We want to hear

from you!

Read about
stories from

dyslexics: In their own words

and then send us yours!

That was only the beginning of when I started to feel a little inadequate to my fellow classmates. On my report card, one teacher noted, “You’ll find Harvey an alert, cooperative, interesting,  bright, happy child who contributes much orally to the class. He does exceptionally well on a one to one basis, but is completely lost in group instruction.”  My mother knew I was smart, but most teachers did not see that, and my mother worried a lot.

During one of my attempts to go to college, it was confirmed that I was not college material. My English professor excused me from class permanently when he learned that correct spelling and grammar didn’t exist in my writing. My ideas were not judged, but my lack of structure in writing was. “Those skills should have been learned prior to entering college classes! You may be excused now, Mr. Hubbell,” he grumped.

Being a visual thinker, I gravitated toward the film industry. For years I worked on any TV show, feature film or commercial that would have me. Sometimes I worked for just food, shelter and even clothing. Eventually, through hard work and determination, I started telling my own stories through movies. It turned out that people liked them, and I got some awards. So I made more films and got more awards, some of which turned out to be Emmys.

Our movie started in New York City interviewing people on the streets and asking the simple question, “What is dyslexia?” Quickly we learned that most people have no idea what it is. Some even thought it was a sexually transmitted disease; others thought it was a condition where people do not sleep. Public awareness on the subject was low. It didn't take long to discover that the same apathy on the subject was the norm within multitudes of school systems. Although many are making changes to help dyslexics, too many aren't doing anything at all. There are even school systems that are in legal battles with parents who want their dyslexic children educated.  Instead of paying for teachers to learn new methods to teach dyslexics, schools are using their funds to oppose parents and advocate that they are doing “enough.”    

Eventually, either for their amusement or their sympathy, they gave me their support. Together, we built an advisory board. We talked to the people at the IDA (International Dyslexia Association), including their past and future presidents. We met with educators and brain scientists, both traditional and maverick (including one who used to be a monk), who were studying how students learn to read.  We also found schools on the cutting edge that were operating specifically for dyslexic students, like the Foreman School and Kildonan Schools. Furthermore, we met moms and dads, advocates for their dyslexic children, challenging public school systems to do more.

It is my mission to raise awareness on the topic, and to help dyslexics to get the education they need by offering the movie as a tool for advocates who work to get laws changed.  Why is it that some of the most brilliant people in history including Einstein, Thomas Edison, Beethoven, Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Schwab, Walt Disney and Picasso are thought to be dyslexic? We recognize them for their brilliant ideas, and they were lucky; they somehow found a way to get their ideas out. Yet many of today’s dyslexics never make it to success. Right now in America, one in five adults are functionally illiterate. That's 60 million people - equal to the entire population of California and Texas combined. Eighty-five percent of the prison population in our country reads below a sixth grade level.

Dyslexics may feel insecure about themselves because of poor reading or writing skills. How many Einsteins have we squashed? Within our rapidly changing times, it’s time for the world to recognize cerebral diversity and allow dyslexic people their rightful place in society, instead of ridiculing them for their weaknesses. 

Harvey Hubbell V

Dislecksia: The Movie will be a comic documentary, but it has a serious purpose. It will give viewers a better understanding of the condition itself, the problems it makes for individuals and families, and the programs that are needed to deal with it. It will help dyslexics and their families get the assistance they need. It will give them hope — as well as a crash course in how to laugh at their own condition.

While estimates vary somewhat, reading disability is a massive problem. An in-depth study by Yale University concluded that dyslexia affects one out of every five children. A survey by the US Department of Education found that nearly 38 percent of fourth graders had not achieved even basic or rudimentary skills in reading. An estimated four-fifths of all learning disabilities are reading disabilities.

The individual, social, and financial costs are almost beyond calculation. Kids who don't learn to read face frustration, humiliation, and battering of their self-esteem. Many adopt counter-productive responses, from getting sick when they have to read out loud to becoming "class clown" to hide their embarrassment. They drop out of high school at double the rate of other kids. With limited reading skills, poor education, and damaged self-image, many dyslexics are set up for a life of frustrated hopes and limited opportunities. They are blocked from utilizing their talents to realize their aspirations.

The costs to society are equally devastating. The ability to read is a prerequisite for contribution to society both as a worker and as a citizen. Yet our communities and workforce are filled with adults who cannot read — a recent study estimated one million non-readers in the New York City workforce alone. Many are talented people whose potential contribution to society is lost because of their disability. A disproportionate number of those with reading disabilities fill our juvenile detention facilities and prisons.

The good news is that these tragic outcomes can be almost completely forestalled. As the many highly successful dyslexics demonstrate, even those with severe dyslexia can learn to function at high levels that take advantage of their full range of talents.

If they receive the right kind of help early enough, all dyslexics can improve their reading and most can learn to read with competence. Yet most dyslexics are not identified until third grade at the earliest. Only a small proportion — less than one-third — receive treatment. Often the treatment they receive is inappropriate and/or inadequate.

If treatment is delayed, the brain becomes less malleable for rerouting neural circuits and treatment therefore becomes more difficult. Children who don’t learn how to read fall further behind their peers because they miss out on additional reading practice. For many, the pain and shame of failure instill an aversion to even trying.

These consequences are unnecessary. They can all be corrected by means of changes in public knowledge about and attitudes toward dyslexia. Indeed, many experts in the field of dyslexia believe that changing public awareness of what dyslexia is and what can be done about it is the key to eliminating this unnecessary scourge. If those at risk for dyslexia could be identified, diagnosed, and provided the special instruction they need, the “problem” of dyslexia could be largely eliminated.

The mission of Dislecksia: The Movie is to provide a critical tool for creating that public awareness. It will educate a wide public on what dyslexia is — not a sign of stupidity as so many believe, but of a need to learn in a different way. It will tell parents of dyslexics what they can do to ensure that their children are properly diagnosed and given the kind of instruction they need. It will help schools understand what they need to do to identify those at risk for dyslexia and to provide the instruction that will allow them to learn. It will help educators gain support from parents and the community to provide what dyslexic kids need. And it will help dyslexics themselves understand that they have the potential to learn successfully, but that they have to learn in a different way.

Almost everyone in America has a dyslexic in their family, has friends and colleagues who are dyslexic, or is dyslexic themselves. I hope that after seeing this movie, every one of them will say, “Now I know why Tommy can't read — and I know what to do about it."