History is full of highly creative Touretters. Dr. Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first English language dictionary in 1755, may have been obsessive-compulsive or Tourettic. Several researchers believe that there is evidence that Mozart was a classic Tourette "personality." His correspondences are rife with scatological references and obscenities. This manifestation, called coprographia, is similar to coprolalia but involves the writing of obscenities. This strange behavior is seen in about a third of those with Tourette. Mozart is described by those who knew him as being constantly in motion, fidgety, with a strange habit of repeatedly touching others.

Touretters will sometimes incorporate their predilection for obsession and compulsion into their life success path. Tourettic basketball great Mohammed Abdul Rauf of the Denver Nuggets credits his skill at the free throw line (his has the second best free throw success record in the NBA) with his obsessive need for perfection. He used his Tourettic tendency to preseverate, to repeat a motion, to his advantage in the grueling practice that developed his phenomenal accuracy. > from article Wild Child by Joanne Barrie Lynn - from her site ChildSpirit > co-author with George Lynn of the book Genius! Nurturing The Spirit Of The Wild Odd And Oppositional Child > photo: Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus (1984) [dvd]

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Much madness is divinest sense To a discerning eye; Much sense the starkest madness. 'Tis the majority In this, as all, prevails Assent, and you are sane; Demur,--you're straightway dangerous, And handled with a chain. Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems, 1924

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"People with dyslexia are often dreamers, and good at abstract thought... When I'm writing an action scene, I can just see it happening." writer/producer Stephen J. Cannell [paraphrased from CNN interview, 2001]

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Living and Thoroughly Enjoying Life in Spite of Autism At the age of 4, I was diagnosed as being severely autistic. For most of my childhood, I was also believed to be retarded. When I was 13 years old, I was introduced to Facilitated Communication - a method of communication which allowed me to type my thoughts. With Facilitated Communication (FC), it became clear that I was not retarded, but instead, was very autistic and lacked a method of expressing myself.

Sadly I was so autistic I was not aware of the world around me and looked very retarded. Using FC, I graduated from Whittier High School in Whittier, California with honors, and am now a student at Whittier College typing independently. Sue Rubin - text and photo from her site She is the subject of the documentary “Autism Is A World” - nominated for a 2004 Academy Award -- and she is a co-author of the book Autism And The Myth Of The Person Alone

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I was trouble - and always in trouble. Aged eight I still couldn't read. In fact, I was dyslexic and short-sighted. Despite sitting at the front of the class, I couldn't read the blackboard. Only after a couple of terms did anyone think to have my eyes tested. Even when I could see, the letters and numbers made no sense at all. Dyslexia wasn't deemed a problem in those days, or, put more accurately, it was only a problem if you were dyslexic yourself. Since nobody had ever heard of dyslexia, being unable to read, write or spell just meant to the rest of the class and the teachers that you were either stupid or lazy. And at prep school you were beaten for both. I was soon being beaten once or twice a week for doing poor classwork or confusing the date of the Battle of Hastings.

My dyslexia was a problem throughout my school life. Now, although my spelling is still sometimes poor, I have managed to overcome the worst of my difficulties through training myself to concentrate. Perhaps my early problems with dyslexia made me more intuitive: when someone sends me a written proposal, rather than dwelling on detailed facts and figures I find that my imagination grasps and expands on what I read. ....Richard Branson. Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun,  and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

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"Don Winkler has a brain for the 21st century. A dyslexic brain. As other managers
struggle to 'think outside the box,' Mr. Winkler has no other way of thinking. ...

In five years he has built the finance arm of Banc One Corp. from an industry also-ran
to $26 billion in assets. How he did so says a lot about Mr. Winkler and the value of querky
thinking in a chaotic business world."

