The Lightning Thief : Dyslexic and ADHD Hero

Rick Riordan a former teacher in America has written a number of adventure books about a character called Percy Jackson who has dyslexia and ADHD. The books have become bestsellers.

The character Percy Jackson started out as a ­bed-time story for his son Haley when he was young.. At the time Haley refused to read and hated school. But he loved Greek myths, and so his father would tell him stories. In the end his son suggested he write his own stories and so as a result Rick Riordan started to write books about Percy Jackson and his adventures. (The books have some similarity to Harry Potter books …)

Percy is not a typical hero: he has never scored above a grade C in his life, and he thinks he's a failure until he finds out he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon !! Percy has ­dyslexia and attention deficit ­hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), just like Rick Riordan’s son , on whom the character was based.

At the start of his adventures, Percy discovers that his difficulties are not a weakness after all, but a sure sign of greatness: when he sees words jumbled on the page, it's because his mind is hard-wired for ancient Greek, and when the ADHD makes it hard to sit still in the classroom, it's just ­hyper-awareness that will keep him alive on the battlefield.

Rick’s son Haley said "You read a lot of books and none of them have a hero who is ­dyslexic or has ADHD – it's always perfect people in a perfect world ­doing perfect things. Percy is, in fact, very flawed and he has to fight against that and at the same time fight monsters."

Rick Riordan "Making Percy ADHD/dyslexic was my way of honouring the potential of all the kids I’ve known who have those conditions. It’s not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it’s the mark of being very, very talented. That’s what Percy discovers about himself in The Lightning Thief."

Recently the book The Lightning Thief has been made into a film which stars Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman.

The Lightning Thief is available in Turkish , plus the other books written by Rick Riordan. Its for 12 + year olds.

( Source : The Guardian )

http://www.percyjackson.co.uk
http://www.rickriordan.com/

BOLLYWOOD FILM RAISES DYSLEXIA AWARENESS IN INDIA

A Bollywood film called Taare Zameen Par, (Stars on Earth ) which is about the struggles of an 8-year-old boy with dyslexia was selected as India's entry for the best foreign film category for the 2009 Academy Awards.


The film has helped to raise public awareness about dyslexia in India.

A big hit in India ,the film is about a boy who is told off and punished by teachers and parents for poor test results, and also who is bullied. He is very unhappy until a new arts teacher discovers the boy has dyslexia and encourages him to paint. The Walt Disney Company has bought the rights to the film. This is the first time an international studio has bought the video rights of an Indian film.


Since the release of the film there has been a much greater interest in dyslexia from the Indian general public. A parents dyslexic group called Action Dyslexia Delhi has had 10 times more parents visiting the centre than before !! In West Bengal the film was shown to 4,500 teachers as part of a training session !! The Prime Minister of India watched a private screening of the film and was reported to have been moved by the film and said ' it was a lesson for India's educational system. '

Like Turkey.Indian schools are very competitive, and the education system places a large emphasis on textbook studies rather than on other skills. Teachers mostly see children with learning disabilities as un-teachable and badly behaved. Most Indian schools do not have programmes to help children with learning disabilities, and teachers are generally not trained to deal with the problem , if not completely ignorant of it.

In fact It sounds as if the situation in India concerning dyslexia is not much different from here in Turkey !! It great to hear that this film has helped in some way to raise awareness of the plight of dyslexic kids in India .... I hope that we can get to watch this film soon .....

Rama Lakshmi of The Washington Post has written an interesting article about the impact of the film and how dyslexia has become a household name in India !! The article is entitled ‘The Pain of Dyslexia, As Told by Bollywood’
To see the article go to :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

For more information on the film go to :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taare_Zameen_Par

Official film site:
http://www.taarezameenpar.com/


THANKS TO THE READER WHO TOLD ME ABOUT THIS FILM !!!