DEFINITION OF DYSLEXIA.
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterised by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
quoted from IDA web site (http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm)
Check out The Australian Dyslexia Association Video
Links to The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) fact sheet
Social and Emotional Problems Related to Dyslexia
Famous people with Dyslexia
Famous people with Dyslexia; Anderson Cooper, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kiera Knightley, Patrick Dempsey, Fred Astaire, George Burns, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Werner Von Braun, Harrison Ford, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Tom Smothers, Robin Williams, Henry Winkler, Ansel Adams, George Patton, John Lennon, Cher, Bob Weir, Winston Churchill, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, George Washington, Agatha Christie, Leonardo da Vinci, Muhammad Ali, Bruce Jenner, Magic Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Richard Branson, Orlando Bloom, Henry Ford, Charles Schwab, Ted Turner, F.W. Woolworth, Walt Disney.
“I was one of the ‘puzzle children’ myself — a dyslexic . . . And I still have a hard time reading today. Accept the fact that you have a problem. Refuse to feel sorry for yourself. You have a challenge; never quit!”
Nelson Rockefeller
“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.”
Cher
“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.”
Winston Churchill
“He told me that his teachers reported that . . . he was mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams. –Hans Albert Einstein, on his father,”
Albert Einstein
“I, myself, was always recognised . . . 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.”
Agatha Christie
“My teachers say I’m addled . . . my father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided I must be a dunce.”
Thomas Edison
“My father was an angry and impatient teacher and flung the reading book at my head.”
W.B. Yeats
“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.”
Stephen J. Cannell, screenwriter, producer, & director.
“I just barely got through school. The problem was a learning disability, at a time when there was nowhere to get help.”
Bruce Jenner, Olympic gold medalist
“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.”
Biographer Martin Blumenson on General George Patton.
“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.”
Charles Schwabb
“My problem was reading very slowly. My parents said “Take as long as you need. As long as you’re going to read, just keep at it.” We didn’t know about learning disabilities back then.”
Roger Wilkins, Head of the Pulitzer Prize Board
“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.”
Henry Winkler
UnderThePinkTree 