Dyslexia is a syndrome of many and varied symptoms affecting over
40 million American children and adults. Many with dyslexia and
related learning and attention disorders realize quite early that
they are not like their peers. Their learning and coordination or
klutzy difficulties often lead to ridicule and/or self-recrimination
- leading them to feel dumb and depressed-isolated. As a result,
one can only wonder just how many potential creative geniuses -
how many Einstein's and Da Vinci's - have been stigmatized and pushed
aside? All too often, learning-disabled children grow up to
be underemployed adults, shunted into routine, dead-end occupations
for life. Some have difficulties maintaining families and raising
children properly. Many drift into drugs and alcohol - even crime.
Their loss and cost to society is incalculable. And tragically,
this staggering loss was, and is, preventable!.
Since dyslexia is often in part a self-compensating disorder that
can often be overcome with time, effort and understanding, it
is crucial to provide dyslexics with success stories of well known
individuals so that they don't give up and indeed persevere. Thus
for example, there have been many dyslexics that have made tremendous
contributions to mankind. They include famous entertainers, designers,
architects, writers, athletes, jurists, physicians, scientists,
and political and business leaders.
Through research in different fields much ground has been covered
and many important discoveries made regarding the causes of dyslexia
. Investigations now show that an imbalance of light entering
the dyslexic's eye sends "false" messages to the brain.
This can result in a "3D" image, which would invert
and distort the image perceived - similar to the ones depicted
in many of Picasso's most admired works.
This can often be detected when the dyslexic moves when
reading/writing, has a difficulty in focusing, complains of sight
problems, but has no significant eye defect (up to and including
0.75%) which would have no benefit using conventional lenses.
However studies show that this imbalance can be rectified by using
the ChromaGen haploscopic filtres. These lenses put the
dyslexic's vision in the correct perspective, eliminating the
movement they would otherwise perceive. With time
and continued use of the ChromaGen lenses, the brain will learn
how to re-interpret the image it receives, even without the filtres.
Reading and writing therefore becomes a much easier task when
the letters are stationary.
There are many successful dyslexics that have learned to overcome
or sidestep their barriers, permitting them to accomplish their
dreams and desires. In fact, at times their disorder was found
to be a catalyst for success - forcing them to develop and utilize
hidden talents. Often, their most crucial "life-saving"characteristic
was perseverance. They never gave up no matter how difficult the
task before them seemed. Their successful lives, despite dyslexia,
shows us that "miracles" can be accomplished so long
as dyslexics are encouraged by loving parents and caring teachers
to believe in themselves.
The list of self-compensated famous and successful dyslexics is
inspiring. But just remember - for every famous or well-known
dyslexic, there are thousands and thousands more who have made
it, despite their disorder. Sadly, there are millions that have
not - that could have.
Pablo was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain. He was a famous, controversial,
and trend-setting art icon. Pablo attended local parochial schools
and had a very difficult time. He is described as having difficulty
reading the orientation of the letters and labeled a dyslexic,
and despite the initial difficulties was able to catch up with
the curriculum. However, dyslexia made school difficult and he
never really benefited from his education. Dyslexia would trouble
Picasso for the rest of his life.
Pablo's father was an art teacher in Malaga, and encouraged Pablo
to attend. Pablo enrolled in the school in 1892. Despite the difficulties
that his learning disabilities posed, it became clear that Pablo
had an incredible talent. From an early age Pablo Picasso had
developed the sense of how people wanted to be seen and how others
saw them. Over the course of his career he developed a unique
sense of beauty and style that seemed to call to people. Pablo
painted things as he saw them - out of order, backwards or upside
down. His paintings demonstrated the power of imagination, raw
emotion, and creativity on the human psyche. As others before
him, Pablo Picasso took art to a new level. A prolific painter,
some of his famous works includes The Young Ladies of Avigon,
Old Man with Guitar, and Guernica.
Tom
Cruise was born fighting. He grew up poor, and his family moved
around a lot while his father looked for work. Tom never spent
a lot of time any one school because the family moved around a
lot. Tom, like his mother, suffered from dyslexia and was put
into the remedial classes at school. Tom is right handed when
writing, but does most things left handed. While Tom was not an
academic success, he focused on athletics and competed in many
sports. A knee injury derailed his hopes of a promising athletic
career.
Tom Cruise then spent a year in a Franciscan monastery, but the
priesthood was not for him. While in high school, he appeared
in a number of plays, and with his mother's encouragement and
support, pursued a career in acting. Tom focused all his energy
on developing his acting career, once again revealing his drive
and dogged determination. He never let his learning disability
stand in the way of his success.
