Important Resources

Important Books

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  Sally Shaywitz, M. D. Overcoming Dyslexia

  Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level, Sally Shaywitz, (2003) Knopf.

  Dr. Shaywitz, one of the leading experts in the field of reading and dyslexia, offers us a comprehensive science-based book filled with information and practical tips to help understand the complexity of dyslexia. Sally Shaywitz helps us to understand how the brain works for reading and shares this information through clear diagrams, text and personal narratives.

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  Brock Eide, M.D. & Fernette Eide, M.D, The Dyslexic Advantage

  The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain, Brock Eide, M.D., and Fernette Eide, M.D., (Reprint Edition, July 31, 2012) Plume.

  Drs. Brock L. Eide and Fernette F. Eide explain how “ultimately we’ve recognized the phenomenon of dyslexia, but missed its significance.” The differences in the dyslexic neurology that create such difficulty with reading and writing may also be responsible for many superior thinking skills. Reading this important book will provide you with a more all-inclusive way to see dyslexia that “places abilities rather than disabilities at the center of our ideas” about dyslexia.

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  Linda Siegel, Understanding Dyslexia and Other Learning Disorders

  Learn more on Pacific Education Press

  This book combines case studies with scientific research, intertwining the struggles of dyslexic students with valuable information. The book will be of great interest to parents, teachers and specialists as Dr. Siegel is an accomplished researcher and expert in reading and language disabilities. She manages to express herself in easy-to-read narratives that increase the depth of our understanding of dyslexia.

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  Ben Foss, The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan

  Play to Your Child’s Strengths, Says Ben Foss, Author With Dyslexia

  This book does much more than to just tell you what dyslexia is; it tells you what to do about it. Ben Foss offers readers a unique understanding of dyslexia from the perspective of someone who has grown up dyslexic, felt the shame of being different, and has become a successful entrepreneur, activist and author. We think this is an important book for its ability to impart an understanding of the emotional turmoil that many dyslexic children deal with regularly. Growing up dyslexic has enabled Ben to offer parents appropriate and practical tools to support their dyslexic child. Ben is a proud dyslexic and opens up honestly about his dyslexia, sharing both his triumphs and failures so we can learn from his experiences. His three-step approach is filled with practical ideas and strategies that are empowering for parents on a quest to raise a dyslexic child with hope and belief in their future successes.

Famous People with Dyslexia

Some dyslexic people you may recognize in these next videos:

• Whoopi Goldberg

  Whoopi Goldberg dropped out of high school as a result of her struggles with dyslexia. "I knew I wasn't stupid, and I knew I wasn't dumb. My mother told me that. Everybody told me I wasn't stupid or dumb. If you read to me, I could tell you everything that you read. They didn't know what it was. They knew I wasn't lazy, but what was it?" She has found the reason for her reading struggles—dyslexia, and shares some good insights on her brief video clip

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  Steven Spielberg

  Steven Spielberg says, “I’m still slow at reading but I do adjust…” as he discusses his dyslexia in an interview with Quinn Bradlee. Steven explains how “It’s more common than you could ever imagine…you’re not alone, there are ways to accelerate your reading skills….it will not hold you back…”

• Sir Richard Branson on Dyslexia

  The founder of Virgin Group is dyslexic. Share a bit of his personal story as Quinn Bradlee, from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, interviews him in this short video clip created by the team at Understood.

• Jennifer Aniston

  Jennifer Aniston’s struggle with dyslexia is briefly discussed by the YouTube doctors in this short video clip.

• Orlando Bloom

  Orlando Bloom explains how even though as a child “homework was a nightmare”, he was able to take this dyslexia obstacle and “make it a reason to be a winner in life”. This is an inspiring 5 minutes.

• Keira Knightley

  Keira Knightley, interviewed about her dyslexia in 2005, discusses how early intervention helped her to overcome her struggle with dyslexia.

• David Boies

  Famed lawyer David Boies talks about how he coped with dyslexia in law school and how dyslexia has actually made him a better lawyer. He offers some great advice.



• Lt. Governor of California Gavin Newsom

  Quinn Bradlee interviews Lt. Governor of California Gavin Newsom about how he grew up with dyslexia, the nightmares of his worst school memories and how dyslexia helped him to develop the strategies he uses to be so successful in his career. This short video informs and inspires.

• Brian Grazer: Katz Memorial Lecture Conversation with Harold Koplewicz.

  Academy Award winning producer and writer Brian Grazer is known for his films and TV shows that have been nominated for a total of 52 Oscars and 94 Emmys. He is lesser known for his strong insights into how a dyslexic person copes with the challenges of school and growing up. Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, founding president of the Child Mind Institute, interviews Brian Grazer for an informative 60 minutes of conversation. As a leading child and adolescent psychiatrist, he asks important questions that elicit insightful responses. It is both enjoyable and worthwhile to listen to Brian express how he overcame his challenges by using his strengths with enormous results.

• Daymond John

  Daymond John, Shark Tank star, is another dyslexic success story. In this mini-video clip series exclusive to Understood, he chats with his mother. As they share stories, the benefit of an encouraging and understanding parent becomes evident. With his mother’s help, Daymond learned to read and started FUBU, his clothing line. Together they have some good advice for viewers!

Assisted Technology

Assisted technology has been avoided by many dyslexic students who express frustration with robotic voices and numerous (sometimes embarrassing) spelling errors when using voice to text programs. However, the newest innovations are creating better and better user experiences and I would encourage students with dyslexia to check out the following video clips:

Ben Foss demonstrating text-to-speech technology:

• Dragon Naturally Speaking Software

  Ben Foss demonstrates, with a dyslexic student, how the latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking software works surprisingly well for speech-to-text writing.

• Windows 7 Speech Recognition v Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 11.5,

  Demonstration of Windows 7 Speech Recognition v Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 11.5, shows important differences for users to understand. This video is encouraging and motivating with respect to the newer assisted technologies.