100 Living Notable People With a Learning Gift

Abhishek Bachchan

Industry Entertainer
Known For Producer & Actor
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Mumbai, India
He struggled with dyslexia since he was a child. When he started making it in the Bollywood business though, Bachchan did not try to push his dyslexia out of sight from fans or the media. Rather, he thought it was important to share his story and promote for learning disability awareness groups such as Prerna, a public trust that supports children with learning disabilities.
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Industry Athlete
Known For Football - NFL
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Oregon, USA
Green struggled with school his entire life, being told he would never pass high school and barely getting through junior college because he was unable to comprehend and apply what he was reading in his text books. While trying to support his newborn daughter, Green spent two months of junior college living in his car, trying to understand why he always received such poor grades, no matter how hard he studied.
It wasn’t until Green was given a chance by the University of Hawaii for his skills on the football field that he finally came to understand the cause of his struggles. A learning specialist at the University ran tests on Green and discovered that he was dyslexic.
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Alex Green

Industry Entertainer
Known For Producer & Actor
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Ever since she was a child, Alyssa Milano has struggled with dyslexia. She has since found wats to overcome the challenges.
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Alyssa Milano

Industry Entertainer
Known For Journalist & Author
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
“Luckily I went to a school that caught the problem very quickly and was able to figure out the problem and diagnose it, and luckily I had access to people who could really help.”

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Anderson Cooper

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For CEO of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency that owns the UFC
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Illinois, USA
Diagnosed in the third grade with dyslexia and ADHD, it was a monumental challenge. “I was on the ceiling,” he says. “The Ritalin helped, but reading was an enormous task.”o supplement his instruction at school, Emanuel’s mother took him to several different reading instructors and hired tutors to give him private reading lessons at home. “She also stayed up late at night to help me with reading,” he says. “She made me go over my words repeatedly; I hated it, but I'm grateful now.”
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Ari Emanuel

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Investor, Consultant, Author, Television Personality
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New Jersey, UK
Barbara was not diagnosed as a students with dyslexia. When her son in second grade began to have trouble in school and had similar learning issues and was diagnosed with symptoms of dyslexia she realized she also was dyslectic. “The key, she said, was overcoming an insecurity is by embracing it.“
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Barbara Corcoran

Industry Entertainer
Known For Actress
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Florida, USA
“I have learned to live with it and make the best of it. I read all the time. When I was diagnosed with dyslexia, I was told to read everything from street signs to cereal boxes, and that my mom shouldn't read the menu for me. I should read it to her! It has helped a great deal. I am reading well, but it is something I work on every day.”
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Bella Thorne

Industry Business/Entrepreneur Know For Serial entrepreneur and author best known for his appearance on Secret Millionaire, The Startup Kids and as a cast member on Start-Ups: Silicon Valley. He started his first company at the age of 15. He went on to raise £25 million in his teens making him one of the first dot com millionaires.
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Exeter, UK
Despite being told at an early age he would never succeed due to dyslexia, Way has shown nothing can hold him back. I was very lucky to be dyslexic and get a laptop from the government at a young age to help me with it. That laptop changed my life. For the first time, I could be proud of the work I produced and being naturally inquisitive, I took to understanding how the thing worked.
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Ben Way

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer/Songwriter Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Auckland, New Zealand
Many of Benee’s fans may not realise that she is dyslexic. It’s something she believes has helped her creatively and she sees it as an advantage. being dyslexic makes you a little bit different and I think that’s something to be proud of.
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BENEE

Industry Business/Entrepreneur Known For Founder of Microsoft Learning Gift Dyscalculia/Dyslexia Home Born Country Washington, USA
*He is said to have dyscalculia, however this has never been confirmed by his Source. He is also said to have suffered with Dyslexia.
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Bill Gates

Industry Athlete
Known For Martial Artist
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Pennsylvania, USA
"I used to get teased all the time," Tae-Bo guru Billy Blanks told us yesterday. The 6-foot, 190-pound former karate champ suffered from dyslexia growing up in working-class Erie, Pa., the fourth of 15 children. His teachers never diagnosed his learning disability, and Blanks himself didn't figure it out until he was 37. "My teachers thought because I was shy, I was dumb,"
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Billy Banks

Industry Athletes
Known For Olympian, TV Personality
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
As a child, Jenner suffered from dyslexia, which made primary school extremely difficult. “I lost enthusiasm for school and I flunked second grade,” Jenner once revealed to Ability Magazine. However, Jenner has attributed her sports success to the disability.
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Caitlin Jenner

Industry Entertainer
Known For Model, Actor
Learning Gift Dyspraxia
Home Born Country London, UK
"Born and raised in London, Delevingne had a tough time in school. Writing was difficult for her. Taking tests was even more stressful. She started playing the drums at an early age to help burn off excess energy.
At 15, she began struggling with emotional issues that often co-occur with DCD. “All of a sudden I was hit with a massive wave of depression and anxiety,” she said. ""I just wanted to dematerialize and have someone sweep me away.”
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Cara Delevingne

