Tom Cruise
diagnosed at age 7 he struggled with Dyslexia through
highschool but developed specific reading and study habits.
Today he has achieved worldwide fame as an actor
Magic Johnson
EarvinEffay Johnson,Jr.(born
August14,1959inLansing,
Michigan)isaretiredAmerican
NationalBasketballAssociation
(NBA)basketballplayerfortheLos
AngelesLakers.Johnsonis
acknowledgedasoneofthemost
popularNBAbasketballplayersof
alltime,beingwell-knownforhis
uncannypassinganddribbling
skills,andforhischeerfulnature
onandoffthecourt.Inthewords
ofMagicJohnson:"Thelooks,the
stares,thegiggles...Iwantedto
showeverybodythatIcoulddo
betterandalsothatIcouldread."
Whoopi Goldberg
AcademyAward-winningactress,comedian,radiohost,and
televisionpersonality.Sheisoneoftheonlytenpeopletowin
anEmmy,aGrammy,anOscar,andaTonyAward;andisthe
firstwomantobehonoredwiththeprestigiousMarkTwain
PrizeforAmericanHumor.isaUNICEFInternationalGoodwill
Ambassador. Wasbulliedasachildbyherpeersbutitdidnot
stopherfrompursuingherdreams.
George Washington
FirstpresidentoftheUnited
Statesandoneof11
presidentswholivedwith
oneorseveraldisabilities.Itis
speculatedhehadDyslexia.
Commander-in-Chiefofthe
ContinentalArmyduringthe
AmericanRevolutionaryWar
andelectedunanimouslyas
thefirstPresidentofthe
UnitedStatesofAmerica.
Dale S. Brown
Albert Einstein
BeingoneofthemostimportantgreatmindsofhiscenturyAlbert
Einsteinwasthenknowntosufferfromdyslexiamainlybecauseofhis
badmemoryandhisconstantfailuretomemorizethesimplestof
things.Hewouldnotrememberthemonthsintheyearyethewould
succeedinsolvingsomeofthemostcomplicatedmathematical
formulasofthetimewithoutanytrouble.Hemayhaveneverlearned
howtoproperlytiehisshoelacesbuthisscientificcontributionsand
theoriesstillhaveamajoreffectonalloftoday’scurrentknowledge
ofscience.
Orlando Bloom
FirstdiagnosedatsevenOrlando
oftenwasfrustratedwithhis
learningdisability.Bornin
Canterbury,England,hestudied
actingasachildbeforehewas
castastheheroicLegolas inPeter
Jackson'sfilmadaptationofThe
LordoftheRings trilogy.Bloom
alsofoundmajorsuccessstarring
inthreefilmsofthePiratesofthe
Caribbean franchisewithJohnny
Depp.He'slandedotherrolesin
big-screenfare,including Troy,
Elizabethtown andTheThree
Musketeers.
isastrategicleadership
consultantatWashington
D.Candanauthor.Her
mostrecentbookiscalled
"StepstoIndependencefor
peoplewithLearning
Disabilities"whichwas
publishedbyLearning
DisabilitiesAssociationof
Americain2005.Dale
suffersherselffrom
dyslexiaandwantstotell
theworldthatlearning
disabilitiesdoesnothaveto
stopyoufrombeingwho
youwanttobe.Itdoesnot
havetostopyoufrom
strivingorharmyour
capabilitiestointegrateto
everydaylife.
Hans Christian Andersen
Beinganauthorofchildren's
fantasystories,hewasavictimof
dyslexiaandshowedtheworld
thatwhenyouwantsomething,
nothingcanstopyoufrom
obtainingit.Thebooksthathe
wrotehavebeentranslatedinto
hundredsofdifferentlanguages
andcontinuetobedistributed
eventodayinmillionsofcopies.
Hanswrotebookssuchas"The
Emperor'sNewClothes","The
PrincessandthePea"
"Thumbelina","TheSnowQueen",
"TheUglyDuckling"and"TheLittle
Mermaid".
Woodrow Wilson
ThomasWoodrowWilson(1856-1924),28thpresidentoftheUnited
States.Wilsondidnotlearntoreaduntilhewasabout12yearsold.
HisdifficultyreadingmayhaveindicateddyslexiaorA.D.D.,butasa
teenagerhetaughthimselfshorthandtocompensateandwasableto
achieveacademicallythroughdeterminationandself-discipline.He
studiedathomeunderhisfather'sguidanceandtookclassesina
smallschoolinAugusta.
Nolan Ryan
bornin1947inTexas,spenthischildhoodinAlvin,Texas.
Whenhewasachilddyslexiawasnotdiagnosedyetand
academicchallengesalongwithalispwereveryhardon
Ryan’sconfidence.Neverthelesshisbaseballcareertook
offandfactsspeakforthemselves;startingwith1969
WinningWorldSerieswiththeNewYorkMetsalltheway
to1999 beingelectedtotheNationalBaseballHallof
Fame.
Cher
Cherwasafatherlesschildandwasmostofthetimeverypoor.Hermother
triedtomakemoneybysingingandactingwhichultimatelybroughtCherto
followintoherfootsteps.DuetodyslexiaCherdecidedshewouldquitschool
andtrytotakesomeactinglessonsinLosAngelestofinallydowhatsheloved.
