Millions Have Dyslexia, Few Understand It

"It's frustrating that you can't read the simplest word in the world."

"Thomas Lester grabs a book and opens to a random page. He points to a word: galloping."

"Goll—. G—. Gaa—. Gaa—. G—. " He keeps trying. It is as if the rest ­­of the word is in him somewhere, but he can't sound it out."

"I don't ... I quit." He tosses the book and it skids along the table."

"Despite stumbling over the simplest words, Thomas — a fourth-grader — is a bright kid. In fact, that's an often-misunderstood part of dyslexia: It's not about lacking comprehension, having a low IQ or being deprived of a good education."

"It's about having a really hard time reading."

"Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in the United States. It touches the lives of millions of people, including me and Thomas. Just like Thomas, I spent much of my childhood sitting in a little chair across from a reading tutor."