Industry Politician/Royalty
Known For King of Sweden
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Solna, Sweden
"Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf has had some "hard and bitter" experiences in his struggle with dyslexia, his wife says.
Queen Silvia, in a TV interview, spoke publicly for the first time about the king's learning disorder. It became publicly apparent during a visit to a copper mine in 1973, when he signed his name on a rock wall and misspelled it. "That must have been hard and bitter for him," the queen said.
She also said that there is "a bit" of dyslexia in the couple's children, and that the king's experiences showed her the importance of dealing with it early. "When he was little, people did not pay attention to the problem. He didn't get the help he needed," she said.
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Carl XVI Gustaf

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer and songwriter
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
She and her two children all have . “My family has been given the gift of music,” she has said. “We all take to music because music is something that we can do so much more easily than we can in the reading department.
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Carly Simon

Industry Politician
Known For Former U.S. Senator - first African American woman elected to U.S. Senate
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Illinois, USA
As a child, she struggled to be appreciated by her teachers. She hopes today’s students with learning and thinking differences can shake off the stigma she felt. “We need to encourage these kids to believe in themselves, because if they are taught to, they will.
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Carol Moseley Braun

Industry Business/Entrepreneur Known For Investor and Financial Executive
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
He spent most of his education struggling with undiagnosed dyslexia. Says Schwab, “To sit down with a blank piece of paper and write was the most traumatic thing that had ever faced me in life.” Still, the resourceful Schwab managed to get through high school and then Stanford University before becoming the success he is today.
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Charles Schwab

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singing, Acting, Television Personality
Learning Gift Dyslexia & Dyscalculia
Home Born Country California, USA
“When I was in school, it was really difficult. Almost everything I learned, I had to learn by listening. My report cards always said that I was not living up to my potential.” It wasn’t until her son Chaz was diagnosed with dyslexia that Cher realized she may have the condition as well. Testing revealed she is not only dyslexic but dyscalculic as well. Looking back she now says she wouldn't want to not have dyslexia. She says it’s part of who she is.
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Cher

Industry Athletes
Known For Cyclist
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Hoylake, UK
"I didn't really enjoy school and couldn't wait to leave. I was always particularly hopeless at Sports Day; all that running whilst balancing eggs on spoons".
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Chris Boardman

Industry Entertainer
Known For Musician
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Georgia, USA
He considered songwriting as an outlet for the emotions and pressures he felt because of being dyslexic. ‘Music comes as an outlet and makes up for the difficulties in the reading department’, he shares.
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Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson

Industry Entertainer
Known For Musician
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Georgia, USA
He considered songwriting as an outlet for the emotions and pressures he felt because of being dyslexic. ‘Music comes as an outlet and makes up for the difficulties in the reading department’, he shares.
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Industry Painter, Author
Known For Author of The Bite in the Apple, an autobiography about her relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. They had one child
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Ohio, USA
As a child, Chrisann was a dyslexic. This made her a little different from her peers. She was creative but weird. She was a bright student but did not conform to conventionality.
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Chrisann Brennan

Chrisann Brennan

Industry Painter, Author
Known For Author of The Bite in the Apple, an autobiography about her relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. They had one child
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Ohio, USA
As a child, Chrisann was a dyslexic. This made her a little different from her peers. She was creative but weird. She was a bright student but did not conform to conventionality.
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Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyspraxia
Home Born Country London, UK
Daniel Radcliffe still has trouble tying his own shoes. This is the result of Radcliffe’s dyspraxia, a neurological disorder that affects the development of motor skills. Radcliffe was diagnosed as a child with a mild case of this surprisingly common learning disability, and he certainly hasn't let it get in the way of his success.
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Daniel Radcliffe

Industry Politician
Known For Governor of Connecticut
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Gift Connecticut, USA
"As a very young child, Malloy struggled with reading, spelling, math and motor issues. His mother worked hard to help him. “[She] pushed me to develop my strengths, to focus on my leadership and oral-communications skills,” Malloy has said. He was later diagnosed with dyslexia.
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Malloy went on to succeed in college and in law school. Later, he became mayor of Stamford and then governor of Connecticut. An advocate of , he works to expand high-quality preschool for all children across the state. Source"

Dannel Malloy

Industry Chef
Known For Chef, Athlete, Health Enthusiast
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Known For Cambridgeshire, UK
He struggled greatly with math, was known for having a shorter attention span than most, and found reading aloud to be a genuine nightmare. Boome received little support from his classmates and teachers and, in fact, was told that he would never amount to much more than average compared to his classmates. His parents, on the other hand, never lost faith and continued to support him and encourage him not to shy away from learning in and out of the classroom.
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Danny Boome

Industry Entertainer
Known For Actor, film director, and political activist
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
He was unable to read or write when he graduated from high school because of dyslexia, which went unrecognized well into his adult life. Lethal Weapon and The Color Purple are a couple of major hits in which he starred. He also has received an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University.
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Danny Glover

