Dyslexia
and Success!  •
Living
with dyslexia -
How should I start? I was diagnosed with dyslexia
when I was a Senior in High School, that was twenty-four years ago. That
wasn’t the first diagnosis of my reading and writing problems. It first started
in First grade when I was introduced to reading and writing. That
is when my parents where told that I was having difficulty and was unable to learn
phonics.
 •
My
Own Business - Creating Drawings for Architects
- When I was in
grade school, there was no information or clarity about dyslexia (1960's). I suffered
through reading problems and because of that the school sent me to a private reading
teacher to help me get my reading skills up. Certain words like "the, there, were,
where what, was, are, this" and others, would reverse themselves and/or the letters
would briefly appear scrabbled or the whole world would jump in front or behind
where it belonged, causing a choppy kind of reading that was confusing and almost
stutter-like.
 •
Upside
Down in a Right Sided World -
The laughter echoed from behind me, and as if a reprieve from on high the bell
rang, I could hear the rest of the 3rd grade class shuffling out to the waiting
buses. I had been standing at that same board for nearly three hours. Ever since
spelling class had begun after lunch, I had been asked to correct the spelling
of a sentence that the teacher had written on the board. I could not correct what
I did not understand. I could not correct the words because I could barely read.
I was not sure of the spelling of any word, save my name.
 •
Chance
Test Leads to Novel Joy for Dyslexic - A
severely dyslexic woman who struggles to write a shopping list spoke of her pride
after publishing her first novel. Mum-of-three Su Ridley, 43, came up with the
plot for the Gravesend-based crime thriller, 'Unnatural Justice', after
finding books her husband read to her on holiday too boring. The former market
trader, of Hatham Green, Hartley, hatched the twisting tale of murder, intrigue,
politics and passion before dictating the 90,000-word whodunit to a typist. Mrs
Ridley said: "When I was at school they just thought I was thick and I left with
no O Levels. I have trouble spelling and writing, and have to read something at
least four times to take it in. "But I have a great memory and the whole book
was in my head." Full story
 •
Rigby
has worked hard to deal with his dyslexia - It
was Tom Rigby's big moment to shine.He
was a sophomore at Red Bank Regional, making one of his first starts at linebacker
against Pinelands, and the fate of the game came down to the Wildcats' final drive.
On third and 8 for Pinelands,
defensive coordinator Brad Olsen called for a blitz -- Base Bandit Right. As
Rigby jogged out of the huddle, he kept repeating to himself, "Right, right, right."
 •
Dyslexic
artist finds talent naturally - Dyslexia
kept Laura Frances Maguire from performing well in school, so she decided to pursue
a career in acting.
She said somewhere along the way, drawing and painting became her stage. Mastering
the art Ms. Maguire earned an Andy Warhol scholarship to the New York Academy
of Art where she received a master of fine arts degree in sculpture in 1991.
 •
Dyslexic
Pat Gives Music Clinic For Learning Disabled - Pat
Gesualdo remembers learning how to play the drums the hard way - harder than it
likely was for most other aspiring musicians. His
music teachers "freaked out," when he would play drum rudiments, or right and
left hand patterns, backwards. The
fact that he had dyslexia was unknown territory to them, he said.
 •
Success
story comes in loud and clear - Jerry
Miller's teachers at a Minneapolis school for the mentally retarded in the 1950s
suggested he might make a good bricklayer or maybe a carpenter. Miller, son of
Greek and Norwegian immigrants and afflicted with dyslexia, never took that advice.
Instead, he took his abilities and a fascination with radio and built a Hall Of
Fame career out of it.
 •
Marilyn
Bartlett - A determined dyslexic woman has finally won her eight-year
fight to take the state bar exam with a computer and other aids to help overcome
her disability. Manhattan federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor ruled yesterday that Marilyn
Bartlett's dyslexia qualified her as a disabled person under federal law - and
therefore entitled to "accommodations" in taking the bar exam.  •
Actor
Fred Newman Puts Positive Spin on LD - Many
people have wished at times that they could be a fly on the wall, but actor/writer/composer
Fred Newman actually has been. His imitation of a buzzing house fly crashing into
a wall has been his ticket to success in situations calling for unpredictability,
ranging from TV show auditions to impressing a college professor enough to give
him a passing grade. Fred did not know that he was dyslexic until he was in college,
while taking a class that was teaching how to test for dyslexia. Once he knew
about his learning disability, he understood himself better and now, at age 51,
views it in a positive light...
 •
Actress
Plays Leading Role in Battle Against Dyslexia - Joyce
Bulifant didn’t learn how to read until she was 13. Now, as executive vice
president of The Dyslexia Foundation, she’s bringing dyslexic education programs
and awareness to the Roaring Fork Valley region. Bulifant
knows all about dyslexia. She is dyslexic, as is her son, John. So was her father,
though he was never formerly diagnosed.
 •
Steve
Redgrave - overcoming the health problems of the dyslexic gold-medalist
Olympic Oarsman.
 •
Charles
Schwab, dyslexic financier -
When Charles Schwab speaks, people listen. That is a good thing, because Mr. Schwab,
who has dyslexia - a learning disability that makes reading and writing difficult
- prefers to communicate that way. These
days, it's not just financial strategies that Mr. Schwab, the chairman of the
discount brokerage firm, is espousing. He
and many other executives with learning disabilities are becoming increasingly
outspoken about the challenges they have faced.
•
Garry Karen has created a website: Dyslexia - I Beat It So Can You.
• Click here to read about
the work of the Arts Dyslexia
Trust.
• Read
about more dyslexic
people who achieved success. Famous
dyslexic people:
 There
are innumerable examples of well-known dyslexic people who have achieved success,
including: •
Tom Cruise
•
Isaac Newton (scientist, mathmatician)
•
Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Enterprises)
•
Thomas Edison
•
Pablo Picasso
•
Cher
•
Ann Bancroft
•
Hans Christian Anderson (author)
•
Henry Ford (Ford Motors)
•
River Phoenix (actor)
•
Charles Schwab (business man)
•
Leonardo da Vinci
•
Charles Lindenburgh (aviator)
•
Steve Redgrave (Olympic rower)
•
Gustave Flaubert
•
Walt Disney
•
General George Patton
•
Alexander Graham Bell (inventor)
•
Michael Faraday (scientist)
•
Fred Astaire (performer)
•
Susan Hampshire (actress)
•
Nelson Rockefeller
• Sir Winston Churchill
•
George Burns (actor, comedian)
•
Enrico Caruso (opera singer)
•
Henry Winkler (actor, author)
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Oliver Reed (actor)
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Harry Belafonte (singer, actor)
•
Jackie Stewart (racing car driver) If
you can add to our list, please put it up on our Dyslexic
Adults Discussion Forum.
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