Jonathan Mooney Visits Star Academy
Jonathan Mooney, author of two books about living with learning differences, was a special guest speaker at Star Academy in 2007. To a full house of riveted students, teachers and parents, Jonathan spoke of his own experiences and challenges growing up with learning differences, how he learned to cope with them along the way, and how he became highly successful in spite of, and because of, his learning differences.
Having graduated from Brown University with an honors degree in English literature, Jonathan spoke of being a "great reader". Jonathan has dyslexia and ADHD. He reads at the seventh grade level and spells at the third grade level. He coped with his challenges by using books on tape and other assistive technologies. He offered students this paradigm: one doesn't have to read well to be a great reader. And one doesn't have to be able to spell well to be a great writer.
He spoke of how he worked around his challenges to get where he wanted to go. He made it into Brown University by attending junior college first, thereby avoiding the SAT. He also developed other skills to make his application more appealing.
Jonathan's presentation was a poignant reminder of how painful it is for students with learning differences when their strengths and challenges are not understood, and when they lack access to the supports they need to be successful.
Jonathan preached the importance of self-advocacy, of the need to work hard and try new approaches until you find one that works for you, and the importance of reframing how you think about your own abilities so that your learning difference does not become your disability. Students of Star enthusiastically embraced Jonathan's message.
Special thanks for Parents Education Network (PEN) and a Star Academy student for helping to arrange Jonathan's speaking engagement at Star Academy.