Industry Lawyer
Known For Boies has represented clients in many of the nation’s landmark high-profile cases, including Bush v. Gore; the U.S. Department of Justice in its successful antitrust suit against Microsoft; and together with Ted Olson, represented gay and lesbian couples to overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage.
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Illinois, USA
"The fact that David Boies is dyslexic has never held him back. If anything, his dyslexia has been a motivating factor in his success. Although he did not learn to read until the third grade and is still a slow reader, Boies learned to compensate for his disability by developing outstanding powers of concentration and a keen memory. “I'm not sure how much slower a reader I am than the normal person”- maybe one-half to one-third,” he said recently. “But in the end, I will have learned a lot and absorbed a lot more than they would.”
Boies believes that young children mistakenly associate reading with intelligence. “Reading has nothing to do with intelligence.”
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David Boies

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For CEO JetBlue, Breeze Airways
Learning Gift Dyslexia/ADHD
Home Born Country São Paulo, Brazil
With his dyslexia and ADHD, Neeleman struggled with standardized tests in school, but chose to focus on his strengths rather than his weaknesses. For him, this was his creative mind that allowed him to look at problems from a unique perspective for a solution. Although his learning disorder presents him with significant challenges, he enjoys the creative side of his brain. He says in an interview, “I knew I had strengths that other people didn't have, and my parents reminded me of them when my teachers didn't see them.”
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David Neeleman

Industry Entrepreneur
Known For FUBU Founder/ CEO, Shark Tank
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
“In math and science, I would excel,” says John. “I could look at something quickly and get high grades, A’s and B’s.” Yet reading and spelling were another story. His father’s frustration turned to yelling and worse when John couldn't get certain words, no matter how often the two would study them. “Literally, I couldn’t spell the word ‘because’ for 4 or 5 years. I wouldn't know how to spell my middle name, Garfield. When I read a book, I got tired.” He was a C or D student in language arts, even though he spent far more time working on it.
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Daymond John

Industry Author/Producer
Known For Irish author and media producer. His book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday is officially recognized as a primary catalyst for a new Bloody Sunday inquiry, which became the longest-running and most expensive in British legal history.
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
Don Mullan discovered he is dyslexic, a discovery that opened up new possibilities heretofore he never thought possible. Mullan harboured profound self-doubt because of his reading and writing difficulties and some traumatic memories from primary school. His essay, ‘Breaking Free from the Lie’, in which he writes about his experience, was published in 2009 by the Dyslexia Association of Ireland in a book entitled, ‘Living with Dyslexia – Information for adults with Dyslexia’. The cover of the book carried the quotation from Mullan’s essay: “Discovering that I am dyslexic… set me on a road to new and unimagined adventures”
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Don Mullan

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympian - Swimmer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
As a child who found living with both dyslexia and hair loss “corrosive to the self-esteem”, swimming changed his life. “It’s extraordinary how negatives can help crystallize what you really want to do.”
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Duncan Goodhew

Industry Entertainer
Known For The lead singer of indie rock band Art Brut
Learning Gift Dyspraxia
Home Born Country Isle of Portland, UK
He stammers and stutters when he talks. (He’s been diagnosed with dyspraxia, a learning disability that affects speech and coordination. “That’s probably why I’m not so good at singing.
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Eddie Argos

Industry Activist
Known For Bringing Lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Kansas, USA
When she was growing up, Brockovich-Ellis was teased by her classmates for having dyslexia. She was also told she would never make it through college.
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Erin Brockovich-Ellis

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer
Learning Gift Dyspraxia, Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
"She was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia, and recalls being involved in “special lessons,” doing things like writing letters in sand.
At school, Welch got into trouble for impromptu singing. She’s also said that mentally, “I was just quite absent.” She preferred climbing trees and visiting the library over schoolwork. Welch identifies with her learning and motor skill issues, though she doesn't see them as having had a negative effect on her music career. “The fact that I work in a creative industry probably helps. We dyspraxics think in a different way.”
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Florence Welch

Industry Athlete
Known For Football - NFL
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Florida, USA
"Gore suffered from a severe form of dyslexia and struggled mightily with reading and writing, relegating him to an education curriculum that would earn him only a special education diploma.
"It would have prevented him from going to college."
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Frank Gore

Industry Politician
Known For Former Governor of West Virginia, CEO of The College Board
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country West Virginia, USA
That’s the group that gives the SAT college admission exams. In that role, he worked to add accommodations options for students, such as letting them type rather than hand write essays. And he’s said that having dyslexia helps him understand parents’ concerns about getting their kids access to supports like these.
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Gaston Caperton

Industry Politician
Known For Lieutenant Governor of California, Implemented Health Choices Plan
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
Of all the learning difficulties he endured, Newsom says that reading aloud was “the most humiliating.” He can still recall his fifth-grade classroom and the row he sat in, “with my heart just sinking and pounding, hoping that that period would end and we'd get the hell out of there, and then getting up and starting to read and having everybody in the class laugh. That’s when I basically gave up on any reading. I did book reports by literally reading the back of the book and just copying the text, thinking the teacher would never find out.”
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Gavin Newsom

