Do you remember The Fonz? A few years ago I went to a conference in NY by the Society of Children Writers and Illustrators. It was before the final edit of Chesca and the Spirit of Grace. The Fonz (Henry Winkler) was there, center stage. I didn't get what it was all about. I was overwhelmed by the number of people, nearly 1,400 writers and artists. The Fonz threw me off. I thought I was in the wrong conference room.
I now know a little more of his story. I'm attaching his interview below.
Check out the last paragraph. There is this light bulb moment when he recognizes himself in his son. That they learn similarly. Of course they do, it's in our DNA.
I have two dyslexic children. One suffers, one excels. It's amazing. The older one has been given the lovely High School label 'learning disabled,' I strongly object to it and will not contribute to it. This sensitive one is complex, logical, analytical. I watched this one (15) withdraw, collapse in confidence, lose belief in ability and intelligence, at a time when identity is awakening, the child took a good look around and began to grow into the label, began to believe it. I am disabled. And so it is.
The other has no such ideas, her dyslexia is mild. She works through her challenges and she works hard at her craft. She puts her head down and pushes through, she still believes she is intelligent and creative and a self learner. She believes in herself. She is 12. She will never be in a resource room that must be funded by the State, only on the grounds that she be deemed, learning disabled. So, two different kids, two different outcomes.
I keep auto repeating this idea that if all the kids that are highly creative and imaginative but think differently were recognized for that, and were taught accordingly, how our world would be different. It took the Fonze 50 years to change his negative thoughts, his belief that he could not write, his story of himself, and now it is his main source of happiness.
If we see ADHD, Exceutive functioning, Dyslexia, Audio functioning, as, highly creative, highly hands on, highly imaginative, highly, highly, highly! Turning the negative to positive.
There's a question you must ask yourself before you write a book. WHY? It takes years. Is it for Fame? Fortune? A nod from the literary elite?
Forget it, these are not driving forces.
The idea of overcoming my biggest challenge, to write, was a driving force for me at a time when I was knee deep in diapers, baby bags and when each day started with 'hello ba-ba' and each night finished with Good nIght moon.
I love irony. My own ironic ways, and more importantly, the irony that life throws at us. So the challenge paid off because along the way, I learned to love writing. With each major edit, or each red penned question mark beside my thought process, I learned that not only could I write, but that I was passionate about what drives characters, why we do what we do, why we react the way we do... people...life. The human spirit. Spirit.
There is no D-day, no deadline, no reckoning, it will be a life long affair.
It is a love affair with learning.
It's great. Sometimes our biggest perceived weaknesses becomes our biggest strength.
See the gift of it.
http://blog.dyslexicadvantage.org/2015/02/04/lifes-insights-with-henry-winkler-dyslexia-tenacity-and-more/
I now know a little more of his story. I'm attaching his interview below.
Check out the last paragraph. There is this light bulb moment when he recognizes himself in his son. That they learn similarly. Of course they do, it's in our DNA.
I have two dyslexic children. One suffers, one excels. It's amazing. The older one has been given the lovely High School label 'learning disabled,' I strongly object to it and will not contribute to it. This sensitive one is complex, logical, analytical. I watched this one (15) withdraw, collapse in confidence, lose belief in ability and intelligence, at a time when identity is awakening, the child took a good look around and began to grow into the label, began to believe it. I am disabled. And so it is.
The other has no such ideas, her dyslexia is mild. She works through her challenges and she works hard at her craft. She puts her head down and pushes through, she still believes she is intelligent and creative and a self learner. She believes in herself. She is 12. She will never be in a resource room that must be funded by the State, only on the grounds that she be deemed, learning disabled. So, two different kids, two different outcomes.
I keep auto repeating this idea that if all the kids that are highly creative and imaginative but think differently were recognized for that, and were taught accordingly, how our world would be different. It took the Fonze 50 years to change his negative thoughts, his belief that he could not write, his story of himself, and now it is his main source of happiness.
If we see ADHD, Exceutive functioning, Dyslexia, Audio functioning, as, highly creative, highly hands on, highly imaginative, highly, highly, highly! Turning the negative to positive.
There's a question you must ask yourself before you write a book. WHY? It takes years. Is it for Fame? Fortune? A nod from the literary elite?
Forget it, these are not driving forces.
The idea of overcoming my biggest challenge, to write, was a driving force for me at a time when I was knee deep in diapers, baby bags and when each day started with 'hello ba-ba' and each night finished with Good nIght moon.
I love irony. My own ironic ways, and more importantly, the irony that life throws at us. So the challenge paid off because along the way, I learned to love writing. With each major edit, or each red penned question mark beside my thought process, I learned that not only could I write, but that I was passionate about what drives characters, why we do what we do, why we react the way we do... people...life. The human spirit. Spirit.
There is no D-day, no deadline, no reckoning, it will be a life long affair.
It is a love affair with learning.
It's great. Sometimes our biggest perceived weaknesses becomes our biggest strength.
See the gift of it.
http://blog.dyslexicadvantage.org/2015/02/04/lifes-insights-with-henry-winkler-dyslexia-tenacity-and-more/
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