OnedaywhileattherenownedAldo'sCoffeeShopherlifechangedupon
meetingSonnyBono,whichwasatthetimesuccessfulinshowbusiness.They
eventuallymadesongstogether.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardodi serPiero da Vinci,(1452- 1519)wasaTuscanpolymath:scientist,
mathematician,engineer,inventor,anatomist,painter,sculptor,architect,botanist,
musicianandwriter.Asanengineer,Leonardoconceivedideasvastlyaheadofhisown
time,conceptualising ahelicopter,atank,concentratedsolarpower,acalculator,andthe
doublehull,andoutliningarudimentarytheoryofplatetectonics.Healsohadthegiftof
dyslexia.Mostofthetime,hewrotehisnotesbackwards.Althoughunusual,thisisatrait
sharedbymanyleft-handeddyslexicpeople.Mostofthetime,dyslexicwritersarenot
evenconsciouslyawarethattheyarewritingthisway.
Agatha Christie
AgathaChristie – (1890- 1976)
AgathaChristiewastheworld's
bestsellingbookwriterofall
timesonlytrulysurpassedbythe
BibleandequaledbyShakespear,
herbookssoldapproximately4
billioncopiesworldwide.Agatha
sufferedfromdyslexiabutinno
waydiditstopherfrombeing
creativeandlearninghowto
write,hermysterynovelshave
alwaysbeensomeofthemost
captivatingofalltimes.Her
bestsellingbookwaswithouta
doubt"Andthentherewasnone"
whichwasasourceofinspiration
fornovelistsandmoviemakers
evenmanyyearsafter.
Thomas Edison
Alexander Graham Bell
Wellknownastheinventorof
thetelephoneAlexanderwas
actuallyattemptingtofinda
waythatcouldmakedeaf
peoplehear.Hismotherwas
slowlybecomingdeafwhen
Alexanderwasonly12years
oldmakinghimextremely
sensitivetodisabilities.Once
olderhewasconstantly
seekingawaytocurethem
throughtechnology.He
himselfhaddyslexiawhich
wouldcausehimproblemsat
school,buthealwayskepthis
interestforscience,especially
biology.Hewouldshowagreat
indifferenceforeverythingelse
andwouldhavepoorgrades.
TodayAlexanderGrahamBell
isalsowellknowasoneofthe
foundersoftheNational
Geographicsociety.
ThomasAlvaEdison(1847- 1931)wasanAmericaninventorofDutchoriginandbusinessmanwhodevelopedmanydevicesthatgreatlyinfluencedlifearoundthe
world,includingthephonographandalonglastinglightbulb.Inschool,theyoungEdison'smindoftenwandered.Hewasnotedtobeterribleatmathematics,
unabletofocus,andhaddifficultywithwordsandspeech.ThisendedEdison'sthreemonthsofofficialschooling.ThecauseofEdison'sdeafnesshasbeen
attributedtoaboutofscarletfeverduringchildhoodandrecurringuntreatedmiddleearinfections.ThomasEdisonwasdyslexic,aproblemchild,andamischiefmaker.Hetalkedwhenhewassupposedtobelisteninganddidnotlistenwhentheteachertalked.Hehadnopatience.Hewasnot well-coordinatedanddidpoorly
insports.Heappliedhimselfwithapassiontowhatevercaughthisattention,buthisattentionwaseasilydiverted.
Pablo Picasso
PabloPicassoearnedhisspotasone
ofthemostwell-knownpaintersof
the20thcenturybypaintingthe
abnormal.Hispaintingsoften
presentedobjectsbackwards,outof
order,orturnedanynumberofways.
Butthesesceneswhichwethinkofas
imagination-inspiredpiecesofart
wereactuallyveryrealtoPicasso.
Picassowasdyslexic,alearning
disabilitywhichflippedthe
orientationoflettersandwordsinhis
brain.Picassopaintingsdepicted
whathesaw,andhisdyslexiawasno
doubtaninfluencetohisfamous
artwork.
Jay Leno
JayLenohasbeenmakinghumoroutofheadlines
andeverydaylifesincehewasakid. Evenafterhis
lastnightasthehostofTheTonightShowwithJay
Leno, ajobheheldformorethantwodecades,Leno
planstocontinuetoperformincomedyvenues
acrossthecountry.He'snostrangertohardworkand
dedicationtohiscraftandhispassions. Thathard
work,mixedinwithperseverance,humor,anda
positiveattitude,istherecipeforhissuccessinshow
businessandinovercominghisdyslexia.
John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush &
George Bush
SeveralAmericanPresidentshad/havedyslexia
Sources: some info board borrowed from other AISD PTA Sage chair &
http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/success-stories/tom-cruise
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/goldberg.html
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2130.shtml
http://sports.jrank.org/pages/4138/Ryan-Nolan-Awards-Accomplishments.html
http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/11-us-presidents-who-overcame-a-disability.html
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/leno.html http://www.dyslexiacoachnj.com/Famous/
And more