Disabilities

Whoopi Goldberg is an Academy Award-winning actress, author, radio host, television personality and comedian. She is one of the only ten people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award; and is the first woman to be honored with the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

She was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, she has likened the public’s misunderstanding of dyslexia to the ways menstrual cramps were once shrugged off as a problem that only existed in women’s heads. Dyslexia is a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.

This successful woman once struggled in school, hearing words such as “dumb” and “stupid” directed at her. She felt that she couldn’t grasp any of the information she was being taught in school and often times felt ‘stupid’. She hated reading out loud and even when she recognized the words on the page, she seemed to have trouble saying them correctly. School was never her favorite place because her teachers always complained about her writing and her spelling. She often got discouraged, thinking that she's not as smart as other students.

If Whoopi Goldberg were in my classroom as a student with dyslexia, she would be given extra time to complete tasks, or help with taking notes, and/or appropriate work assignments. She would also receive taped tests or allow dyslexic students to use alternative means of assessment. I would use objects to help teach her, as this will be more of interest to them and they will understand it better. I would never call her stupid and show her a list of famous dyslexic people, like Albert Einstein to encourage her. Students may benefit from listening to books-on-tape and from writing on computers. I would look beyond that student’s weakness, and comment on her strengths. I would also treat them just as I treat the other students and hold them in the...