A Boy with Dyslexia writes to Successful Adults with Dyslexia for Advice

A sixteen-year-old boy from North Carolina has a very special project. Aidan Colvin writes letters to successful people with dyslexia asking if they have any advice for a high schooler with dyslexia like him. He started this project in a moment of despair after getting some not so wonderful grades back. Those grades did not reflect the work he put in. His mom reminded him of the poster he had on his wall of successful adults with dyslexia and asked him, “I wonder how they made it?” That started the project of writing over 100 letters. So far ten have responded including surgeon Dr. Delos Cosgrove and economist Diane Swonk. One of the other people he wrote to was Jay Leno. He did not just write to him one time, but three! After hearing about his project a reporter from the Fayetteville Observer took Aidan backstage of a performance to meet Jay Leno in person. The meeting was only ten minutes long, but led to a follow up call where Leno gave him advice and told stories of how he overcame his own struggles. Aidan, with the help of his mom, has now written a book from his experience with these letters. Read the full NY Times article here and check out the book here.