Do You Have Anything In Common with Steven Spielberg?

Steven Spielberg is a household name, an Academy Award winner for Best Director of multiple films, a box office record breaker time after time, and is one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world, estimated to be worth 3.3 billion.

So what does Steven Spielberg and approximately 20% of people have in common? Dyslexia. At the age of 61, Spielberg was properly diagnosed with dyslexia.

Luckily, he was able to turn his daydreams into the marvels we’ve seen on the big screen for decades. He explains that he refused to let his dyslexia take the best of him, and instead turned it into his biggest advantage in life.

In a video interview with Quinn Bradlee, Speilberg explains the troubles he experienced through school that were caused by this condition that he would not be officially diagnosed with until much later in his life.

“In my case, I was actually unable to read… I was at least 2 years behind the rest of my class.”  He goes on to explain that he experienced what many other struggling students go through daily, teasing, embarrassment, and dread.

“Dyslexia was the first thing to lead me to realize I was different, although I didn’t have a name for it, I just knew that I dreaded going to school because if I was called on and I was told to stand in the front of the class and open my book and read from the book in the 3^rd grade, that day would be another long day in the series of the worst days of my life.”

Like many dyslexics, Speilberg had a creating outlet. “Making movies was my great escape,” he said.

When asked what advice he would give for you kids who have dyslexia, here’s what he said. “It’s more common than you ever could imagine and that you’re not alone and there are ways to accelerate your reading skills and to accelerate your comprehension and there are ways to deal with it… It will not hold you back.”

Thanks for sharing your story Mr. Speilberg. You are an inspiration to us all!

And he is right! There are ways to accelerate your reading and comprehension.

If your child struggles with reading, writing, or spelling, the most important first step is a professional evaluation. No matter where you live, your child can be tested and treated individually, face-to-face, online, by the clinical educators at Lexercise. Learn more here, or contact us at  Info@Lexercise.com or 1-919-747-4557.