 Thomas Petzinger, Jr., "A Banc One Executive Credits His Success to Mastering Dyslexia," Wall Street Journal, April 24, 1998.

quotes from article: The Abilities of Those with Reading Disabilities: Focusing on the Talents
   of People with Dyslexia by Thomas West

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Did you know.. Leonardo Da Vinci was fascinated with levers and gears - so much so that they were at the heart of nearly all his inventions - from the crane to the helicopter. It is also believed that he struggled with dyslexia. from Twice Gifted site page : LD/Gifted

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"After one year without color perception [due to a neurological condition], Mr. I. moves into a productive period of
black-and-white paintings. Those who do not know about his loss see this phase as a reflection of creative renewal
and artistic development.

When presented with the possibility of having at least some of his color vision restored, Mr. I. rejects the idea.
The world he perceives is too solidly re-constructed; in Sacks' words, too 'coherent and complete' to alter."

[from review of book: Oliver Sacks. An Anthropologist on Mars]

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a perspective on giftedness & autism:   [excerpted from a post (Aug. 18.2000) by "Amanda" on the Gifted and Talented Adults list: GT-Adults] ... I think there's definitely a subset of gifted people who overlap highly with autistic people. I don't know the term "HSP" in the way it is used in the book [The Highly Sensitive Person], but I know that extreme sensory and emotional sensitivities are common in autistic people (as are lack of sensitivity, or both in the same person, to give slightly more background).  We also have a tendency to grow in "asynchronous" (i.e. not the standard path, thereby creating what I see as almost an *illusion* of uneven development -- my development is uneven for another person, but not for me) ways (as has been documented about gifted people, as well), to be able to focus extremely intensely on something, be highly moral, and so on. Actually, one of the more interesting things I've done is sit down with a description of autism and a description of gifted traits and compare notes.Sensory hypersensitivities are common in both. Combination extreme focussingability/"inability to focus in some more 'normal' situations" is similar.  The thing they call persistence, or somesuch, in giftedness, is called "perseverativeness" in autism and seen as pathological (many autistic people are trying to change this image of perseveration :)). Emotional sensitivity iscommon in both giftedness and autism. "Inability to sit still" is common inboth, although not universal either. Extremely focussed thought, whether inlanguage, or outside of language, is characteristic of autism and giftedness,as is early development of some form of logic. Early reading is common in giftedness, also in autism (where it is referred to as "hyperlexia", and oftenoccurs before we can speak.) Very extreme abilities in specific areas areknown to occur in both (if you're gifted, you're a "prodigy", if you'reautistic, you're a "savant", if you're lucky enough not to get the "idiot"tacked on the front of it.) Certain kinds of learning disabilities, I wouldguess to be common in both, although I haven't read much about it. Inability to relate to same-age "peers" (????) while preferring older or younger people is common in both. Picky eating common to both. And so on... could make a very long list. I've also heard some anecdotal evidence that gifted and autistic people occurin the same families a lot (or, in the case of my family, in the same *people* a lot :)) This is actually why I have trouble separating out, what is "gifted", what is"autistic", and what is "LD" about me. Many of the traits are similar, and I don't see them as (at least in my own mind/brain/etc) possible to separate outand go "okay, you can divide these characteristics up".  They're too connectedfor that. I don't see autism as a "misdiagnosis" (although I truly wish itwere not considered a medical "problem" at all) as some people have tried toconvince me of -- I am definitely autistic, and definitely gifted. I can alsosee where giftedness could occur without autism involved, but still have a lot of things in common.

 

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"Throughout her school years, she also concealed her inability to read due to dyslexia." from a PBS TV bio of Lindsay Wagner

More Famous People with Dyslexia - Actors & Entertainers

Harry Anderson Fred Astaire   Harry Belafonte   George Burns   Enrico Caruso
Cher     Tom Cruise   Danny Glover   Tracey Gold   Whoopi Goldberg
Susan Hampshire     Jay Leno   John Lennon   Brad Little   Tom Smothers
Robin Williams     Henry Winkler   Edward James Olmos   Jill Pages (Trapeze Artist)
Harrison Ford     Oliver Reed   Daniel Stern   Bill Cosby's brother
Steven Spielberg     Zsa Zsa Gabor   Dustin Hoffman   Steve McQueen
Jack Nicholson     Suzanne Somers    Sylvester Stallone
Robin Williams     Lindsay Wagner   George C Scott     Antony Hopkins

    from http://www.desertpedal.com/fam.htm

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Liv Tyler.. is one of many stars, like Tom Cruise, Cher and Rosie O'Donnell, who have writing and spelling problems and she admits that her difficulties are becoming embarrassing.  Tyler says, "My diary is a disaster - sometimes I can't even read it. I can't spell at all, it's embarrassing. Thank God for spell check on computers. I'll spell the same word completely differently in the same sentence."     [news story from imdb.com]

