Richard Branson Shares Details About His Experience With Dyslexia

Richard Branson wants people to think of dyslexia as an asset, not a weakness. The founder of Virgin recently described his experience with the disorder in a blog post for the U.K.’s Sunday Times, right before launching a new charity for dyslexia on Tuesday.  Branson wrote that his dyslexia was “treated as a handicap” in school, which he stopped attending as a teenager. “There were some subjects where I drew a complete blank,” he wrote. “[Math] just didn’t make sense to me. I once did an IQ test and the questions seemed absurd. For years I hadn’t been able to work out the difference between gross and net.” However, the symptoms of dyslexia ― like slow reading, confusion with math and difficulty processing words ― are precisely what Branson says enabled him to build his business empire. “Once freed from archaic schooling practices and preconceptions, my mind opened up,” he explained. “Out in the real world, my dyslexia became my massive advantage: it helped me to think creatively and laterally, and see solutions where others saw problems.” Branson has spoken out about his dyslexia before. He’s also mentored children with the disorder and has given talks about how it shaped his youth. Now, he explains, it’s time to make sure schools are equipped to support kids with the same condition.  Approximately 5 to 15 percent of people ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news