I've gathered material for you on thirty well-known individuals from
various times in history who attained fame and fortune, even though
their capacities were misunderstood or misjudged in their early years.
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GEORGE WASHINGTON, First President of the United States
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"George Washington was unable to spell throughout his life and his
grammar usage was very poor. His brother suggested that perhaps
surveying in the backwoods might be an appropriate career for young
George."
Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland & Labrador
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:0X0-p6lBLS4J:www.nald.ca/ldanl/famous.htm
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ULYSSES S. GRANT, 18th President of the United States
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"Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War hero and 18th President of the United
States, was in his earlier years an anxious, tonguetied adolescent. He
was painfully shy as a boy, so much so that he was thought to be
'stupid.' Consequently, his peers referred to him not as 'Ulysses,'
but as 'Useless.' Would Grant have been passed over for a more
self-assured candidate in light of today's admission criteria?"
Journal of College Admission: Shyness and the College Admission Process
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3955/is_200501/ai_n13452223
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WOODROW WILSON, 28th President of the United States
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"As a lad of nine, he did not know the letters of the alphabet. He
finally learned to read at age eleven. He was thought to be dull and
backward. He entered Davidson College but withdrew because of illness.
Later he went to Princeton, but his grades were mediocre. Yet, he
eventually became President of the United States."
Pacific Union College: Learning Disabilities
http://www.puc.edu/Departments/TeachingLearningCenter/ld_whatdoido.shtml
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GEORGE PATTON, U.S. Army General
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"Because of a learning disability, likely dyslexia, Patton did not
excel in the classroom and required an extra year to graduate with the
class of 1909, when he received a commission in the cavalry. What
Patton may have lacked in scholarship, he more than made up for with
his enormous energy."
Carpe Noctem: George Patton
http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/patton.html
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WERNER VON BRAUN, Rocket Scientist
------------------------------------
"Werner Von Braun regularly failed his high school math examinations
but was often caught day-dreaming due to his ADD of one day flying to
other planets."
Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland & Labrador
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:0X0-p6lBLS4J:www.nald.ca/ldanl/famous.htm
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MICHAEL FARADAY, Scientist
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"Faraday and Maxwell were two of the brightest people of the 19th
century. Faraday was virtually uneducated, but he had an ace up his
sleeve. Thomas West, who writes on dyslexia, points out that Faraday
showed a full set of typical symptoms. He had terrible trouble with
spelling and punctuation. His memory played tricks on him. He couldn't
handle mathematics."
Engines of Our Enginuity: Maxwell and Farday
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi905.htm
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SIR ISAAC NEWTON, Scientist
------------------------------
"In his lifetime, Newton's reputation had little reach outside a small
circle of Cambridge scholars. By some, he was thought to be mentally
unstable, even insane."
From a "Publisher's Weekly" review of "Newton," by Patricia Fara
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0231128061
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CHARLES BABBAGE, Mathematician
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"Having suffered in health at the age of five years, and again at that
of ten by violent fevers, from which I was with difficulty saved, I
was sent into Devonshire and placed under the care of a clergyman (who
kept a school at Alphington, near Exeter), with instructions to attend
to my health; but, not to press too much knowledge upon me: a mission
which he faithfully accomplished."
Engineering: Charles Babbage
http://www.engineering.com/content/ContentDisplay?contentId=41003007
------------------------------
ANN BANCROFT, Polar Explorer
------------------------------
"When I asked Polar explorer Ann Bancroft about courage, she obliged
me with a thrilling story about taking the first all-women?s
expedition to the South Pole, but then said, 'If I?m truthful, though,
I have to say that wasn?t my moment of courage.' What on earth? 'Let
me tell you about being dyslexic -" she began, telling me about how
she had taken a stand with an intimidating college counselor who was
trying to talk her out of getting a teaching credential because her
grades were poor."
Soulful Living: The Heart and Soul of Courage
http://soulfulliving.com/courage.htm
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JOHN HORNER, Paleontologist
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"I barely made it through school. I read real slow. But I like to find
things that nobody else has found, like a dinosaur egg that has an
embryo inside. Well, there are 36 of them in the world, and I found
35."