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.. .. "When I was about 7, I had been labeled dyslexic," Tom Cruise told People magazine for its July 21 issue.  "I'd try to concentrate on what I was reading, then I'd get to the end of the page and have very little memory of anything I'd read. I would go blank, feel anxious, nervous, bored, frustrated, dumb."

After "Top Gun" came out in 1986, Cruise became a Scientologist and discovered the "Study Technology" the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard (news), developed in the 1960s.  "I realized I could absolutely learn anything that I wanted to learn," Cruise said. Now the 41-year-old actor is a founding board member of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, a nonprofit group that uses Hubbard's teaching techniques in a secular setting.  "I don't want people to go through what I went through," Cruise said. "I want kids to have the ability to read, to write, to understand what people are saying to them, to be able to solve life's problems."  [Assoc. Press July 11 2003]

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Tom Cruise, Noel Gallagher and Jodie Kidd have spoken out about how they overcame their dyslexia in a bid to help children suffering from the condition. Cruise, Oasis star Gallagher and supermodel Kidd were just three celebrities to speak up as part of a survey which showed that one in three Britons is dyslexic.  Cruise admits his dyslexia led him to endure bullying as a child. He says, "My childhood was extremely lonely. I was dyslexic and a lot of kids made fun of me. That experience made me tough inside, because you learn to quietly accept ridicule."  Rocker Gallagher also speaks of his school days as "unbearable" because of his dyslexia. He says, "I have problems with words over six letters long. Someone was having a joke when they made me."  Other Famous Names to take part in the project include business mogul Richard Branson and Olympic rowing star Steve Redgrave.       [imdb / wenn.com 7.27.01]

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Tom Cruise has been criticized for speaking about how Church of Scientology teachings helped him overcome his learning difficulties.  The movie star spoke exclusively to America's People magazine last week about his involvement with Scientology's learning programs, claiming they helped him to become a pilot and perfect his acting skills.  But the International Dyslexia Association has hit back at his claims, insisting his statements are unscientific.  Executive director J. Thomas Viall says, "When an individual of the prominence of Tom Cruise makes statements that are difficult to replicate in terms of what science tells us, the issue becomes what other individuals who are dyslexic do in response to such a quote-unquote success story. There is not a lot of science to support the claims that the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard are appropriate to overcoming dyslexia."  ... [imdb.com 7.18.03]

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interviews : 

Marie Friedel Director, National Foundation for Gifted and Creative Children
- about mistreatment of children for ADHD: "Psychologists can't really make a determination of a disorder versus what are characteristics of giftedness. You need an M.D. to do that kind of diagnosis, to make a definition of pathology. There is a neurological test, I think, that can determine if there is ADD. But I just don't believe in ADD. I absolutely do not accept it. I think bipolar disorder can be discovered by a psychiatrist, but I've found many gifted kids develop that. You see, gifted children haven't been taken care of, and the creatively gifted have been neglected even more."

