HIDDEN TALENTS

1. .................................. They often didn’t learn to read and write until they were older. Their parents often thought they were stupid, and their friends laughed at them. Some of them hated their schooldays and decided to drop out of school as soon as possible. In short, they had unhappy schooldays.

2. .................................. Some of the world’s greatest composers, writers and inventors had an unpleasant time at school like this. Later, when they became successful, nobody was more surprised than their old classmates. Were these people stupid? No, of course not! Some people believe that they had something in common: dyslexia.

3. .................................. Dyslexia is a learning disability which means that people have problems with reading and remembering words. It is often difficult for them to memorise things. Studies show that people with dyslexia use a different part of their brain to read and remember. Experts think that lots of people have this illness, but not everybody knows about it.

4. .................................. Some people with dyslexia discover that they have special hidden talents when they are older. A good example is Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers in history. At school she had problems with writing and often got bad grades. Her parents were disappointed and wanted Agatha to leave school early. She started writing just because her older sister said she couldn’t do it! And even when she became a famous crime writer, she sometimes felt embarrassed because she couldn’t spell.

5. .................................. There are many examples of people like Agatha Christie – Albert Anderson, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Thomas Edison. These are some people who had some problems with reading and writing when they were young. Of course that doesn’t mean that everybody with dyslexia is a genius, but it shows that sometimes people can be a lot more intelligent than they seem.