Dylan, a dyslexic high school senior, hopes to attend a competitive college. In spite of accomplishments in arts, sports and academics, Dylan is a poor speller and slow reader. Alison, a dyslexic graduate student, reveals a desire to surpass low expectations borne from assumptions about learning disabilities. Skye, a seventh-grader from Manhattan , feels that dance is her “release valve” from the pressure to keep pace with her grade. Sebastian, a ski-racing fifth-grader from Connecticut, helps us understand why allowing extra time on tests to dyslexics is not an unfair advantage. Intimate observations by the mothers of these young adults and children reveal a unique and often painful picture: in spite of high levels of intelligence and creativity, dyslexics struggle with things that the rest of the population does automatically. How can this be? Dr.’s Sally and Bennett Shaywitze, co-directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, provide clear and imaginative answers. Additional testimony from the likes of Sir Richard Branson and Charles – all dyslexic icons in their fields - confirm what the children, experts and families suggest: that dyslexia is as much a gift as a challenge.