Dyslexia and Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom made it big as an actor even though he came into this world with dyslexia.

One of the most popular stars today, Orlando Bloom who has played the role of Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean and Legolas in The Lord of the Rings. To kids everywhere, there’s no question: Orlando Bloom is the flavor of the moment. But to kids with dyslexia, the dyslexic actor represents an important role model as well.

Dyslexia Advocate

Orlando Bloom

Not at all shy about his reading challenge, Bloom has been an advocate for kids with dyslexia, telling them they can do anything they’ve got their hearts set on doing. Witness the 26 big film and television roles the actor has played since he first made a splash on the screen in 1994. At 37, Bloom can look back on his struggles with dyslexia and see how his disability made him more expressive and vibrant as an actor, in spite of making it difficult for him to read and learn scripts.

Inspiring Quotes

Here is a collection of Orlando Bloom quotes guaranteed to inspire you no matter what kind of day you’re having. Print them out and stick them to your fridge with a magnet. Every time you feel discouraged, renew your commitment to making the best of things by reading how Orlando did just that:

“You’re part of a very special club and it’s a gift and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re not good enough. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that because you struggle with dyslexia that you’re never going to make it in life, because it’s simply not true.”

Legolas Greenleaf, portrayed by Orlando Bloom

"It's not a disability; it's a challenge."

"Creativity is the key for any child with dyslexia, or for anyone for that matter. Then you can think outside of the box. Teach them anything is attainable. Let them run with what you see is whatever they need to run with."

"Don't laugh at your mates when they have problems with reading! Maybe they'll become movie stars and you'll want tickets to their premieres."

“I always knew that I wasn’t stupid. I felt like I was a smart kid, I just struggled with aspects of, of getting educated."

“Hold onto your dreams, take this obstacle and make it the reason to have a big life.”

"My mom used to tell me, 'If you read 50 books, I'll get you a motorbike.' So it inspired me to read a lot and work through my dyslexia. But I never quite got to 50. And I never got that motorbike!"

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Visual Stress is it Dyslexia?

Visual stress is what people experience after they view text for long periods of time. While the symptoms differ depending upon the individual, the most common symptoms are garden-variety headaches as well as migraines, eyestrain, and letters that seem to jump or move around on the page. Visual stress is rather common, yet often goes undetected.

Irlen Syndrome

Illustration of how sufferers of Irlen syndrome see text

In the case where there are reading difficulties and no underlying cause can be determined, it is worth a try to see if changing the background color for text relieves the symptoms. If so, this type of visual stress is called Meares-Irlen Syndrome, Scotopic Sensitivity, or Irlen Syndrome (within the U.S.). Researchers estimate that some 20% of the population suffers to one degree or another from visual stress. For many people, reading could be improved with the use of a colored overlay.

Self-Evident Improvement

Once the person suffering from visual stress can avail themselves of the proper tinted background, a number of reading-related aspects may be ameliorated. The right background can lead to improvements in reading fluency, speed, comprehension, and attention span. While researchers haven't quite determined why the change in background color makes a difference in reading, they do know that such improvement is self-evident and that customizing the proper color for the individual is crucial.

Colored Lenses

Colored lenses have also been utilized and have had a great effect. The prescription is made after the individual is assessed by a specialist in the field. The glasses are costlier than overlays but are more useful since they allow the user a greater field of vision. In the classroom, the lenses permit the wearer to see from the blackboard, the printed page, or from posters. The lenses serve the purpose of eliminating glare from whatever text the user is viewing.

Symptoms of Stress

Peer Pressure

On the other hand, sometimes the color preferences change, which necessitates a new assessment and yet another costly pair of colored glasses. Another issue to consider is the child's feelings about wearing these unusual spectacles in public. The child may not mind as an elementary student, but high school may contain social pressures beyond a child's' comfort level.

Trial And Error

The individual may benefit more from one color as an overlay but from a different color in the form of lenses. The color of the lenses can only be determined by optometrists or orthoptists who employ the use of a diagnostic device or through trial and error with a large number of colored lenses.

Not Dyslexia

While it's true that a large number of dyslexics suffer from visual stress, the two conditions are not to be confused. Colored overlays and lenses should not be seen as cures for dyslexia.

