Turning Learning Disabilities into Overwhelming Advantages
Paul Orfalea is a hyperactive dyslexic who barely reads or writes. As a student, he had dismal grades and was expelled several times, even spending some time in a program for the mentally retarded. He graduated eighth from the bottom of his high-school class of 1,200. He went on to become founder and chief executive of the copy-store chain Kinko's (named such for his curly hair), turning it into a $2-billion-a-year business.
Orfalea regards his dyslexia and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as "learning opportunities" rather than disabilities. In his new book Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America's Best Companies (Workman Publishing), co-written by journalist Ann Marsh, he sketches how he parlayed such seeming weaknesses into entrepreneurial strengths.
For instance, rather than struggling with memos and emails, Orfalea encouraged voicemails that got quickly to the point. Since he disliked staying in one place, he made frequent visits to the far-flung stores. Since he was reliant on others, he had to be an astute judge of character and was focused on making Kinko's an attractive place to work. As his mind raced and jumped, he was open to new ideas for marketing and expansion.
A list of successful entrepreneurs with learning disabilities would include not just Orfalea but, among others, discount-brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab and Virgin Group creator Richard Branson (both of whom have dyslexia) and JetBlue founder David Neeleman (who has ADHD). More broadly, human cognitive capabilities and limitations seem to be thoroughly intermingled. Various people perform mental feats not only in spite of, but evidently because of, conditions normally seen as mentally or emotionally debilitating.
May 5th, 2006 at 6:25 am
i read the article,and i'm not sure what to make of it.
i am an a.d.d dyslexic,also,so here is my take,dyslexia is similar to autism even add or adhd they all have sensory issues and tend to be able to learn visually,rather than by books or words more so by images.with this being said they seem to be more right brain or sub-conscious dominent,artistic,etc. buy whats the point of your story,any tips?
May 6th, 2006 at 6:55 am
just a quote to highlight the point:
"[...] he sketches how he parlayed such seeming weaknesses into entrepreneurial strengths.[...]"
end quote. - use the remaining abilities, to succeed.
May 7th, 2006 at 11:52 am
As Orfalea has discovered, many disabilities can be transformed to abilities with creative solutions. Many ADHD sufferers are being diagnosed as not being able to focus on one task and are looked as outcasts, whereas another approach, utilizing their best potential to become distracted easily and learn to multi-task. This will enable them to utilize this "wrongly termed "disability", and create an engaging and challenging solution. Many ADHD and Dyslexic sufferers are harboring the impact of a poorly educated and hardly creative medical approach which is branding them with an indellible mark.
There are many resources available that allow us to not only respect others for their "gifts", but encourage those gifts to be used as tools for our future.