Actor Stephen Graham [Premium]

Actor Stephen Graham [Premium]

Actor Stephen Graham has been described as one of the most talented actors the United Kingdom has ever seen. Yet, he almost didn’t get a chance at his breakthrough role in Snatch when the director Guy Ritchie, asked whether he had come to read for the part. Stephen had just come along to support his friend who was trying to get the job, but when Guy found out that he was also an actor, he encouraged him to give it a try. Stephen told him that because he was dyslexic, he couldn’t do a cold read. I don’t know whether he knew that Guy Ritchie is also dyslexic – but fortunately for Stephen, Guy asked him to improvise the scene instead and he completely smashed […]

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Creative Productivity [Premium]

  “…the progress of civilization, can, in many ways, be charted by the actions of history’s most gifted and talented contributors to the arts, sciences, and all of their areas of human performance…” — Joseph Renzulli, UConn Three Ring Conception of Giftedness   In a clarion call for society to recognize the importance of developing creative productivity in young people, Joe Renzulli makes the point that “the most efficient lesson learners are not necessarily those persons who go on to make important contributions in the realm of creativity.” This point is undoubtedly true for many creative dyslexics who have made and are making important creative contributions to the world. He talks about “schoolhouse giftedness” which he also calls “test- taking or lesson-learning giftedness” and “creative […]

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Novelist Natasha Solomons

“Books are my refuge, but I had to overcome dyslexia to write the stories I was bursting to tell.” — Natasha Solomons   Natasha is a lifelong storyteller, but it took a lot of persistence and resilience to get those stories out. As a child, she listened to stories incessantly and her grandfather (also dyslexic) had the foresight to pass on his antique writing desk to her when she was just 10 years “to help her with ambition of becoming a writer.” It would be nearly 20 years later, but Natasha would write a novel at that writing desk that would earn a six-figure advance. Currently she is the author of 8 novels. She recently wrote a poignant article for The Guardian. An excerpt: “…stories […]

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Complementary Cognition

” …our current education and work environments are often not designed to make the most of dyslexia associated thinking, we hope this research provides a starting point for further exploration of the economic, cultural and social benefits the whole of society can gain from the unique abilities of people with dyslexia.” – Nick Posford, CEO, British Dyslexia Association about Dr. Helen Taylor’s theory of complementary cognition.   Since dyslexia may be present in as many as 17% of the general population, many have questioned why such a high incidence exists. One provocative answer to this question comes from Dr. Helen Taylor, the first author on a paper about Complementary Cognition, a theory that proposes that brain-based differences that exist among groups of individuals like dyslexic […]

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Breaking the Cycle of Shame

“How do you not to feel stupid when everyone else is learning something that you can’t grasp at the same pace? The shame of not being able to read out loud without stuttering or misspelling something on the blackboard in front of the class was almost unbearable. The fear of being called on by the teacher was paralyzing and made me act out and have panic attacks. My math teacher berated me because she thought I was being careless when I accidentally reversed numbers. I spent countless hours with frustrated but well-meaning adults who wanted to help me but just thought I wasn’t trying hard enough. All of these experiences sent me the message that I was not good enough.” – Leana Greene   Shame […]

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David Schoenbrod: Problem Solver and Changemaker

“The fundamental wiring of the brain that causes dyslexia also enhances our ability to see the big picture…” – Attorney, Author, and Professor David Schoenbrod   David Schoenbrod is a big picture changemaker. In fact, in his impactful life, he’s been able to solve huge problems that many may have thought to be impossible. Take the issue of lead in gasoline. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that some 68 million children had toxic exposures to lead from gasoline, causing brain injury and increased risk of other kinds of organ damage. What David was able to identify, though, is how large systems like the federal government (Congress in particular) and other organizations can drag their collective feet in solving issues that may put health at […]

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Dyslexia Advocacy: Say Dyslexia 2.0

From Chalkbeat’s story, “NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?”   “In a massive bid to gauge reading skills following COVID-related learning disruptions, New York City’s education department is introducing literacy screening for its nearly 200,000 children in kindergarten through second grade… While the education department’s screeners aren’t designed to identify students at risk of having dyslexia, which is the most common learning disability, they are able to identify learning gaps in skills that are often associated with dyslexia, literacy experts say. But many also note that screening alone will not address systemic issues that contribute to widespread literacy deficits across the city, such as uneven curriculum and inadequate teacher training. The success of the […]

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Singer Tony Bennett’s Last Concert

“To me, life is a gift, and it’s a blessing to just be alive. And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get.” — Tony Bennett   Tony Bennett really sounds great at 95 years old. Check out his duets with Lady Gaga below. After two sell out concerts at Radio Music Hall in New York City, though, his doctor has finally convinced him to retire. Tony’s won 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, two Primetime Emmys and was honored as both an NEA Jazz Master and Kennedy Center Honoree. He’s sold over 50 million records worldwide. Tony grew up during the Great Depression and lost his father when he was 10 years old. […]

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Princess Beatrice: The Gift of Dyslexia

“Even referring to it as a diagnosis, I feel, does a disservice to the brilliance of some of the most fantastic minds that we have… just shifting the narrative a little bit towards something that is positive, something that is impactful, can really help everyone.” – Princess Beatrice   Princess Beatrice is expecting her first child and she spoke about how she sees dyslexia as a gift. From an interview with Giovanna Fletcher: “I was very lucky that when I was first told that I had dyslexia, not one person around me ever made me feel like it was a ‘lesser than’ scenario. It was always about moving forward, it was always about what you could do. Never about what you can’t. And that’s something […]

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Inspiration: Congratulations Olympians!

Congratulations to all the dyslexic athletes in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.           A’JA WILSON A’ja Wilson was the #1 draft pick in the WNBA in 2018, Rookie of the Year, and most valuable player in the WNBA in 2020. A’ja also wrote a courageous essay in Player Tribune called Brute Strength. Here’s a little excerpt: “It’s funny — how do you prove to somebody that you’re trying? In most things, the more work you put in the better your end results, but that just wasn’t happening with my reading. No matter how many hours I spent in front of a book, sometimes I’d just end up taking away nothing. When I knew we had a test the next day, I’d spend […]

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