Industry Entertainer
Known For Musician
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country England, UK
He had to struggle with a dysfunctional family and also dyslexia from an early age. He found solace in mixing beats and started his musical career as DJ. He shares ihat by cutting albums and making music, he worked his way around dyslexia and other psychological issues like anxiety, stress, etc.
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Geoff Barrow

Industry Athletes
Known For Olympian diver
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
It was strange for him because at school he had been told he was lazy and eventually told that he had a learning disability. At last, it was diagnosed as dyslexia. By 1984, he was the best in the world at his sport.
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Gregory Efthimios Louganis

Industry Entertainer
Known For English film director, producer, screenwriter and businessman
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Hatfield, UK
"Guy Ritchie struggled with schoolwork. Unable to understand his struggles, Ritchie turned to being a troublemaker. He attended 10 different schools and was expelled at the age of 15 from one of the top private schools in the United Kingdom. He left school at 16 with only one general certificate of secondary education, in film studies. By the time Ritchie discovered he was dyslexic, he had given up in school. He found out early that he couldn't do schoolwork, so turned to being disruptive. Despite this, he was always fascinated by stories. He loved to listen to stories on tape, with Sherlock Holmes being a particular favorite.
Eventually, Richie was able to turn his love of stories into a successful career. He became a well-known British filmmaker, best known for his film adaptations of Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. Despite his dyslexia, Richie is now a voracious reader. He learned to turn his struggles into major success.”
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Guy Ritchie

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
"One thing that I've discovered through having kids is that I have dyslexia — everyone has things that happen and mine was that. And I feel like a lot of the problems that I have had or even decisions that I've made for myself stem from that, because now the children — obviously, it's all genetic — they have some of those issues."
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Gwen Stefani

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
It wasn’t until his late 20s that he learned there might be a reason for his reading problems: dyslexia. The “King of Calypso,” Belafonte won a Tony and three Grammys, as well as the first Emmy to go to an African American.
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Harry Belafonte

Industry Entertainer
Known For Actor, Comedian, Author, Producer, Director
Learning Gift Dyslexia, Dyscalculia
Home Born Country New York, USA
“I was called lazy. I was called stupid. I was told I was not living up to my potential. And all the time inside I'm thinking, I don't think I'm stupid. I don't want to be stupid. I'm trying as hard as I can. I really am.” Little did anyone know, Winkler was struggling with dyslexia, with which he was finally diagnosed at age 31. That’s the same age the actor admits to reading his first book. Winkler has authored a bestselling series of children’s novels called Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever, based in part on Winkler’s own experiences growing up with dyslexia.”
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Henry Winkler

Industry Entertainer
Known For Celebrity Chef, author of over 20 cookbooks
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Clavering, UK
Jamie Oliver wasn’t able to finish reading a book until 2013. This may be surprising considering Oliver has authored more than 20 cookbooks and boasts a net worth of some $230 million. But as Oliver explained prior to 2013, “I’ve never read a book in my life, which I know sounds incredibly ignorant, but I’m dyslexic and I get bored easily.”
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Jamie Oliver

Industry Athlete
Known For NBA
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Texas, USA
He is dyslexic, which makes taking tests, specifically standardized tests, very difficult. "If you tell me what I need to study, I'll go study it, learn it and test just fine," he said. "But if I don't know what's on the test, what I need to study, I'm in trouble."
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Jason Conley

Industry Entertainer
Known For Talk Show Host
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Jay Leno has spoken extensively about growing up with dyslexia. Leno was fortunate enough to have a supportive teacher who opened his eyes to creative writing. That outlet almost certainly contributed to Leno’s success in Hollywood. Today, Leno remains optimistic about his dyslexia.
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Jay Leno

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
She has never shied away from discussing the many hardships she has had to face throughout her life — including her struggles with dyslexia.
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Jennifer Aniston

Industry Athlete
Known For Baseball - MLB
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Washington, USA
Major League Baseball career almost didn't exist because of his dyslexia. the Athletics general manager was hesitant to sign a contract with Bonderman because he "didn't want to give $1.5 million to someone who can't read or write."However, Bonderman’s pitching ability proved worth it.
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Jeremy Bonderman

Industry Entertainer
Known For Singer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Utah, USA
She shares how she learned to read while struggling with Dyslexia. Her technique to learn to read included making overlays and placing them on sentences so that she could read only one sentence at a time.
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Jewel

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympian - Wrestler
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Saskatchewan, Canada
Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, the learning disability made her even more determined to fight for the things she wanted in life and to never give up. That attitude has helped her persevere through numerous injuries.
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Jillian Gallays

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting/Comedian
Learning Gift Dyslexia & ADHD
Home Base Country Ontario, Canada
Jim Carrey has long been honest about his struggles with various learning disabilities and the ways in which those differences have affected his mental health. Diagnosed with both dyslexia and ADHD as a child, Carrey recalls experiencing myriad behavioral issues while growing up in school.
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Jim Carrey

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Jo Malone Perfume
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country England, UK
I'm a woman who’s dyslexic, can't tell my left from my right, can't swim, and am so bad in cars it’s best I don't drive. I can't fill out a form on my own and when I go into a bank I have to ask someone to help me. I have zero qualifications, so I really shouldn't be in life where I am. but I am. Business isn't rocket science. It’s courage, creativity, and having the faith to believe you can take that one step.”
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Jo Malone

