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
Many
of these executives say that while their learning issues left them struggling
in school, they developed some important managerial skills as they adapted.
But
many executives who grew up with learning difficulties have begun to discuss the
experience publicly only in the last couple of years.
"It's
painful to think about it," said Mr. Schwab, 66, who was one of the first top
executives to go public with his story.
"You
don't like to go back and review the pain. I don't think 20 years ago I would
have talked about this. But someone's got to do it, and I felt sufficiently secure
that I could."
Mr.
Schwab is now trying to increase public awareness of dyslexia and provide support
for dyslexic children and their families.
Last
month, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation started a Web site called SparkTop.org
to help children 8 to 12 who have dyslexia or other relatively common learning
disabilities, like attention deficit disorder.
Mr.
Schwab, who runs the foundation with his wife, said he did not realize his condition
had a name until his son's dyslexia was diagnosed about 15 years ago.
"It
was a massive 'Ah, ha,' when I finally realized my problems were his," Mr. Schwab
said. "They were all the same issues I had faced 30 years before."
Growing
up just outside Sacramento, Mr. Schwab said he had known at a very young age that
he was falling behind other children.
He
was strong in math and athletics - he credits his golf game with helping him get
into Stanford - but when it came to English, he had to fake it.
"The
nasty little secret was that I couldn't read worth a darn," he said. "In my case,
I still read very slowly to this moment." But like many executives with dyslexia,
Mr. Schwab said he had developed a different way of looking at things.
"Along
the way, I've frustrated some of my associates because I could see the end zone
of a particular thing quicker than they could, so I was moving ahead to conclusions,"
he said.
"I
go straight from step A to Z, and say: 'This is the outcome. I can see it.'
"
Dr. Sally E. Shaywitz, director of the Learning Disorders Unit at the Yale University
School of Medicine and the author of "Overcoming Dyslexia" (Knopf), says Mr. Schwab's
ability to see solutions that others cannot is typical of dyslexics.
"What
distinguishes them is that they really think outside of the box," she said. Dyslexics,
she said, often have a variety of qualities, including resilience, adaptability
and the ability to formulate original insight.
Dr.
Shaywitz estimates that one-fifth of the population has some form of learning
disability, but she says she believes that the share is much higher among overachievers
like top business executives.
Many
dyslexics have to work harder to find their strengths, she said, and they often
develop those strengths earlier.
By
Rob Turner.
Nov
2003.
Original
story.
With
many thanks to the excellent New
York Times.
