I don't remember the statistics off the top of my head, but the "average"
literacy level in the US is something appalling - I want to say 5th-6th
grade level, but I could be mistaken.  That's the literacy level that you
are asked to write to in most publications meant for the lay public.

I would go one step further, and say that the population that I see has an
average reading literacy level of roughly 3rd grade.  That's why the need
for the "simpler" versions.  I find that I need to be *very* careful about
the words I use when I talk with my clients - they simply don't understand
me otherwise.  It is all about where you work.  If I worked in a more
affluent community or somewhere where people actually graduated high school
or went to college, it might be different. And the parents that I see with
more education do breastfeed. It is the low-income/low-education parents
that I need to reach most.  I agree, the simpler the handouts, the better
for my particular population.

Tara

Tara Guy, CHA/PA-C, HBCE, IBCLC
www.rockymountainbaby.com
helping mothers birth and parent from the heart
 
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  Mahatma Ghandi
 

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