I Speak of Dreams

High Achieving Dyslexics: Anne Gaddy

Anne Gaddy has dyslexia and is a special education teacher at Webber Elementary School in Eastover, South Carolina.  She was in special education herself until middle school, and learned to love reading and writing.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Alan Meckler

Link: Alan Meckler: Old, Boring, White (And Dyslexic).

The other day I was called "old, boring, and white" by a writer over at ValleyWag. Now we can add dyslexic to that description!

Out of the blue a writer from Business Week called me the other day (Gabrielle Coppola) for an interview about my dyslexia. (I was educated at a time when this condition was not understood and only found out a few years ago that I was indeed dyslexic.) Lo and behold I ended up in Gabrielle's story in Business Week.

I might add that growing up was a bit rough since I recognized I had learning problems, but teachers thought I was not trying when I could not complete certain tasks. Of course such experiences toughen one up for life and business. All in all I cannot complain the way things have worked out.

Business Week article and a 2006 interview with Meckler

High Achieving Dyslexics: Ronald Thompson

Ronald Thompson discovered he had struggled with dyslexia when his son was diagnosed with the condition.

While he always struggled with reading and spelling, he earned a Ph.D, and studied obesity and cystic fibrosis, turning to college teaching in his 60s.

Below the fold, more about his life.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Molly Noble Bull

Molly Noble Bull writes "Christian Fiction".

Here, she is being interviewed by another Christian writer,  Margaret Daley: Molly Noble Bull interview.

Molly: As we will discuss later, I am a dyslexic. As a result, I was not a good student. I couldn’t read or spell or do math well. But I could tell stories, draw and sing. And my teachers told me that I was creative and imaginative. It’s not surprising that I was drawn to things I did well.

High Achieving Dyslexics: John Chambers

John Chambers is the CEO of networking gear maker  Cisco Systems.  In 2004, he said his biggest regret was:

"That I didn't share my issues with dyslexia earlier. I didn't realize how that impacts others. Because you consider it a weakness and you don't share your weaknesses. And you don't realize that it helps others who have this issue, and also your family."

He revealed his learning disability in the mid-1990s, in response to a child's question.  Thank you, John Chambers, for your honesty.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Christine Finn

Artist and journalist Christine Finn has turned her childhood home into an arts installation,  and faces her familial heritage of dyslexia

Link: Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - art: My home speaks louder than words.

Dealing with my childhood home in Deal has always involved dealing with dyslexia, which affected my family.

It is often misunderstood and sometimes denied. Naturally my take on dyslexia is subjective, but art institutions acknowledge that many artists, architects, sculptors and other creatives, are dyslexic to some degree.

This year's Architecture Week theme - "Different Perspectives" - only encouraged me.

In my new free-flowing, 3D space, I made an installation to try to convey the frustration of paperwork piled up at my parents' home, me trying to make sense of it (and failing) and the inheritance of panic whenever anyone produces a form to fill in.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Debbie Macomber

When Debbie Macomber was in grade school, she struggled to learn how to read, and never went to college.  In the 1980s, she began to write fiction on a rented typewriter.  After five years of rejection, she made her first sale.  Now, she has more than 60 million books in print.

In an interview with Leena Hyat:

Hyat: I understand that the International Dyslexia Association honored you by featuring you in their 2001 Calendar of Outstanding Dyslexics. What challenges has being dyslexic posed for you as an author, and what advice do you have for others who are diagnosed with dyslexia or with other learning disabilities?

Macomber: Yes, I am dyslexic, but each one of us is challenged in one way or another. I chose to view my handicap as a matter of attitude. I'll always be a creative speller and struggle with certain words, but my affliction is minor compared to the challenges of others. When I was a youngster, it was difficult because I didn't understand what was wrong. In those days the teacher called it "word blindness." I had a hard time in school, but by the time I was in 5th grade I was reading at grade level. My love of words and stories helped me to find creative ways around my problem.

High Achieving Dyslexics: P. Buckley Moss

Patricia Buckley entered school around 1938, where she performed very poorly.  However, she had an advocate: a teacher who thought that Pat had tremendous artistic talent and she transferred to  the Washington Irving High School for the Fine Arts, and went on to study at the Cooper Union.

When she was 34 (and the mother of six children)

she won her first major art show prize, a one-person museum exhibition. This exhibition was a "sellout", and the success encouraged her to start seriously marketing her work. The uniqueness of her style and the warmth generated by her subject matter quickly won her wide spread recognition.

Moss has used her success to help other children with learning challenges.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Ron Diridion

To say Rod Diridon is accomplished would be an understatement.

The executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State, Diridon was a member of the Saratoga City Council and served five terms on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. And whether you think the light-rail lines that crisscross Santa Clara County are a blessing or a curse, Diridon is the man considered most responsible for them.

Plus, San Jose's Cahill train depot was renamed for him after he retired from the board of supervisors in 1994.

But what few people know is that Diridon managed all this while having a learning disability. Diridon, 68, is dyslexic.

He'll be sharing his story of learning to read with the help of others and how dyslexia still affects his life on May 3 [2007]at the 22nd annual Recognition Breakfast for Project HIRED, a non-profit agency that helps disabled people find employment.

"It's something I still have and I'll always have it," Diridon said Wednesday night at a San Jose State College of Business event, where he was honored with the lifetime achievement award.

Project HIRED CEO Marie Benard called Diridon "courageous" for speaking about his disability in a such a public venue. And as far as inspiration goes, sharing his story will no doubt outweigh having a train station named for him.

Congratulations to Diridion, and it is a reminder that early success in school isn't the only thing that matters.

High Achieving Dyslexics: Richard Hartgraves

Richard Hartgraves, like many dyslexics, was told he was "dumb".  Military service turned that around:

“I managed to graduate from Ada High School in 1953 with my class, however, only after attending summer school to make up an English deficiency,” he said. “I attempted a year of college before going into the army in 1955 and while in basic training I was given a battery of tests that showed I was neither dumb nor was I mentally deficient. After two years of military service, I enrolled in college at East Central, Ada, Oklahoma. With the help of Dr. Nelson, a psychology professor, I was able to graduate with a BA degree in Industrial Arts and Mathematics.”

He went on to earn  a graduate degree and to work for the Pueblo, CO school district for the next 30 years.  Upon his retirement, he turned his hand to writing a novel.