"Different Doesn't Mean Deficient"

(Jonathan Mooney, above)

Jonathan Mooney is a learning disabilities advocate who was inspired by his own experience. He has dyslexia and ADHD. When he first entered kindergarten, he became "the bad kid" because of his inability to remain still. He said that he had " a sense of being 'less than', because of the way [he] was treated"

His message is simple, "different doesn't mean deficient". It is something that he learned the hard way. 

In 1998, he and four others started Project Eye-to-Eye, a widely duplicated mentor/student non-profit organization whose goal is to give younger students with learning disabilities hope. 

I had the honor of hearing him speak earlier this year at a transition resource fair  he spoke about some of the students who he met through Project Eye-to-Eye. 

He told us about Juan, who at 18, had just gotten out of jail. Juan had been arrested at the age of 13 for running a 20 person drug ring in south central Los Angeles. Jonathan told us, "Juan said he was done with that life, but he said he was no good at anything." But Jonathan laughed. " I said, Juan! A 20 person drug ring?! Dude! You're an entrepreneur! Now, we gotta get you a different product, some hoodies or something.."

With encouragement, Juan went to college and studied graphics design. Today he works with advertising companies.  

The thing is, you need to find what you're passionate about, and then find a way to apply it. If you need to, don't hesitate to ask for help. Just because you're different doesn't mean that you cannot succeed.