The Egyptian Dyslexia Association Website

Success stories

Whoopi Goldberg didn't even make it through the first month of high school before dropping out. Two weeks in, she quit. She didn't know that she had dyslexia, which was why she struggled so much with her school work, and frustrated her teachers.

Since she started acting in Steven Spielberg's film The Color Purple, she has not had much trouble finding work. Her career spans film, stage, television, comedy, producing, hosting and writing. She has appeared in more than 150 films and has also won a ton of awards, received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hosted the Academy Awards, and been involved in numerous charities.

Agatha Miller was born in Torquay, England on September 15, 1890. After marrying Colonel Archibald Christie at age 23 she got the surname she's made so famous. Christie spent more than fifty years writing, and has produced 79 novels and short story collections. Her most famous character is the bright, little detective Hercule Poirot. On January 12, 1976, Agatha Christie passed away. An interesting thing about Agatha Christie is that she actually had dyslexia but despite that fact she managed to write stories and eventually become who fans call Queen of Crime.

The late billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson left all of his wealth to charity. Sorenson, who invented a number of medical devices that have become standard equipment in hospitals and clinics, died of cancer on Jan. 20 at age 86. Sorenson was a child of the Great Depression who grew up in central California with dyslexia. He triumphed over that handicap to become an astute problem solver. As a pharmaceutical salesman in the 1950s, he came up with his first major medical invention -- the disposable surgical mask. His other medical inventions included the first real-time computerized heart monitoring systems and the automated intravenous drug pump. Sorenson is survived by his wife, Beverley, eight children who are successful business people,47 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren .

Shelly Fishman thinks she was about 17 when she realized why she wanted to be a teacher. She recalls standing outside of her home in Bridgeton, listening to her mother and sister have a conversation that mentioned the word "dyslexia" — a condition she was only starting to realize she suffered from. "I remember hearing that it was bad thing, that it had been hidden from me," she said. " . . . And I felt that I didn't want that to be something that other children would have to go through. I guess I wanted to go to school and be a teacher, and kind of know that I could help other kids so they wouldn't struggle through something like that." Fishman, who had a difficult time with reading when she was younger but didn't understand why, said she wanted others to realize a learning disability wasn't a shortcoming and "that it was something you could live through." Almost two decades later, the 36-year-old teacher at Chittick Elementary School in East Brunswick has made good on her promise of helping children in the classroom.