Paula Caplan, PhD - author: "They Say You're Crazy..." - formerly a consultant to those who construct the DSM - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - on some of the major problems with the manual

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**articles:
 

The Abilities of Those with Reading Disabilities: Focusing on the Talents of People with Dyslexia  by Thomas West
"Plainly, however, reading disabilities and dyslexia are not always seen as closely associated with talent and high accomplishment. One of our problems, then, should be to try to figure out why some succeed in such dramatic ways while so many struggle fruitlessly in obscurity, never seeming to realize a small fraction of the their own distinctive potential." [Thomas G. West is author of book In the Mind's Eye]

Artism: The Essential Expenditure of Stagnant Energy in the Midst Of Cognitive Starvation - by Donna Williams
when I stop writing, composing, painting, gardening, I go 'nuts'? I think that with my receptive (processing) so shot if I didn't have the (artistic) expressive (abilities) to use up energy it'd all come piling out in stuff that wastes my time and self defeats. For example, I don't tic at the computer but if I try and make a cup of tea or cook or anything 'novel' I do. If I'm engrossed in a composition the (challenging) mood (and anxiety) crud is nowhere in sight but if I relax and do nothing it is there to 'stimulate' me (gee thanks says I, no rest for the wicked eh!).

Autism and Visual Thought  by Dr. Temple Grandin
[from Chapter 1 of her book "Thinking In Pictures..."] "Words are like a second language to me. I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures. Language-based thinkers often find this phenomenon difficult to understand, but in my job as an equipment designer for the livestock industry, visual thinking is a tremendous advantage."

Giftedness As Asynchronous Development  by Stephanie S. Tolan
"No matter what method we use, we must inevitably focus on performance and/or achievement as we identify the gifted. All too often we then go on to define the children themselves by the externals we have measured. Giftedness becomes achievement, and so seems to reside outside the individual, a reality having to do with grades, awards, scholarships, and ultimately career choice, position, wealth, success or eminence. It is vital to remember that giftedness (in childhood and beyond) is an internal reality, mental processing that is outside of norms. Achievement, as important as it is, is merely an expression of that mental processing."

Is There A Little Rain Man In Each Of Us? - by Darold Treffert, MD
In the case of the prodigious savant, it appears to me, there is a marvelous coalescence of idiosyncratic brain circuitry.. perhaps involving right hemisphere and habit memory compensatory processes, coupled with magnificent innate 'software', obsessive traits of concentration & repetition and tremendous encouragement & reinforcement from family, caretakers and teachers. Does some of that same possibility, a little Rain Man as it were, perhaps reside within each of us? I think that it does.

Leonardo, Portrait of a Dyslexic Genius

My Mind is a Web Browser: How People with Autism Think  by Temple Grandin
"Since writing Thinking in Pictures, which described my visual way of thinking, I have gained further insights into how my thought processes are different when compared to those of people who think in language."

Prodigy and Savant Syndrome: Are they related? - by Darold Treffert, MD
The expert [a calculating prodigy] seemed to develop a long term episodic memory by borrowing from other areas of long term memory, just as a computer extends the capacity of RAM by using swap space on the hard drive to create a larger 'virtual' memory,' and recruited much of that from right sided structures.

The Savant Syndrome: Islands of Genius - by Darold A. Treffert, M.D.
The movie Rain Man depicted an autistic savant and that term became almost a household word. It is important to remember, however, that not all autistic persons are savants, and not all savants are autistic. What one sees in Rain Man are savant skills (lightening calculating, memorization etc.) grafted on to autism (narrowed affect, obsessive sameness, rituals etc). It is also important to point out that the savant in the movie is a high functioning person with autistic disorder, but the disorder consists of an entire spectrum of disabilities ranging from profoundly disturbed to high functioning; not all autistic savants function at such a high level.

Successful Artist, Architect Turns His Dyslexia Into a Wellspring of Creativity
Encouraged by a kind great-great-uncle and by Frank Lloyd Wright himself, Bennett Strahan views his condition as a gift" [Assoc Press]

**sites:
 

All Kinds of Minds
"to help students who struggle with learning measurably improve their success in school and life by providing programs that integrate educational, scientific and clinical expertise..."

Are you Dyslexic? Take this test to find out [Discover magazine]

The Arts Dyslexia Trust [England]

The International Dyslexia Association

LD OnLine: Learning Disabilities Information & Resources

Twice Gifted

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> more : ...learning differences  : page 1.......books: learning differences...........

left brain / right brain.......ADD / ADHD......

dysfunction / disorder resources : articles books sites.....

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