The Breeze February 2020

20 People Who Succeeded in Spite of a Learning
Disability or AD/HD
By Kimberly Blaker
“In the course of childhood and adolescence, school
experiences play an important role in the development
of self-perceptions and can have powerful and longterm
effects on a child’s self-esteem,” say experts
Batya Elbaum, Ph.D. and Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.
“Individuals with learning disabilities (LD),” they
point out, “are especially vulnerable to low selfconcept.
. . and it is clear that students with LD often
experience academic challenges that can drain selfesteem.”
For children with learning disabilities (LD) or
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD),
the mark of a new school year can be cause for
anxiety. Encourage your child by sharing this pullout
of famous personalities who’ve succeeded in spite of
an LD or AD/HD.
Hans Christian Anderson is known around
the world for his many fairy tales including The
Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes, and The Emperor’s
New Clothes. He struggled with math because of
dyscalculia, yet had a talent for writing fairy tales
that was extraordinaire.
Anne Bancroft earned national recognition for
exploring the Arctic and Antarctic. Regardless of
struggles with a learning disability and AD/HD in her
youth, she became the first woman to successfully
complete these incredible expeditions resulting in
several awards including inductee into the National
Women’s Hall of Fame.
Ludwig van Beethoven is one the world’s
greatest musicians of all time. It’s believed that he
had both AD/HD and dyslexia. His disabilities didn’t
hurt his ability to compose music, however. During his
life, he wrote major orchestral pieces, piano sonatas,
symphonies, and even an opera.
Cher is a highly successful singer and actress. She
struggled in school and eventually dropped out
because of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and AD/HD, of which
she was unaware until the age of 30. Her stardom
came from box office hit movies as well as producing
several solo albums.
Cher
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