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The Dyslexic Democrat

The polls were not good. A lot of people thought Kendrick Meek (D) should just drop out of Florida's U.S. Senate race. It looked as though Meek was not even going to move past 25% of the vote against the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, or even past the incumbent Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an Independent.

Meek was not going to back down. It just wasn't part of the hulking 6'3" former A&M linebacker makeup. Meek is no quitter.If he had been a quitter, the rundown streets of Miami's Liberty City would have chewed him up and spat him out long ago, when he was the shy dyslexic child of a single mother who became Florida's first African-American Congresswoman.

State seal of Florida

Kids who grow up on mean streets know that defeat is something that must be prevented at all costs, or street credibility evaporates for good. So Meek struggled through a Dickensian-like battle for respectability. He graduated Miami Springs High School and with the help of a full scholarship became star defensive tackle for Florida A&M where he earned a degree in criminal justice. No small feat for a kid with dyslexia who bore the brunt of his classmates' teasing for being slow.

Football

Meek has said that because he was dyslexic, there were things he just couldn't do, but that football bridged the gap for him, keeping him motivated and still striving for an education. If it hadn't been for football, said the former linebacker, he doesn't think he would have made his way through college. Meek was diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade.

Dyslexic Child

Speaking about his disability, Meek described words that appeared jumbled on the page, and numbers that were transposed. Class work was a constant struggle. It was a trial to have to work long and slow at what, for other kids, seemed automatic. His classmates picked on him for taking so long to do his work.

Kendrick Meek

Natural Leader

Ken Riley, Meek's coach at Florida A&M remembered that Meek was a leader both on and off the football field. Riley said that Meek made such tremendous efforts toward coping with his dyslexia that no one suspected he suffered from a disability. Coach Riley described Meek as, "… extremely articulate and determined." Meek earned the appellation "clubhouse lawyer" from Coach Riley because whenever the other players needed any type of help or advice, Meek was the one to whom they gravitated. Riley described Meek as a "natural leader" who already knew he was going to go into politics.

Everyday Individuals

Meek spoke about the Florida constituency: "You do have an over-representation of poverty and hard times here," he said. "When you come from this kind of situation, working to correct it, you become a United States senator that carries the values of everyday individuals."

Stay Tuned

Meek may not have won the battle this time around, but is still fighting the war for the duration. Stay tuned.

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An interesting video may change the way you look at your life

Some people are so negative it’s depressing just to be around them. No matter how hard you try to cheer them up and make them see the bright side of things, they insist that their lives are gone to pot and that there is nothing in their life that is right. It’s hard to tell what it is they’re trying to get out of life, or what they want from you.

Great Stuff

You offer them suggestions and they respond with a series of “buts.” You point out the really groovy stuff in their lives and they feel forced to tell you why those things aren’t really so groovy after all. You begin to feel that they prefer to be unhappy, dissatisfied, and negative.

There’s not much else to do at that point but give up before you lose your equanimity. You can’t force a person to change perspective. It’s got to come from within.

Raw Deal

On the other hand, kids with learning disabilities may become convinced that life has handed them some tough stuff to deal with. They did, to at least some extent, get a raw deal and deserve some understanding and patience. Sometimes you just need to offer them a different perspective. If you can get them to listen, try helping them break out of the blues by showing them this clip.

There’s a cute saying that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. This clip is a good illustration of that. The words in the clip don’t change, but viewed from a different perspective, they have a whole different meaning.

That’s kind of like dyslexia, actually. A person with dyslexia may not see text the way other people do. That makes it hard to read.

Yes, it’s a disability. But with that disability comes a gift: the gift of learning to see outside the box. Because reading is difficult for someone with dyslexia, learning is done by other means.

Foreshortening (perspective)

The person with dyslexia has been handed a big problem at birth; but always having to get around the problem of reading forces the person with dyslexia to become a terrific problem solver. Maybe that’s why so many entrepreneurs and millionaires are dyslexic. When a big business problem arises, the dyslexic businessman or woman has already learned to stop and look at the problem from a different perspective. It takes some tenacity, but the solution is bound to make an appearance if only the problem-solver refuses to give up. A can-do attitude is the way to get to solutions, every time.

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