Industry Entertainer
Known For Fashion Model, Racing Driver, Television Personality
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Guildford, UK
"I got used to being told off. If I wasn't told off every day in every lesson, I was in shock." She was suspended twice and threatened with expulsion. "I hated academic work". Jodie Kidd: Super-model. She flunked all her seven GCSEs apart from art.
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Jodie Kidd

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For CEP of Cisco
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Ohio, USA
John Chambers worked diligently to overcome the obstacles of Dyslexia. At nine years of age John Chambers was diagnosed with dyslexia. His teachers presumed he was not smart and would never go to college. Fortunately for John his parents both medical professionals recognized dyslexia and understood the importance of early intervention, support, and encouragement for their son. With his efforts and no fail attitude, John earned a bachelor's, masters and law degree. “My mom taught me about being able to extend yourself out there, the willingness to connect emotionally, and to let down your guard down, and Dad taught me to see around the corners.” He continued to say that, “Learning disabilities stay with you throughout your entire life.”
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John Chambers

Industry Author
Known For American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New Hampshire, USA
"John Irving was labeled as "stupid" and "lazy" by many of his teachers growing up, particularly in English where he was put in a remedial spelling class after failing. It wasn’t until his brother Brendan was diagnosed with dyslexia that Irving realized why he, too was struggling so much in school. Although there were several times he wanted to quit, his high school wrestling coach instilled confidence in Irving that pushed him to continue with his education. He learned to overextend himself by paying twice as much attention to his reading and writing.
It is perhaps this attention to detail that allowed Irving to become such a successful author.”
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John Irving

Industry Industrial Designer
Known For Chief Design Officer at Apple
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
Jonathan Ive has been able to overcome the challenges posed by dyslexia to become monumentally successful as a crucial part of the design team at Apple.
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Jony Ive

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Born in Beirut, Raised in Toronto
This international action movie superstar and entrepreneur credits acting for helping him cope with dyslexia. And despite his problems with reading he developed a deep love of Shakespeare.
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Keanu Reeves

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Teddington, UK
It was her mother who insisted she overcome her struggles with reading by doing so every single day. Says Knightley, “I drove myself into the ground trying to get over dyslexia, and when I finished school I had the top grades.”
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Keira Knightly

Industry Politician
Known For Former U.S. Representative from Florida
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Florida, USA
“As someone who was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, I know what it’s like to work hard without complaining to overcome a disability,” Meek said unabashedly on the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “My fight is the fight of so many everyday Americans. I celebrate today’s anniversary based on personal experience.”
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Kendrick Meek

Industry Entertainer
Known For Actor
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Iowa, USA
At her young age, Lara had to struggle with dyslexia and learning disability that she consequently had to enroll in an improvisational workshop to develop ways of expressing herself. Won't let such disability took over her, she tried hard to be a tough girl.
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Lara Flynn Boyle

Industry Athletes & Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Basketball
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Michigan, USA
Johnson struggled with reading and writing during school. His life at school wasn't a smooth ride. “The looks, the stares, the giggles…I wanted to show everybody that I could do better and also that I could read,” he said. Johnson could only read at the sixth-grade level.
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Magic Johnson

Industry Comedian
Known For British comedian, actor and satirist
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Guildford, UK
Marcus credits his own dyslexia with giving him "an interest in language and the deconstruction of words ... I spot puns and the capability to play with them very, very quickly. I maybe entirely wrong about this, but I think that's connected with dyslexia and seeing words broken down into their component parts. So it's not necessarily a bad thing."
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Marcus Brigstocke

Industry Author, Talent Agent
Known For English talent agent & Author
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Stockport, UK
"Dyslexia affects my letters the most. Readings are the worst experience – I come out in a cold sweat when I have to sign the books. I have to work out the letters that are missing. Everyone’s dyslexia is different and mine is letters.
I have to give myself the power to be imperfect. Just say, I've got a unique story to tell and it doesn't matter if it’s not perfect.”
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Melanie Blake

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympic - Ice Dancer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Michigan, USA
“It [dyslexia] never goes away, but it is more of a positive than not…. Patience with oneself is the key to learning how to be your best self in any case. Just because things come differently to you doesn't make you any less.”
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Meryl Davis

Industry Politician
Known For U.S. Senator from Colorado
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Born in Delhi, raised in DC, USA
“I can remember, throughout the early years of elementary school, having problems focusing on my work, and I think they manifested themselves in the form of spelling issues,” he says. “The teachers at the school I was going to recognized that I was having trouble with spelling, and I think they knew I needed extra time and some extra attention, and that led to my repeating second grade.”
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Michael Bennet

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympian - Shot Putter
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country California, USA
Michelle Carter grew up with dyslexia and ADHD. Reading and spelling were a challenge for her (they still are), and she struggled to pay attention in school. Then she found her passion and talent: track and field. It motivated her to do well enough in school to be able to continue competing. And it took her all the way to Rio in 2016, where she won an Olympic gold medal in the shot put.
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Michelle Denee Carter

