Famous People with Learning Difficulties

Albert Einstein

This Nobel prize winner was generally thought of as a thinker of outstanding insight.  He was the author of both the general and special theories of relativity.

However, as a child he was considered ’simple’.  He was unable to speak until he was three years old and struggle with both math and writing in school.

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson could not read until he turned eleven and was considered by many relatives as ‘dull’ and ‘backward’.  He quickly proved them all wrong when he became the 28th President of the United States.

Alexander Graham Bell

The Scottish born American inventor of the telephone suffered from dyslexia.  He went on to become president of the National Geographic Society, and founder of the National Geographic Magazine.

Tom Cruise

The star of many movies including Rain Man, Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire and A Few Good Men, Tom became one of Hollywood’s highest earning actors in 1994 when he received over $20 million for his role in Interview with a Vampire.

All of this in spite of being dyslexic, he has to memorise his lines in each of the movies and plays he acts in.

Thomas Alva Edison

Edison couldn’t read until he was twelve and had difficulty in writing even when older.  In spite of this he went on to  invent the phonograph and electric lamp among many others.

Auguste Rodin

Rodin’s most famous work is ‘The Thinker’, yet his father once said “I have an idiot for a son.”.  He did poorly at arithmetic and spelling, yet displayed his  genius in other ways.