Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been repeatedly mocked for being dyslexic by the president. These are cheap shots, but they are also something more troubling: an entrenched and damaging assumption that people who struggle to read, write, or organize their thoughts are somehow less capable, less intelligent, or less worthy of leadership.
That assumption is wrong. And it has dire consequences that go far beyond one politician.
Language-based learning disabilities — commonly and collectively referred to as dyslexia — affect far more than the ability to decode words on a page. They affect spelling, memory, organization, and verbal communication, including how someone processes nuance in conversations.
Because we use language to learn all subjects, students see impacts across other areas, including math, science, social studies, and foreign languages. When not identified early, this can potentially derail a student’s scholastic trajectory from the very first days of school.
Nearly one in five U.S. students has a learning disability, the majority being one that is language-based. This means millions of children are sitting in classrooms absorbing the message that difficulty equals failure.
That should never be true. Newsom is one of countless high-achieving individuals — doctors, lawyers, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and yes, elected officials — who have demonstrated that a learning disability is not a destiny. It is a different way of perceiving the world and one that, with the right support, can yield extraordinary results.
Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg, Gary Cohn, and Steven Spielberg are among those who have spoken openly about their dyslexia. They are successful — like the hundreds of thriving alumni from the 60-plus-year-old school for students with language-based learning disabilities that I lead in New York — not in spite of how their brains work, but because of the creative, lateral, and unconventional thinking that so often accompanies such differences, qualities that modern workplaces are beginning to recognize in their search for talent and innovation.
Most current educational models were built on frameworks from the 1920s, optimized for uniformity and rote instruction, not for the range of students in classrooms today. As a result, too many students with learning differences spend their school years being underestimated, undertaught, and ultimately underprepared.
What works for these students is now well-established: early identification; individualized instruction; structured literacy approaches grounded in research; explicit teaching of academic skills that others may acquire implicitly; and importantly, attention to social-emotional development, alongside academics. Most critical of all, students need teachers who are well-trained, not merely well-intentioned.
Students receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have climbed to 8 million, or 15% of the total public school enrollment as of 2023. Yet, there are not enough schools, programs, or trained educators to meet that need. More funding helps, but money alone does not make schools better.
What’s necessary are sustained investment in teacher preparation, ongoing research, and a genuine commitment to expanding access, not just for families who can afford specialized schools, but for all children. In fact, “special education” should not be considered a lower tier, but the gold standard.
Mocking someone with dyslexia is not just unkind: it is dangerously heedless of science, research, and history, and squanders future possibilities for the children and communities of our country. Every child has the ability to learn and the capacity to achieve. The question is whether we are willing to build the systems that will make that a reality for all students.
Helvie is head of school at The Gateway School.