Yaakov's Brain Power Wall

Real athletes, builders, business bosses and scientists whose dyslexia or ADHD helped them win, plus quick ideas for Abba and Yaakov to do together.

The big idea
Your brain isn't broken. It's built for big pictures, wild ideas and never giving up. School is just one test, and the world runs on brains like yours.

Quick Hits: sports

Under 5 minutes each

Michael Phelps: what he'd tell his younger self about ADHD. The most Olympic medals ever.Child Mind Institute · 1:22 Simone Biles: the key to her dominance could be her brain. She's proud of her ADHD.Business Insider · 1:55 Simone Biles: 'I'm not ashamed to tell people' about ADHDInside Edition · 1:09 Magic Johnson: the dyslexic kid who ran 'Showtime' in the NBAThe Underdog · 2:52 Tim Tebow on dyslexia: Heisman winner who says being different is goodGood Morning America · 5:04

Quick Hits: business bosses

Perfect for an ice-business CEO

Richard Branson: 'The world needs more dyslexic thinking.' He started Virgin as a teen.Made By Dyslexia · 1:04 Richard Branson talks to Made By DyslexiaMade By Dyslexia · 4:34 Barbara Corcoran (Shark Tank): 'I was free to do anything because I was dyslexic'Made By Dyslexia · 0:37 Barbara Corcoran: what she'd tell her younger selfChild Mind Institute · 1:51 Daymond John (Shark Tank, FUBU): dyslexia as a strengthThe Dragonfly Forest · 1:36 Charles Schwab: comic books helped him crack dyslexia, then he built a giant bankBloomberg · 3:37 Jamie Oliver: the chef who built a food empire with dyslexiaMade By Dyslexia · 3:42 How dyslexia shaped IKEA (Ingvar Kamprad gave every product a name, not a number)Dyslexia Explored · 4:01

Quick Hits: builders, makers & science

Jack Horner: the real dinosaur hunter behind Jurassic Park, dyslexicMade By Dyslexia · 4:45 Ann Bancroft: polar explorer who crossed Antarctica, dyslexicBeacon College · 5:57 Steven Spielberg on growing up as an outsider with dyslexiaThe Narrative Art · 2:39 Henry Winkler (the Fonz) talks dyslexia with kidsCBBC · 4:17 Dyslexic Thinking campaign filmMade By Dyslexia · 2:16

3-line story cards

Read these out loud in 30 seconds

Michael Phelps

Teachers said he couldn't focus. Swimming gave his energy somewhere to go. He won 28 Olympic medals.

Richard Branson

Struggled badly at school with dyslexia. Started a magazine as a teen, then Virgin. Now he even sends rockets to space.

Ingvar Kamprad

Sold matches and pens as a boy. Dyslexia made number codes hard, so IKEA products got names. IKEA is now worldwide.

Jack Horner

Nearly flunked out of school with dyslexia. Kept digging anyway. Found huge dinosaur discoveries and advised Jurassic Park.

Carol Greider

Thought she was 'bad at school' because of dyslexia. Learned to memorize and work around it. Won the Nobel Prize in 2009.

Daymond John

Sewed hats at home with his mom. Built FUBU into a huge clothing brand. Now judges kid and grown-up businesses on Shark Tank.

Carol Greider tells her own dyslexia story at nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/greider/biographical

Go Deeper: longer videos

10 minutes and up, for a watch-together night

Richard Branson: how to be a dyslexic disruptorMade By Dyslexia · 11:53 Henry Winkler's powerful message to children with dyslexiaThe View · 10:08 Daymond John: 'Dyslexia sucks, but it's also my superpower'Daymond John · 12:48 Steven Spielberg discusses his dyslexia for the first timeInterview, 2012 · 10:34 Jack Horner: dinosaur hunter and dyslexic advantageDyslexic Advantage · 16:18 The creative brilliance of dyslexia (Kate Griggs, Made By Dyslexia founder)TEDx · 14:59 ADHD as an entrepreneur's superpowerTEDx · 15:01 Barbara Corcoran: kill negative self-talk and use dyslexic thinkingMade By Dyslexia · 23:42

Go Deeper: books to read together

Ages 9 to 13, great as audiobooks too

Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler: a funny kid with dyslexia, written by a dyslexic authorWikipedia Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan: the hero has dyslexia and ADHD because he's half-godWikipedia Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt: a girl finds out her dyslexic brain is brilliantWikipedia Brilliant Bea: a short dyslexia story read aloudKidTimeStoryTime · 12:58

Kids like him

Josh Turner: dyslexic teen who started Stand4 Socks, cheered on by Richard BransonStand4 Socks · 3:02 Mat's story: a young dyslexic who createsBritish Dyslexia Association · 1:46 Dyslexic Superheroes: Ailey the entrepreneurNessy · 1:01 Dyslexia Creates: EntrepreneursBritish Dyslexia Association · 1:18

Why dyslexic brains are good at this

Big picture: seeing how all the pieces fit, like a coach reading the whole court.
Imagining: building things in your head before they exist.
Explaining and selling: telling a story people want to buy into.
Problem-solving: finding a new way when the normal way doesn't work.
Never giving up: practice at hard things makes you tough.

Dyslexia explained (2 min)Made By Dyslexia · 2:14 What is dyslexia?TED-Ed · 4:35 Made By Dyslexiamadebydyslexia.org Celebrities with dyslexia and ADHDUnderstood.org #MyYoungerSelf videos (Phelps, Corcoran, Schwab and more)Child Mind Institute Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativitydyslexia.yale.edu

Ideas for Abba

Motzei Shabbat watch nightOne Quick Hit plus one Go Deeper video, popcorn, and he picks the next one.
Superpower checklistAfter each video, he ticks which of the five strengths that person used, and which ones he has.
'My brain's strengths' posterBig paper, his photo in the middle, his strengths around it, heroes' pictures on the edges. Hang it by his desk.
Interview a dyslexic grown-upFind a relative, coach or business owner in Ra'anana. He asks 3 questions: what was hard, what helped, what's your superpower.
Ice business board meetingWatch the Branson or Daymond John clip, then ask: what would they do with my ice business? Pick one idea to try this week.
Hero of the weekA new story card every Sunday at dinner. He reads or tells it to the family.