Knowledge House: Special Needs
http://users.safeaccess.com/olsen/articles/specialneeds.html
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HENRY WINKLER, Actor
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"Henry Winkler (actor, director, producer) As a child was called
stupid and lazy in the classroom. Bottom 3% in country, in math, he
was thought to have ADD."
Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland & Labrador
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:0X0-p6lBLS4J:www.nald.ca/ldanl/famous.htm
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CHER, Singer/Actress
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"I never read in school. I got really bad grades--D's and F's and C's
in some classes, and A's and B's in other classes. In the second week
of the 11th grade, I just quit. 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."
Bright Solutions for Dyslexia
http://www.dys-add.com/backiss.html#famous
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F.W. WOOLWORTH, Department Store Founder
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"As a child he was labeled slow. He clerked in a village grocery
store. He suggested putting slow-moving merchandise on a counter and
selling it for five cents. This venture was so successful that it was
continued with new goods. He became the principal founder of the
five-and-ten-cent stores."
WHO?S WHO (Famous People with Disabilities)
http://learn.roguecc.edu/developmental/support/winter02.pdf
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CHARLES SCHWAB, Stock Market Tycoon
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"Growing up just outside Sacramento, Mr. Schwab said he had known at a
very young age that he was falling behind other children. He was
strong in math and athletics - he credits his golf game with helping
him get into Stanford - but when it came to English, he had to fake
it.
'The nasty little secret was that I couldn't read worth a darn,' he
said. 'In my case, I still read very slowly to this moment'."
Dyslexia Adults: Charles Schwab
http://www.dyslexia-adults.com/a49.html
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SIR RICHARD BRANSON, Entrepreneur
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"I had the worst school report ever. They thought I was a hopeless
case because I'm dyslexic, although no one had heard of it in those
days. I was always bottom of the class and I left school at 15. If you
have a problem like dyslexia, I think you try to be better at other
things."
BBC News: Sir Richard Branson: When I was 12
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_3694000/3694488.stm
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TED TURNER, Media Mogul
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"Turner graduated from the military-oriented McCallie School in
Chattanooga Tennessee. While there, he had the nickname 'Terrible Ted'
and was not the normal boy in school."
Ted Turner's Biography: The Early Life of Ted Turner
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall98/Hatcher/early.html
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ANSEL ADAMS, Photographer
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"Adams... may have been hyperactive or dyslexic when he was young, and
did not do well in school. He was essentially self-taught, and his
formal education ended with the equivalent of eighth grade."
Detroit News: Ansel Adams centennial exhibit opens
http://www.detnews.com/2001/entertainment/0108/05/c06-259890.htm
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PIETRO MASCAGNI, Composer
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"Since he was not a stickler for rules and regulations -- it was said
that citizens of Leghorn were all anarchists, or nearly so -- the
parting of Mascagni from the conservatory was inevitable. He left
after a little more than two years, deciding that he would rather earn
a living playing in an orchestra or conducting operettas than stay in
school where he was misunderstood."
Opera World: Pietro Mascagni
http://www.operaworld.com/special/mascagni.shtml
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AUGUSTE RODIN, Sculptor
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"Rodin... was somewhat shy and very nearsighted, which proved a
hindrance in his early academic work. He took a serious interest in
drawing and had his first drawing lesson when he was ten years old.
His father tried to help him academically by sending him to his
uncle's boarding school in Beauvais in 1851. He remained there for
three years, but still had difficulty reading and writing, and the
time was soon approaching for him to learn a trade."
Cantor Foundation: Biography of Auguste Rodin
http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/rbioe.html
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VINCENT VAN GOGH, Painter
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"Scorned, neglected and ridiculed in his lifetime, his example now
reigns paramount as the starting point for all aspiring and budding
artists."
Museum of Texas Tech University: Van Gogh
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/vangoghpr.html
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HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, Writer
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"Hans Christian Andersen was born in the slums of Odense, Denmark. His
father was a shoemaker and his mother worked as a washerwoman.
