Intellectual/Adventure
Albert Einstein / Physicist, Nobel Prize Winner
Wernher von Braun / Rocket Engineer
Michael Barrymore / British comedian, TV host
George Burns / Actor and comedian
Enrico Caruso / Opera singerTom Cruise/ Actor
"I had to train myself to focus my attention. I became very visual and learned how to create mental images in order to comprehend what I read."
Patrick Dempsey /Actor
Harrison Ford / Actor Dave Foley / Actor
Danny Glover / Actor"Kids made fun of me because I was dark skinned, had a wide nose, and was dyslexic. Even as an actor, it took me a long time to realize why words and letters got jumbled in my mind and came out differently."
Tracey Gold / TV actress -
Anthony Hopkins / Actor My childhood was "awful" - not because of any lack of parental love, but because I was so hopeless at school. I was a moody, lonely, an only child whose main pleasure was playing the piano and whose father worried about him not being like other boys. I believe that success has made me a nicer person. "I feel more responsive to other people because I'm not so insecure. I just feel reassured that I wasn't the moron I thought I was."
Bob Hoskins / Actor Keira Knightley / Actress
Susan Hampshire / ActressSalma Hayek / Actress Alyssa Milano, actress Billy Bob Thornton / Actor Liv Tyler / Actress
Will Smith / Actor, musicianTom Smothers / Actor, singer, comedian
Henry Winkler / Actor, author"As a child, I was called stupid and lazy. On the SAT I got 159 out of 800 in math. My parents had no idea that I had a learning disability. If you will it, it is not a dream. The great thing about a learning problem is it forces you to become a problem solver."
Robin Williams / Actor Comedian Oliver Reed / Actor Keanu Reeves / Actor Edward James Olmos / Actor Jill Pages / Trapeze artist Loretta Young / Actress "I hated school. One of the reasons was a learning disability, dyslexia, which no one understood at the time. I still can't spell."
Music
"I never read in school. I got really bad grades--D's and F's and C's in some classes, and A's and B's in other classes. In the second week of the 11th grade, I just quit. When I was in school, it was really difficult. Almost everything I learned, I had to learn by listening. My report cards always said that I was not living up to my potential. Don't focus on how Dyslexia makes life tougher......instead........hear the invisible voices of creativity that sing louder in your heart that those less fortunate people who have not been given our gift (curse) to challenge them to greater heights. Make peace with it and fly!"
"My teachers
say I'm addled . . . my father thought I was stupid, and I almost
decided I must be a dunce."
I barely made it through school. I read real slow. But I like to find things that nobody else has found, like a dinosaur egg that has an embryo inside. Well, there are 36 of them in the world, and I found 35."
John W. House / President, House Ear Institute World Renowned Research Facility
Entertainment
Harry Belafonte / Singer, actor, producer, human rights activist "I grew up in a school system . . . where nobody understood the meaning of learning disorder. In the West Indies, I was constantly being physically abused because the whipping of students was permitted."
Brad Little / Stage actor, singer John Lennon / Singer, songwriter, actor, activist Sarah Miles/Singer
"I was expelled from four schools. Today I still read with difficulty."
Britney Spears / Singer River Phoenix / Actor Achilles Poulos / Greek Entertainer
Bob Weir / Grateful Dead Guitarist Usher / Singer
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Political / Legal
"Life is full of
challenges. How you handle this challenge is what builds character.
Never be afraid to be who you are."
George W. Bush / 43rd President of the United States
Winston Churchill / Prime Minister Of England
"I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race."
"Young George . .
. although he was bright and intelligent and bursting with energy,
he was unable to read and write. Patton's wife corrected his
spelling, his punctuation, and his grammar."
Peter W. D. Wright / Lawyer, Author Wrightslaw
"For me,
dyslexia is not a disability. The unique strengths and
characteristics of dyslexia allow me to think "outside the box".
Until I was taught the Orton Gillingham approach, I did not have the
basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills necessary for
success."
Art
Scott Adams / Cartoonist, "Dilbert" creator
Business
Wall Street Investment banking firm
John Corcoran / Real Estate
"Understand how your brain works; recognize and understand the problems of learning differently. It is hard work to teach people like me, and it is hard for people like me to learn. To learn to read and spell makes me feel successful---at last I am whole."
O.D. McKee, founder of McKee Foods.
David Murdock / CEO of Dole Foods
"I couldn't read. I just scraped by. My solution back then was to read classic comic books because I could figure them out from the context of the pictures. Now I listen to books on tape."
Writers
"Since I was the
stupidest kid in my class, it never occurred to me to try and be
perfect, so I've always been happy as a writer just to entertain
myself. That's an easier place to start. Always look on the bright
side of things. Be positive; negativity is the mother of failure. If
you believe in yourself, you will somehow succeed."
"I, myself,
was always recognized . . . as the "slow one" in the family. It was
quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling were
always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without
originality. I was an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained
so until this day."
"Once the fog
lifts, dyslexics are prone to genius. Because theirs is such a
unique way of looking at reality."
Sports
Duncan Goodhew / Olympic Swimmer
Bruce Jenner / Olympic Decathlete
"I
just barely got through school. The problem was a learning disability,
at a time when there was nowhere to get help. A champion lives deep down
inside each one of us. Find the area in your life you can excel in and
dare yourself to be the best you can possibly be."
Magic Johnson / Basketball player
"The looks, the stares, the giggles . . . I wanted to show everybody
that I could do better and also that I could read."
Don Coryell / Football Coach
"Dyslexia
forced me to concentrate and think out problems. It also helped me to
use my imagination to visualize solutions in new and different ways. I
had to work harder, longer, and be more determined to succeed."
Steven Redgrave / Olympic Rower
Jackie Stewart / Race car driver
"For a dyslexic who does not yet know they are dyslexic, life is like a big high wall you never think you will be able to climb or get over. The moment you understand there is something called dyslexia, and there are ways of getting around the problem, the whole world opens up."
"When I had dyslexia, they didn't diagnose it as
that. It was frustrating and embarrassing. I could tell you a lot of
horror stories about what you feel like on the inside. Keep pitching!
Don't let failure of your last pitch affect the success of your next
pitch."
Notables
Tommy Hilfiger / Designer
"I performed
poorly at school, when I attended, that is, and was perceived as
stupid because of my dyslexia. I still have trouble reading. I have
to concentrate very hard at going left to right, left to right,
otherwise my eye just wanders to the bottom of the page."
Martha Stewart / Entrepreneur
"Having a
learning disability has been a great advantage to me. I've had to
work harder to be equal to my peers and that has instilled in me a
strong work ethic and perseverance. I believe that it is these
qualities that have led me directly to my success."