Actor Henry Winkler, an adult who is a dyslexic, is encouraging children to read. He recently spoke at a Celebration of Children’s Literacy event. His success both as an actor and as an author can inspire children who have dyslexia to keep trying.
Henry Winkler might be best known for his role as “The Fonz” in the “Happy Days” television show. The show takes place it the 1950’s, but it was filmed in the 1970’s. To me, it is very interesting that the actor who played the character who was, undoubtedly, the coolest guy in the entire “Happy Days” series was someone who, in reality, struggled in school. Typically, children who have trouble reading, due to a learning disability such as dyslexia, aren’t generally the same kids who are considered to be the most popular.
It’s not unusual for children who are dyslexics to have an extremely difficult time learning how to read. This could cause the child to be several reading levels, behind his or her peers. It can be incredibly embarrassing to be so far behind the other kids in your class in a skill that you are going to be required to use each and every school day. This frustration can cause children with learning disabilities like dyslexia to absolutely hate reading and even to decide to give up on it, entirely.
However, just because a child has dyslexia, it doesn’t mean that he or she will never learn to read. It doesn’t mean that the child cannot become a successful adult. Henry Winkler, in addition to being a famous actor, has also become a writer. He has written a series of children’s novels called “Hank Zipzer: The World’s Most Amazing Underachiever”. The events that take place in the books were inspired by his own struggles at school when he was a child.
I am dyslexic, and I didn’t know that I was until after I became an adult, and started teaching children who were dyslexic. Henry Winkler learned that he was dyslexic when he was 31 years old, and his son was diagnosed with dyslexia. There are a lot of undiagnosed adult dyslexics out there that have no idea that they have a learning disability, and who are successful.
The message that Henry Winkler was speaking about was that just because you are dyslexic, it doesn’t mean you should let that keep you from being successful. This, coming from someone who truly does know, firsthand, how hard it can be to learn how to read when you have dyslexia. I think his words, and his books, can help encourage children who have dyslexia to not give up on reading.
Image by Pat Williams on Flickr