping on behalf of people with severe difficulties or the complete absence of reading-skills so it's when the shopping is delivered to their homes that the problems begin.

System

The OP seems to have 2 choices

1. Try to convince every single food producer who sells in the UK to put a picture of the food on every package. - No chance.

2. Produce their own labels and label the food for the people it is bought for. If you really want to help these people then this is a very good option.

Life is such that it is not possible for either economic or practical reasons to remove every perceived discrimination. People have to develop workarounds.

Techno

I am really quite shocked by the attitude of some people who have responded on this board. Does it really matter whether the person can't read because they are illiterate, don't read English, are visually impaired or learning disabled? They all have the same problem in that they can't read the written English word.
There have been some very good suggestions and I think the one of sticking a picture of the food item on the shelf and sorting the products rather than labelling every one may help and will allow the OP to do what they are paid for - to support their clients to live full lives in the community. The people the OP works with used to be referred to as mentally handicapped - learning disabled is a nicer description but it means they have severe difficulties with learning. In days of yore they would be put in large institutions and left there but now we support people with very severe difficulties to live in their own homes in the community as we all have a right to do. It isn't a case of 'being dyslexic' or not bothered about learning to read - many of them simply don't have the capacity. Similarly, people who are visually impaired also have problems identifying what is in tins and packets. I agree with BitterandTwisted get your service users to start lobbying and work with voluntary organisations that support others with the same problem. If people with mobility problems had not done this over their 'perceived discrimination' they would still be sitting outside shops in their wheelchairs waiting to be served or being taken in through tradesmen's entances because they can't get in through entrances we all take for granted.
Rant over now