Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,
This week is Dyslexia awareness week. Dyslexia is an often misunderstood topic. Some famous people
who were/are dyslexic are Leonard da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Richard Branson and
F Scott Fitzgerald to name a few.
We live in a world where people who see things differently are not always valued as well as they should
be. The world we live in has been shaped not by the people who micro-manage the small things but by
those who see the ‘big picture’, those who are able to look outside the box to see solutions.
Often we become stuck in a mind set of only seeing a certain way to achieve a goal. Those who have the
gift of dyslexia have and continue to achieve some amazing feats. The number of entrepreneurs who
have the gift of dyslexia is as you would imagine large. Some of the most noteworthy of these (excluding
the afore mentioned Richard Branson) are: Henry Ford, William Hewlett (Hewlett -Packard), Ted Turner,
Frank M Woolworth and Ingvar Kamprad (Ikea). All of these are people who see problems in a new and
innovative way, many struggled early on at school, all are very resilient people.
This week as it is Dyslexia awareness week try to find out about the strengths that people with the gift of
Dyslexia have. Visit the website www.dyslexia.com/famous.htm. I leave you with words of that most
famous poet who has the gift of Dyslexia William Butler Yeats “I would be ignorant as the dawn that mere-ly stood, rocking the glittering coach. Above the cloudy shoulders of the horses; I would be for no
knowledge is worth a straw. Ignorant and wanton as the dawn”. William Butler Yeats (1865 -1939) Irish
Poet, playwright “the Dawn”.
Have a great week
Mike Brosnahan