Vince Vaughn is one of Hollywood’s favorite funny men. He’s starred in blockbuster hits like Wedding Crashers, Starsky and Hutch, and The Breakup.
And he has dyslexia and ADHD.
Vaughn grew up in Illinois as the youngest of three children. Both of his parents had successful business careers, and Vaughn grew up with a strong work ethic to achieve. However, when he was in elementary school, he began to struggle significantly with reading, writing, and focusing in class. He was diagnosed with both dyslexia and ADHD. His father was encouraged to give his son drugs used to manage learning difficulties in children, but refused. Instead, Vaughn attended special education classes, which he describes as upsetting and embarrassing.
He was naturally athletic and very tall (6’5”), and poured himself into sports. Wrestling, baseball and football all enabled him to feel “normal” in the face of his academic struggles.
He decided to become an actor in high school, and chased it with perseverance. He believes that his academic difficulties shaped him into someone who doesn’t give up and has the ability to fight longer and more fiercely than others for what he wants.
“When you have these setbacks, you develop a really good work ethic, because you have to try harder,” he has said.
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Sarah Forrest is an Easyread System Coach for the Easyread System, an online phonics course for children aged 5 to 12 with reading and spelling difficulties due to dyslexia, auditory processing disorder and highly visual learning styles. Find out more at www.easyreadsystem.com