When I moved to Silicon Valley in 1993 Businessweek Magazine was a staple of my reading diet. Over time it became less important–less relevant to me. I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, which lead to Bloomberg buying and reinventing the magazine.
Recently, Nick Lieber published a story for Bloomberg Businessweek titled, “New Dyslexia Documentary Explains Entrepreneur Link.” I felt it was an important story for teachers who work with students who happen to be dyslexic.
Mr. Lieber begins by referring to the work of a Professor Julie Logan:
In 2007, Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at Cass Business School in London, released the results of a study of 102 entrepreneurs in the U.S. showing that 35 percent identified themselves as dyslexic. This is strikingly high when compared with a national incidence rate of 10 percent in the general population.
He then refers to a Businessweek article from 2007 by Gabrielle Coppola:
The broader implication, [Logan] says, is that many of the coping skills dyslexics learn in their formative years become best practices for the successful entrepreneur. A child who chronically fails standardized tests must become comfortable with failure. Being a slow reader forces you to extract only vital information, so that you’re constantly getting right to the point. Dyslexics are also forced to trust and rely on others to get things done—an essential skill for anyone working to build a business.
Leibers’ article extols the virtues of an upcoming documentary from HBO2 called “Journey Into Dyslexia”. This documentary and the articles referenced in this post point to two questions.
Do we have vision for students with dyslexia?
Do we believe in them?
Take a look at this quick clip from Jon Mooney to get a feel for what’s possible when we do believe…and check out the documentary–maybe have your students and parents watch it.
