Dyslexia affects nearly 10% of the population, being by far the most common learning difficulty nowadays. This includes many historic figures and great celebrities that many love and look up to. Some may say that dyslexia is not a learning difficulty and just the result of someone being not as bright as others or laziness. However, this is not the case. The fact is that children with dyslexia learn in different ways, as quoted by Ignacio Estrada ‘If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn’.
Frequently proven by great public figures such as Albert Einstein, who not only was hugely successful in his lifetime but suffered from dyslexia. Some may say that people like Einstein become talented because of this dyslexia, not despite it. Unlike back in Einstein’s day, people are now more aware of dyslexia; creating more resources and teaching styles to help children with dyslexia achieve the best they can. Giving children who struggle with dyslexia the sense that they can achieve and nothing is unattainable.
As Orlando Bloom says, the loved actor who appeared in films well known and adored by everyone, ‘with dyslexia comes a very great gift, which is the way that your mind can think creatively. If your kids can be given the opportunity to find that way of thinking, they will be very happy and successful in whatever field they choose to go into’. Other celebrity icons who suffer from dyslexia: Keira Knightley, Walt Disney, Cher, Jamie Oliver and the list is never ending. Not only does this show that celebrities are human too, it’s also inspiring to see how dyslexia has not affected the road to greatness for many.
