The True Gifts of a Dyslexic Mind | Dean Bragonier | TEDxMarthasVineyard

I have dyslexia and just got my PHD.

Dyslexic people aren’t disabled, mainstream education is.

I have dyslexia and when I was in school this was an unknown world in our education system (I am 80 years old - just so you have an idea of a time frame when I was in school). I was called "stupid" and "least likely to succeed in life" most of my years in school. I couldn't even read until I was 13 years old. Luckily I had one person that never stopped believing in me. That person was ME. I overcame every imaginable obstacle in my life and from not being able to read until I was in my teens to writing my own book, 'Memoirs of a Learning Disabled Dyslexic Multi-Millionaire', I am one who has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of my detractors.

"hes a good kid he just need to try harder" hit home for me.

I am 12 I found out I am dyslexic a few months ago my teacher showed me this video she is teaching me in your way. Thank you far a better life

I have dyslexia; I'm a psychologist, and I speaks French, English, and Spanish.

My husband is dyslexic. Sometimes the way he sees things and puts stuff together amazes me. He can look at stuff for a few min, and sees an outcome that it takes others (professionals) hours to get to. He loves putting stuff together. He doesn't need to read directions to put a desk together. He looks at the diagram of the desk and just seems to know how to do it. He amazes me.

I cried while watching this because I have both ADHD and dyslexia and I have felt the same shame from my learning differences, everything said in this talk I completely agree with.

We need to build our own school

At age 6 the teacher threw me out of class for "acting dumb during reading" (dyslexia). I excelled in maths and telling stories, but not reading. Luckily my parents enrolled me in another school where I was allowed to read at my pace, (mostly books with a picture for each letter or word. apple = a; banana = b, etc). Now I have several university degrees in accounting, finance, and management.

I am dyslexic and I am so grateful to my parents for being supportive of me. Today, I am a a neurosurgical resident but back as a child I was the one who had nearly flunked out of school because of the debilitating nature of my learning disability.

I’m very dyslexic and everything this man said hit a little to close to home. I once had a teacher accuse me of being lazy and taking advantage of my nice mom who was helping me with my school work. I was 9 and balled my eyes out while she was telling me this because I felt immense shame because I was trying so hard to do well and I felt like a complete failure.

This has me in tears!! How could he know my deepest darkest fears and secrets?? My child is also dyslexic and I WILL be her biggest advocate and cheerleader!

Early on, I had a problem with reading so they gave me an IQ test that showed me as "gifted". From that, they determined that I must be "lazy". To my father, that was a characteristic that was intolerable. That destroyed our relationship from then on. I graduated from High School on the stipulation that I would never set foot back into the building. Not too long afterwards, I was drafted into the military and given a barrage of tests. The one they were most interested in was the "General Technical test" which I nearly maxed. The army pushed me towards the Army Security Agency. Less than 3% of people qualify for that. Once there, I was sent to cryptanalysis school which is offered to less than one out of fifty. On completion, I volunteered for the Special Operations Detachment an element of the 10th Special Forces Group. The military gave me the confidence that I could accomplish most anything. After returning to college, I was an above average student but couldn't understand why I wasn't at the very top of the class. My last semester, before graduation, I took a snap course called "Testing and Evaluation". It was then that I learned I was dyslexic. I have kept it a secret for decades until my grandson was diagnosed.

Dyslexia is a tricky thing. It runs in my family. My daughter has recently been diagnosed. It breaks my heart that she is going to have to work so hard to achieve what she needs to achieve. I have a bachelor of education. People ask me, how can you be dyslexic and be highly educated. I always tell people, a pass is a pass. It's hard for me. I struggle. I get marked down for basic errors, especially referencing. That has been the bane of my higher education experience. Another dyslexic parent said to his dyslexic kids...C get degrees. At the end of the day, what does it matter if you got 52% or 92%. You have the same knowledge, you do the same job. Just keep swimming.

I am extremely dyslexic but somehow have found myself in a Senior Property Specialist role. The only reason for this is my capacity to connect with other humans. I hide my dyslexia from everyone and when I do rarely share, people don't believe me....but every day I struggle and work harder than everyone around me to understand issues they get quick...my story is worth telling, and I hope to tell it one day! Great content thank you!

I have dyslexia. I am in high school. I’m one of the only ones thriving in the engineering classes:) perseverance

I’m dyslexic hahah and I am good at everything else, especially hands on things like building, sculpture, art, inventing, programming ;) and I have my own clothing line.

I agree with this man, my son has dyslexia and whilst he can't read and write and it's soooo hard for him, his building and puzzle skills are off the charts. I love his creations and art, he definitely see's things differently. I'd love to see the educational system reassess their learning system to cater more for dyslexics.

I'm dyslexic. I teach ELA. What? Yeah. 7th grade English almost broke me, but in 8th grade ELA we did poetry. Suddenly, I was smart in English again. Suddenly, I was selected to be published. The creativity of poetry freed me to shine. After that, nothing could hold me back. I majored in English Education in College and went on to get my Masters in Special Education. All of that was with no "added help" from the resource center, because I no longer qualified. While I was dyslexic my disability wasn't holding me back enough to justify help. That was a good feeling. All this to say... please don't loose hope. Find what you love then work your butt off to do it better than anyone else.