Singer-songwriter and Grammy Hall of Famer Carly Simon is best known for her hit singles “You’re So Vain”, “Let the River Run”, and “Nobody Does It Better” – the latter written for a James Bond film.
She’s also a big advocate for children and adults with dyslexia, because both she and her two grown children have struggled with reading difficulties over the years.
Simon grew up in New York City, and her difficulties started early on. Along with her reading difficulty, she developed a stutter at age 8 and turned to music to help find her voice. When she sang, the stammer disappeared!
She still remembers the emotional struggles of those early school years…
“Being embarrassed at school is a terrible thing…when your peers are making fun of you because they can’t understand what wonderful whimsy your mind may be making up and going through,” she said in an NPR interview recently. “While they’re just going 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, you’re going 1-2-4-5-7-8-9-3!”
Both of her adult children from her marriage to musician James Taylor have a dyslexia diagnosis too. But Carly Simon saw things differently than other parents might.
Her daughter Sally Taylor described her mother’s reaction to the news that she had dyslexia.
“She just said, ‘Congratulations, this is fantastic, and welcome to the family. We’re all dyslexic therefore we’re all going to understand each other better now…Welcome to the cool club!’”
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Sarah Forrest is Programme Manager for the Easyread System, an online program for children struggling with reading and spelling, dyslexia, and more. Get a free 10-day trial at www.oxfordlearningsolutions.com
