Albert Einstein. Oprah Winfrey. Tom Cruise. Aside from their wild success, what is the common denominator between these icons? Dyslexia.
There has been a certain stigma around dyslexia for a long time. Imagine being a parent whose child is diagnosed with this condition, and all of the fears and uncertainties that come with it. Hopefully, Noah’s story will help put some of those fears to rest, as his dyslexia diagnosis was actually a large driver of his success.
Around the third grade, Noah was testing in school for reading. He remembers struggling a lot, and in the moment how he didn’t understand why he needed the extra tutors and help with this particular part of his education. Noah just knew he didn’t like reading (Fun Fact: He’s 34 and still doesn’t like it!). At that time, he didn’t know that he didn’t know how to read.
Dyslexia can manifest in many different ways and is different for everyone. For Noah, he really struggled reading the jumble of words that jumped out at him from the page. It was- and is- hard for Noah to retain things that are written. That’s why I get to read books to him aloud on road trips, because listening is so much more valuable to him. He is also blessed with a CRAZY good visual memory that is borderline photographic.
Most people never grow out of their dyslexia, and Noah is totally fine with that. To him, his dyslexia is actually an advantage that he never wants to lose.
Noah’s note to parents with children that have dyslexia:
“99.9% from my experience, people that are dyslexic wind up being super successful.”