Industry Entertainer
Known For Musician
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Redruth, UK
Mick dropped out of school when he was just 15 and started his musical journey. He credits his distinct drumming style to Dyslexia. He shared in a memoir that dyslexia helped him have a unique way of creating beats and rhythm and that set him apart from contemporaries.
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Mick Fleetwood

Industry Entertainer
Known For Front man of the band Simply Red
Learning Gift Dyscalculia
Home Born Country Manchester, UK
His struggles with math made school difficult for him.
“I was made to feel stupid,” he recalls. But at 16, he switched to a more innovative program. “Art school opened up the world of creativity for me and I loved it.”
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Mick Hucknall

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympian - Fencer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Massachusetts, USA
"In my life, I have had a lot of accomplishments," Sliney told the children. "In fact, at one point I held every national title, and at one point I actually was in the Guinness Book of World Records. When people ask me what my biggest accomplishment is, it has nothing to do with a title, it has nothing to do with a trophy, it has nothing to do with a label. My biggest accomplishment is the story I just shared with you guys."
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That story was about how she struggled throughout elementary school with dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult to learn to read despite having normal intelligence. Sliney had to work one-on-one with a teacher. Source"

Molly Sullivan Sliney

Industry American ambassador & nonprofit founder
Known For Winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, former White House Chief of Protocol
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Illinois, USA
It wasn’t until her son was diagnosed with dyslexia that Nancy Brinke identified that she had dyslexia too. She struggled with math and spelling in school but found ways to use memorisation techniques and in-class performance to supplement her poor scores in standardised testing. She’s made history, both in her governmental roles and in spearheading cancer research and treatment strategies, and uses her platform to urge parents and children not to fear dyslexia, but embrace support and the merits that a different kind of viewpoint and learning experience can bring.
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Nancy Brinker

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Son of former President George H. W. Bush & Barbara Bush
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Texas, USA
"It was Neil’s own struggles with reading in elementary school that would mold his mother’s lifelong mission. It started when she attended reading day at her son’s school.
“So there’s a reading circle and all the kids have a book and they're passing the book kid to kid and they passed it to me and I couldn't read,” he said.His mother was shocked and determined to bring his reading level up to par with his classmates. While friends were playing ball outside on Saturdays, Neil was inside attending various programs to help him learn to manage his dyslexia.Through his struggle, Barbara Bush learned illiteracy was a well-kept secret in schools and the alarming statistics left her determined to make a change.She started the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation "to improve the quality of life for Houstonians of all ages through the power of literacy."
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Neil Bush

Industry Entertainer
Known For Lead guitarist and songwriter for British rock band Oasis
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Manchester, UK
Gallagher’s dyslexia has the potential to stump his bandmates: “When I write, I'll give it to someone else to read, and they'll say, ‘This doesn't make any sense.’ And then I'll read it back to them, and they'll say, ‘Half the words are missing.’ But to me they're there.”
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Noel Gallagher

Industry Athlete
Known For Baseball - Pitcher
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Texas, USA
Ryan was not good at spelling and was a shy student and tried to practice sports rather than his school books. After high school, he joined New York Mets immediately. He was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was an adult. Yet, his career was never affected by dyslexia, and he led the no-hitter record of the league and won the Basketball Hall of the Fame in 1999.
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Nolan Ryan

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Canterbury, UK
The gift of dyslexia,” says Bloom, “was that I learned everything forward and backward, inside out, so I was fully prepared. I had to learn everything so that I wouldn't have stage fright or the lines wouldn't fall out of my head.” Bloom was first diagnosed with dyslexia at age seven, and was put into acting classes to help him channel his creativity and build his confidence.
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Orlando Bloom

Industry Entertainer
Known For English singer, songwriter, and television personality. (Lead vocalist for Black Sabbath)
Learning Gift Dyslexia, ADHD
Home Born Country Birmingham, UK
"The Black Sabbath star struggles with both reading and writing. But the heavy-metal pioneer has found strategies that allow him to pursue his music despite those challenges.
“I am terribly dyslexic and have attention-deficit disorder, so I have to carry a tape recorder everywhere I go. Also, if I get a melody in my head, I have to record it straightaway,”
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Ozzy Osbourne

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Maine, USA
Diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12, Dempsey struggled with reading throughout his childhood, high school years, and early acting career. In fact, Dempsey has admitted that even today he sometimes has trouble reading scripts for work.
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Patrick Dempsey

Industry Producer
Known For English record producer & trance DJ
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
Crucial personal moments in my life that had more of an impact on me than I first thought like growing up with dyslexia. That’s something that set me on a creative path that I owe a lot of my career to.
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Paul Oakenfold

