Success Stories


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Octavia Spencer Starring in Spirited this Holiday Season

Who is Octavia Spencer? Click HERE.  #dyslexiayouarenotalone

Octavia Spencer, Will Farrell, and Ryan Reynolds star in Spirited. Watch the 11/17/22 BBC interviewSpirited was released in select theaters on November 11, 2022 ahead of a streaming release on November 18, by Apple TV+.
Watch the trailer

 

1 in 5

Dyslexia Day 2022 1 in 5 Video (6 minutes)
produced by Meagan Swingle and edited by Chris Holcomb for Decoding Dyslexia GA
Encouraging messages from adults with dyslexia to the many 1 in 5 — 

Are you one of the 1 in 5? What message would you like to share? 
Email us at info@idaga.org or leave a voice mail at (404) 256-1232.

Finding the Right Fit


 

We posted on Labor Day 9/5/2022 the question, “What are some examples of careers for people who learn and think differently?”

Although your dyslexia might make some tasks more challenging, dyslexia need not prevent you from finding success in the work world if you seek jobs that are a fit for YOUR interests, skills, and abilities.  

Check out this article by Ben Samuel Shapiro at Understood.org:  40+ career examples of people who learn and think differently.

and Careers Advice from Fellow Dyslexics found in the responses to this survey conducted by DyslexicAdvantage.org.

If you are an adult with dyslexia who has found a good fit out in the work world, please tell us all about your experience! Go to  GA.dyslexiaida.org/contact-us/ to find out how you can Contact Us.

 


More Success Stories – Finding the Right Fit

9/10/22 – Gabriel Lehman found his “fit” as an artist:  Gabriel_Lehman_What’s_Your_Normal? on Vimeo

6/1/2022 New York Times article about Eric Adams, Mayor of New York CityRead about his journey: How Eric Adams’s Struggle With Dyslexia Is Shaping His Mayoralty

2/15/2022 AJC article about Georgia CEO Joy Mitchell, owner of Office Solutions
Read about her dyslexia journey:  CEO finishes college degrees after being sidelined by dyslexia


Testing shows that people with dyslexia are no more or less intelligent than the population at large. Having dyslexia makes reading, and sometimes other skills, more difficult to acquire, but having dyslexia is not necessarily a barrier to success. In fact, many individuals with dyslexia have not only been successful, but they have also changed the world. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso all struggled with dyslexia.

Research has shown that wiring in the brains of people with dyslexia is different, and many believe that this different wiring of the brain causes people with dyslexia to see problems in different ways that can support innovation and success. Whether or not dyslexia is a gift, many individuals with dyslexia are living highly successful lives.

Here are just a few examples of men and women with dyslexia who are at the top of their professions:

Business

  • Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA
  • Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Enterprises
  • John T. Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems
  • Charles Schwab, American businessman and investor and the founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation.

Medical

  • Ben Carson, M.D., Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University
  • Brooks Edwards, M.D., Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation, The Mayo Clinic
  • Mark Batshaw, M.D., Chief Academic Officer and Professor of Pediatrics, Children’s National Medical Center
  • Delos “Toby” Cosgrove, M.D., cardio- thoracic surgeon and President and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic
  • Blake Charlton, M.D., physician and novelist and essayist
  • Karen Santucci, M.D., Medical Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine

Legal

  • David Boies, litigator in a number of landmark Supreme Court cases including Gore v. Bush and the decision on gay marriage.
  • Rafael Galvin, award-winning practitioner of corporate law
  • Bonnie Patton, leading malpractice litigator

Politics

  • Dan Malloy, Governor of Connecticut
  • Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor of California
  • James Carville, campaign consultant and television commentator
  • Science
  • Florence Haseltine, M.D., Ph.D., Director, NIH Center for Population Research
  • Steven M. Stanley, Ph.D., paleobiologist
  • Carol Greider, biologist and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicin

Literature

  • Richard Ford, novelist, short story writer and Pulitzer Prize winner
  • John Irving, novelist and author of The World According to Garp
  • Wendy Wasserstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
  • Philip Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

    World Poetry Day

    On World Dyslexia Day let’s celebrate the gift of words that many individuals with dyslexia possess. Click on the link below to view the 17-minute video of LeDerick Horne at the 2015 Dyslexic Advantage Leadership Conference. Watch how comfortable he is speaking in front of the group and sharing his poetry!
     

 

Entertainment

  • Billy Bob Thornton, writer, director and actor
  • Whoopi Goldberg, Academy Award-winning actress
  • Keira Knightley, actress
  • Jay Leno, TV entertainer
  • Henry Winkler, actor and writer

Photography, Art & Architecture

  • Robert Rauschenberg, painter and graphic artist
  • Richard Avedon, fashion and portrait photographer
  • Richard Rogers, internationally renowned architect
  • Willard Wigan, microscopic artist

Adventure & Exploration

  • Ann Bancroft
  • Jack Horner

Sports

  • Sir John Young “Jackie” Stewart, award-winning race driver

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