Andersen received little early education, and as a child he was highly
emotional, suffering all kinds of fears and humiliations because of
his tallness and effeminate interests. Andersen's hysterical attacks
of cramps were falsely diagnosed as epileptic fits."
Online Literature Network: Hans Christian Andersen
http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/
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AGATHA CHRISTIE, Writer
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"I, myself, was always recognized... as the 'slow one' in the family.
It was quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling
were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without
originality. I was... an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained
so until this day."
Knowledge House: Special Needs
http://users.safeaccess.com/olsen/articles/specialneeds.html
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GUSTAV FLAUBERT, Writer
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"Having made a strenuous effort to understand the symbols he could
make nothing of, he wept giant tears.
--Caroline Commanville, on her uncle, Gustave Flaubert"
Bright Solutions for Dyslexia
http://www.dys-add.com/backiss.html#famous
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THOMAS CHATTERTON, Poet
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"After the elder Chatterton?s death, young Thomas?s mother became a
seamstress, and established a small day-school. At first he was
thought to be mentally deficient, but he learned to read and write
from the illuminated capitals of an old musical folio and the text of
a black-letter Bible from the church of St Mary Redcliffe, where he
played."
Wilson's Almanac on Thomas Chatterton
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/chatterton.html
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CHRISTY BROWN, Poet
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"Christy Brown was born in Crumlin, Dublin, in 1932. One of thirteen
surviving children, he suffered from cerebral palsy and was considered
mentally disabled until he famously snatched a piece of chalk from his
sister with his left foot."
Irish Writers Online: Christy Brown
http://www.irishwriters-online.com/christybrown.html
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CLAUDIUS, Emperor of Rome
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"In an age that despised weakness, Claudius was unfortunate enough to
have been born with defects. He limped, he drooled, he stuttered and
was constantly ill. His family members mistook these physical
debilities as reflective of mental infirmity and generally kept him
out of the public eye as an embarrassment."
De Imperatoribus Romanis: Claudius (41-54 A.D.)
http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm
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BRUCE JENNER, Olympic Gold Medalist
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"I just barely got through school. The problem was a learning
disability, at a time when there was nowhere to get help."
Being Dyslexic: Famous Dyslexic Memories
http://www.beingdyslexic.co.uk/documents/famous_dyslexics/what_they_remember.php
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JEFFREY GALLET, U.S. Federal Judge
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"Everyone at school said that I was lazy or stupid or both. After a
while I began to believe them. Sometimes, I just gave up. I couldn't
write, spell, or read, or answer questions quickly. I didn't even know
which hand to put over my heart when we recited the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Once my parents were called to school and told that I had scored first
in my class on an I.Q. test. That score they were told was evidence
that I had cheated on the test."
LD Online: A Judge's Story
http://www.ldonline.org/first_person/gallet.html
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NOLAN RYAN, Baseball Hall of Famer
====================================
"Though a leader on the field or court, he retreated in the classroom.
As an adult, it was discovered that he had dyslexia. But as a kid, he
simply felt stupid... One teacher thought he was stupid and wanted to
fail him. He was a C student, with a couple of D's and F's mixed in.
The hardest thing for him was spelling. He also had a slight lisp, and
as a result, he was shy in the classroom."
Houston Chronicle: Young Gun
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/plainstory.mpl/special/ryan/294698
==================================
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, Theologian
==================================
"Thomas was allowed to join the Dominicans. Even there though, he
still had some trouble. Thomas was a very big man with a kind and
humble manner. Because he didn't talk very much, everyone thought he
was stupid. They called him 'the ox'."
Domestic Church Communications: Saint Thomas Aquinas
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980101/SAINTS/STTHOM.HTM
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ADDITIONAL REFERENCE MATERIAL
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Stallion Station: Famous Dyslexics
http://www.stallionstation.com/ss/countrykitchen/famousnames.html
Dyslexia, the Gift: Famous People with the Gift of Dyslexia
http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm
Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, LLC
http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html
Noted Individuals - High School and Elementary School Dropouts
http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/lists/dropouts.html
Education Reform: The First Rule Of Education Should Be "Do No Harm"
http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts.htm
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I hope this is helpful! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