Paul Orfalea

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Founded Kinkos
Learning Gift Dyslexia, ADHD
Home Born Country Los Angeles, USA
Orfalea calls his learning disabilities “the blessings” of his youth even though they prevented him from reading or sitting still. School systems were unaware of dyslexia and ADHD while he was going through school in the fifties and sixties so Orfalea was often seen as a problem student who refused to learn. He couldn't take notes in school because he couldn’t spell, and even if he managed to do that he wouldn't be able to read the notes later on. Instead, Orfalea trained himself to intensely listen to lessons and lectures, absorbing the meaning and big picture rather than memorizing rigid facts.
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Industry Author
Known For American poet, and the founder/director of The Writers Studio, a private school for fiction and poetry writing based in New York. Recipient of Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Schultz grew up at a time when dyslexia was virtually unknown and “non-learners,” as he described himself, were largely left to function on their own. In his memoir My Dyslexia he recalled one of his early teachers telling him to “‘look at the pictures and just sit there, pretending you're reading.’ I wanted desperately to be included, to be perceived as being presentable enough to be addressed,” he said. “Being given up on is a very peculiar feeling.” Lying on his bed at night as his mother read to him, Schultz would “try to imagine what it would feel like to be able to read, to be normal.” He would look at the words and pretend to read them, “essentially inventing a boy who was not dyslexic, who was normal. I was creating a narrator capable of rewriting my story with a happy ending.”
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Philip Schultz

Industry Public Figure
Known For Royal
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
"I have been given circumstances that anyone would wish for and I do believe that I must do something good with it. That was one of the reasons why I came out publicly to let people know I am dyslexic. It was my decision to do that because it is a problem helped by more people knowing about it."
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Princess Beatrice

Industry Athlete/Coach
Known For American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Oklahoma, USA
"He struggled with reading in school, and well into his adulthood, and was unable to understand why. Finally, when his youngest son was tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Ryan himself got tested and realized that he has dyslexia.
Unwilling to let this slow him down, Ryan developed new coaching techniques, like a system of color coding for his playbooks and game plans in order to make them easier to comprehend. Ryan has been extremely open about his dyslexia, wanting people to know that it is a part of him and something that has helped make him stronger.“
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Rex Ryan

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Virgin Group
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country London, UK
“The reason why I think people who are dyslexic seem to do well in life, having struggled at school, is that we tend to simplify things.” Recalling the ways in which his school teachers treated him for his dyslexia, Branson states, “It is time we lost the stigma around dyslexia. It is not a disadvantage, it is merely a different way of thinking. Once freed from archaic schooling practices and preconceptions, my mind opened up. Out in the real world, my dyslexia became my massive advantage: it helped me to think creatively and laterally, and see solutions where others saw problems.”
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Richard Branson

Industry Entertainer
Known For Journalist, Author & correspondent for NBC News
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Diagnosed as a child, Engel recalls being coddled over his learning disability to the point that his confidence plummeted. “Confidence is everything,” he has said. “Once you start having success, you build on success.” Engel credits a survival camp he attended at age 13 for helping him regain his confidence.
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Richard Engel

Industry Entertainer
Known For Film Writer, Director
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Texas, USA
I was dyslexic before anybody knew what dyslexia was. I was called ‘slow’. It’s an awful feeling to think of yourself as ‘slow’ – it’s horrible.
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Robert Benton

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Co-Founder Spin Master
Learning Gift Dysgraphia
Home Born Country Born in South Africa, Raised in Toronto
Dysgraphia is the inability for your hands to keep up with your thoughts. That’s why I love writers—I have a huge amount of respect for the ability to take a stream of consciousness and put it into the written word. My stream of consciousness gets interrupted. My hand cramps up, and my handwriting is illegible. So, it really interrupts my thought process. It was very, very difficult to go through school. But it teaches you fortitude.

Ronnen Harary

Industry Athlete
Known For English Football Manager
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Old Park Farm, UK
They didn't know it then, but Sam was dyslexic and struggled at school. “The best day of my life was when I left,” he said. “Nowadays, I would have had lots of help, but then you were regarded as a bit thick.”
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Sam Allardyce

Scott Sonnon

Industry Athlete/Advocate/Author
Known For US government research scientist in biotechnology, a martial art expert, creator of The Saddle SAMBO System, fitness coach, dyslexia advocate and wellness speaker
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Pennsylvania, USA
“I didn't succeed despite my , but because of it. It wasn't my deficit, but my advantage. Although there are neurological trade-offs that require that I work creatively [and] smarter in reading, writing and speaking, I would never wish to be any other way than my awesome self. I love being me, regardless of the early challenges I had faced.”
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Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Coatzacoalcos, Mexico
Hayek says dyslexia is “part of her identity.” She says having to “figure out” things on her own has made her a stronger person.
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Selma Hayek

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Founder and former president of the nonprofit Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship, and the author of books and textbooks related to entrepreneurship education
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Michigan, USA
He learned the importance of persistence and hard work at an early age, when he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He struggled with reading, mispronounced similar sounds, and was unable to alphabetize. His parents, both teachers, sprang into action, working with him every day for three years to change reading from a challenge to a pleasure. “Once I could distinguish sounds and manage sentences, I became an obsessive reader, and I now read sixty books a year,” says Mariotti. “And my difficulties with words were made up for by my being off the charts in math. I had a gift for math as a child. I could do in my head the multiplication of three numbers by any three numbers and understood basic calculus.”
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Steve Mariotti

