High Achieving Dyslexics: Dan Malloy

Dan Malloy is running as the Democratic candidate for govenor of Connecticut.  He had a lot of challenges as a child--he didn't learn to read, and he had motor control problems.  But he went on to college, law school, and a successful career.

AP interview with Dan Malloy

As a child, Malloy struggled to read, calculate math problems, tie his shoes and even walk steadily. He suffered from dyslexia and motor control problems at a time when the term "learning disabilities" was uncommon.

[snip]

"Realistically, if you asked people about me from my childhood, they would not have predicted the level of success that I've been able to accomplish," Malloy said in an interview with The Associated Press [snip]

As late as the fourth grade, Malloy's teachers thought he was mentally retarded. He recalls how one teacher posted his failing spelling grades on the chalkboard.

Malloy holds no grudges about how he was treated.

"I think they thought I was a nice kid. But, listen, I had very little coordination. If you can't read, you can't do math and you can't spell, then how is anyone going to assume that you can be successful? That certainly was not how we measured potential for success in the 1960s, I can assure you," he said.

[snip]
When Malloy was about 10, his mother gave him a ring with his birthstone, a garnet, to wear on his right hand. That way, Malloy said, he'd always remember the "ring" hand was his right hand. Agnes Malloy also gave her son a radio because she knew he was a good listener and wanted to encourage that skill. Each night, Malloy would go to bed listening to talk radio and news radio shows.

"I was an oral learner. I have very good recall," he said. "It was a good way to learn, to learn the language, to learn skills, skills that you might use to convince people of your point, your argument, that sort of thing."

Malloy soon began to build talents that would help him compensate for his disabilities. By the end of the fifth grade he could button clothes and tie shoes. By eighth grade, he began seeing improvements with his reading. Throughout high school and into college, Malloy was able to use books on tape that were traditionally made available for the blind to complement his education.

"You could sense that things were starting to happen, things were becoming easier," he said. "I was really developing the compensatory skills."
[snip]
Malloy happily found himself at Boston College, where during his freshman year he met his future wife, Cathy, a student at Newton College of the Sacred Heart. The couple quickly became a team, with Cathy transcribing Malloy's papers for school.

"He would just sort of speak the paper. He would talk and I would transcribe it on a yellow pad, read it back to him and type it up," Cathy Malloy said.

Malloy graduated with honors and continued his studies at Boston College, where he also earned a law degree. By that time, he had become a good reader but still often relied on books on tape. To this day, he does not take notes because they confuse him. He often plans out speeches in his head and speaks without relying on written text.

"What Dan has done, he really has had to hone a lot of his oratory skills," Cathy Malloy said. "He can absorb a lot of information. He's a great listener."

Malloy graduated from law school and spent four years as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn before entering private practice.

There are other dyslexic story-tellers.  I wonder if the strengths dyslexic learners have to develop contribute to story-telling ability.

Comments

[kip]

Though Dan Malloy has accomplished a lot, his tenure has mayor has been lucky enough to have an economic upswing that started before he took the office of mayor. Though Stamford is the home to one of the largest financial centers in the world, literally across the tracks there is abject poverty and little development in the 11 years he has been in office. How well has stamford done in retaining large firms moving in and staying there. Where is GE moving to? Not Stamford. RBS coming to Stamford? Don;t hold your breathe. Where is the general level of education for Stamford Public schools? Before you start lauding Dan's accomplishments, what sort of bar are you looking at for dyslexics? Patton, John Lennon, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Dan Malloy? Come on. He has been a do nothing politician. Looks like he got his law degree and then did nothing to really set policy. Where is the growth and development, the renaissance of Stamford? Maybe the state will have traffic like Stamfords, try and get across town .

[Julia]

@kip - four years later and Dan proved you wrong.

RBS came to Stamford. He lowered crime, improved education. Regardless of who you support for Governor, there is no doubt that Dan is a great leader and executive.

And to think what he hardship he has come from. I believe in Dan.

Dan has inspired me!!!