Richard
Branson, founder and chairman of London-based Virgin Group, didn't
breeze through school. In fact, school was something of a nightmare
for him. His scores on standardized tests were dismal, pointing
to a dismal future. He was embarrassed by his dyslexia and found
his education becoming more and more difficult. He felt as if
he had been written off.
However, his educators failed to detect his true gifts. His ability
to connect with people on a personal level, an intuitive sense
of people, was not detected until a frustrated Richard Branson
started a student newspaper with fellow student Jonny Gems. The
incredible success of the Student was but the start of a richly
diverse and successful career.
Despite the difficulties and challenges posed by his dyslexia,
by focusing on his inner talents, Richard Branson successfully
overcame his difficulties. From his first taste of success and
believing in himself, Richard Branson never looked back.
Born in 1452, Da Vinci was sent to Florence in his teens to apprentice
as a painter under Andrea del Verrocchio. He quickly developed
his own artistic style which was unique and contrary to tradition,
even going so far as to devised his own special formula of paint.
His style was characterized by diffuse shadows and subtle hues
and marked the beginning of the High Renaissance period.
Da Vinci dedicated himself to understanding the mysteries of nature,
and his insightful contributions to science and technology were
legendary. As the archetypal Renaissance man, Leonardo helped
set an ignorant and superstitious world on a course of reason,
science, learning, and tolerance. He was an internationally renowned
inventor, scientists, engineer, architect, painter, sculptor,
musician, mathematician, anatomist, astronomer, geologists, biologist,
and philosopher in his time.
Da Vinci was also believed to suffer from a number of learning
disabilities including dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.
Some believe that the initiation of many more projects than he
ever completed suggest that he had attention deficit disorder.
Strong evidence in Da Vinci's manuscripts and letters corroborates
the diagnosis of dyslexia. It appears that Leonardo wrote his
notes backwards, from right to left, in a mirror image. This is
a trait shared by many left-handed dyslexic people. In addition
to the handwriting, the spelling errors in his manuscripts and
journals demonstrated dyslexia-like language difficulties.
Da Vinci overcame his learning disabilities by funneling his creative
talents into visual depictions of his thoughts. His creative,
analytic, and visionary inventiveness has not yet been matched.
Born in 1847, Thomas Edison was a brilliant scientist and inventor.
He was thrown out of school when he was 12 because he was thought
to be dumb. He was noted to be terrible at mathematics, unable
to focus, and had difficulty with words and speech. It was very
clear, however, that Thomas Edison was an extremely intelligent
student despite his poor performance in school.
In the late 1860s and
early 1870s electrical science was still in its infancy and Thomas
Edison was keeping abreast of the latest developments. He was
an avid reader of the latest research of the day and frequently
contributed articles about new ideas in telegraph design to technical
journals. Over the course of his career Edison patented 1,093
inventions. Edison believed in hard work, sometimes working twenty
hours a day. He has been quoted as saying, "Genius is one
percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.".
Hard work and perseverance helped Thomas Edison focus his keen
insight and creative abilities on the development of ingenious
tools that have laid the foundation for our modern society.
Jay
Leno has worked very hard all his life. A mild dyslexic, he did
not do very well in school getting mainly C's and D's. Jay, however,
was determined to accomplish his goals. Despite his poor grades,
he was determined to attend Emerson College in Boston. While told
by the admissions officer that he was not a good candidate Jay
had his heart set on attending the University and sat outside
the admission officers' office 12 hours a day 5 days a week until
he was accepted into the University.
Jay credits his dyslexia with enabling him to succeed in comedy.
He credits his dyslexia with helping him develop the drive and
perseverance needed to succeed in comedy, and life in general.
Whoopi
Goldberg, born Carolyn Johnson, is an outstanding American entertainer,
having acted in major motion picture hits like Ghost, Sister Act
I and II, Made in America, Jumping Jack Flash, The Color Purple,
and Star Trek: Generations.
Whoopi had a lot of difficulty in school, but it was not until
she was an adult did she learn that she had dyslexia. When Whoopi
was growing up, she remembers being called dumb and stupid because
she had a lot of problems reading. It was clear to her teachers
and family that she was neither slow nor dumb, but had some problem
that had not yet been well defined.
Despite her dyslexia, Whoopi Goldberg has gone on to have a successful
film and television career.