Industry Athlete
Known For Olympian - Rower
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Marlow, UK
Steve was diagnosed with dyslexia early on after experiencing struggles and difficulties at school. He said "Everyone is different and everyone's dyslexia is different. For me, I would always rather be in a boat but I was lucky to be pretty good in a boat."
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Steve Redgrave

Industry Athlete
Known For Scottish Footballer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Irvine, UK
"revealed that he struggled at school with the condition which affects the way people read and identify words.
But in trying to overcome the condition, Naismith believes he developed other skills which have helped him as a footballer.
In a candid interview with the Scottish Herald Naismith revealed: “I am dyslexic. It was not so bad for me because I had football and if you are at school and good at football there is a respect that comes with that."
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Steven Naismith

Steven Spielberg

Industry Entertainer
Known For Director & Producer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Ohio, USA
It took him two years longer than his peers to learn to read, a fact for which he was often bullied. Finally officially diagnosed with dyslexia at age 60, Spielberg has managed to find some inspiration in his diagnosis. He often encourages young artists with their own learning disabilities, telling them, “You are not alone, and while you will have dyslexia for the rest of your life, you can dart between the raindrops to get where you want to go. It will not hold you back.”
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Industry Entertainer
Known For The founder and drummer of The Police. He has also produced many film and video game soundtracks and written various pieces of music for ballet, opera, and orchestra
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Virginia, USA
"He was eventually sent to a British prep school because of his reading struggles. The new learning environment was a big improvement.
Copeland jokes, “The school told my parents that even though I was like a C and D average student, that there’s a high probability that the kid does have a brain. Which was music to my parents’ ears.”
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Stewart Copeland

Industry Entrepreneur
Known For Founder of Turner Broadcasting Systems, founder of CNN
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Ohio, USA
Turner soon discovered that certain subjects were challenging for him, like math and reading, while others he grew to like. One of his favorite aspects of school became the military training, which ultimately influenced the way he approached his career.
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Ted Turner

Industry Athletes
Known For Football
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Born in Philippines, raised in Florida, USA
In fact, both his brother and his father also suffer with the common learning disability. Still, the former All-American hasn't allowed the challenge to keep him down. When it comes to learning new things, Tebow takes his time and uses flashcards, a tool he learned early on as being helpful to him. Says the champ, “I'm not somebody that opens a playbook and just turns and reads and reads. That doesn't do it for me.”
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Tim Tebow

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Cruise has lived with dyslexia since he was diagnosed as a child. despite this early diagnosis, Cruise reports having had a rough childhood. Not only was he bullied by his peers for his learning disability, he was often frustrated and bored. He was previous honored by the National Mentoring Partnership for his work helping others with dyslexia.
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Tom Cruise

Industry Entertainer/Athlete
Known For Gymnast turned Actor
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Kingston upon Thames, UK
“Tom’s dyslexia was identified at the age of 7 which led his parents to enroll him in a private school.
He’s occasionally been hounded on social media because of spelling or grammar mistakes, but most of all he’s lauded for his natural acting ability and athletic skill.”
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Tom Holland

Industry Business/Entrepreneur
Known For Fashion Designer
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
A lack of understanding from his teachers and peers convinced Hilfiger that school wasn’t the place for him, and he ultimately decided to skip attending a university. Still, Hilfiger credits this unorthodox path to the work force as part of the reason for his success. He’s even attributed his dyslexia to allowing him to see designs and the clothing marketplace in a way other designers aren’t able.
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Tommy Hilfiger

Industry Entertainer
Known For American singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. He is also a painter
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Bennett finds it difficult to read sheet music because of his dyslexia.
“I just have to work a lot slower. It comes a lot slower. But good learning takes a long time,” he has said. “To really learn something, you have to keep doing it until it appears effortless. So it takes time.”
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Tony Bennett

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia & ADD
Home Born Country Minnesota, USA
Vince turned to acting as a creative outlet during a tough childhood. Vaughn’s childhood challenges stemmed from the fact that he exhibited a number of behavioral problems and struggled to read while at school. Though he was ultimately diagnosed with both ADD and dyslexia, Vaughn’s father refused to allow his son the medication prescribed to help. Instead, Vaughn learned to overcome his challenges, saying, “[W]when you have these setbacks, you develop a really good work ethic, because you have to try harder.”
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Vince Vaughn

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting, Producer, Writer, Talk Show Host, EGOT winner!! (1 of 16 people)
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country New York, USA
Though she had trouble reading as a child and was often called “dumb,” Goldberg insisted in a 2004 interview, “I knew I wasn't stupid, and I knew I wasn't dumb.”
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Whoppi Goldberg

Industry Entertainer
Known For Acting
Learning Gift Dyslexia
Home Born Country Pennsylvania, USA
As a child, he struggled with reading and writing in school due to dyslexia. Those feelings of inadequacy led him to make a promise to himself that he would never again fall behind in life. In fact, in various interviews he has attributed his film-star success to his early failure at learning to read.
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Will Smith