So Tom Cruise and I have a couple things in common: we’re both unbelievably good looking and incredibly smooth with the ladies. But that’s a little too obvious. What you may not know is that we both suffer from dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a very broad term for a disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read, and interpreting words, letters and symbols. However, it does not affect people’s general intelligence. In layman’s terms, dyslexics’ brains are wired differently. Because of this different wiring, the signal that the brain gets from the eyes and ears doesn’t work as fast and well as others.

According to the National Institute of Health, dyslexia is the most common learning disability, affecting 10 to 20 percent of school children. This number may seem high to you considering in an Oracle-conducted survey of 146 students, more than half of students said they did not know anyone dyslexic.

One reason that number is so high is because a lot of people who have the disorder have never been tested. I was first tested for dyslexia at a very young age, and have little memory of it. Since then, I have been tested several more times. Being tested again is not to see if you are cured (it does not work like that), but rather for my Individualized Education Plan, which is a learning tool that some, but not all, people with learning disabilities utilize.
According to the same Oracle-conducted survey, I learned that most South students have a basic knowledge of what dyslexia is. However, the one response I found particularly misinformed read, “People have trouble learning quickly.”

Dyslexics just learn differently, and we are actually very creative. The way schools are set up for us to learn is difficult for most dyslexics; school is generally reading, writing and memorizing.

Think about it. Ever since you started school, the way teachers taught English and history was through reading and writing. “Read pages 20-47 in your (insert name) text book, and write a response about it for tomorrow.” How would you feel if half of the academic subjects you were taught in school revolved around the two things that are physically difficult for you to complete at the same rate as everyone else?

There are classes at South that I would’ve liked to take—mainly AP US and Euro—but are impossible to take because of the reading and writing portions. According to Terrence Jozwik, Social Studies instructional supervisor, someone like me with a special education consideration could be eligible to take said classes. Still, I think it would be impossible for me to complete all of the work. I cannot speak for all dyslexics, but because of the way school’s set up I have to work very hard.

Although dyslexia has its drawbacks, it can have its up sides, too. Having dyslexia is not like being in a special club, although if it were, it would have some awesome members including JFK, Magic Johnson and Thomas Edison. Dyslexics tend to be more creative and better problem solvers, which is something we can use to our advantage as we face the daily challenges the disability presents us with.