Breaking the Stigma

What is a Stigma?

  • It can be defined as a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

When people hear that someone has dyslexia they immediately assume that they are not smart because of the challenges they face.  When I first told my friends that I had dyslexia their first response was, “What do you read letters backwards?” which is a large misconception about the condition.  There is a spectrum of different types of dyslexia and the kind I have make it difficult for me to decode words which hinders my reading and writing. Even with dyslexia I have been able to do very well in school because of the strong work ethic I have developed along with finding creative work arounds that compensate for my slow reading. This has helped me take honors, AP and college courses with great success. Just because someone learns in a different way from others does not make them stupid.

 
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“Dyslexic kids are creative, ‘outside-the-box’ thinkers. They have to be, because they don’t see or solve problems the same way other kids do.”

— Rick Riordan

 

Famous People with Dyslexia

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  • Albert Einstein

  • Richard Branson

  • Anderson Cooper

  • Daniel Radcliffe

  • Steven Spielberg

  • Whoopi Goldberg