October is Dyslexia awareness month! It’s easy to think that dyslexia doesn’t affect that many people but in actual fact around 10% of the UK’s population are dyslexic and 4% are classed as severely dyslexic. It can go unnoticed for a long time and going back a few years, if you were dyslexic, it was probably put down to you being anything but having an actual learning disability.

Today, dyslexia is widely recognised and isn’t something that has to hold you back. To prove a point, I’ve found four people that have done pretty well for themselves who just so happen to have dyslexia too.

Daniel Radcliffe

Famous for being able to solve pretty much any awkward wizarding situation, things haven’t always been so easy for old HP. Growing up he suffered from Dyspraxia, a learning disability that is often grouped with Dyslexia. When he was 9, he auditioned for his first school play which his mum thought would help boost his confidence. Even to this day Daniel still struggles with his handwriting and coordination skills, making everyday things like tying his shoelaces difficult.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson is arguably the most successful and financially wealthy person on this list. Having suffered from Dyslexia at school, he said that his teachers branded him lazy and dumb and often said he couldn’t keep up or fit in with school life. He believes that dyslexic people often go on to be successful as their condition means they simplify things and looks for the easiest and often best route to where they want to be.

Keira Knightley

Keira is another famous actor that grew up with dyslexia. She was diagnosed at just 6 years old but rather than focusing on things she struggled with such as reading, she used her love of acting to help her grow in these areas. She would often read movie scripts to practice reading and struck up a deal with her parents that if she read every day that they would hire her an agent. Looks like the reading paid off to me.

Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver is potentially one of the world’s most famous TV chefs and whilst he is the author of an amazing 20 different books it wasn’t until he was 38 that he finished reading his first. Jamie has said that his Dyslexia allows him to see problems from a different angle to others and it tends to make him quite obsessive about working on things that he’s passionate about. Labelled a ‘thick kid’ at school, he now sits at the top of a £150 million publishing and cookery business.

There we have it, guys, four successful people that have taken Dyslexia and rather than allowing it to slow them down, they’ve turned it into a positive and used it to focus and improve the areas that come naturally. Hats off to them!