Doctors called him spastic. Teachers said he was mentally retarded. Some of his nastier classmates called him dummy.
Today, Dannel P. Malloy is called something else: governor of Connecticut.
Malloy, who still struggles with reading and calls writing "almost impossible," credits his lifelong struggle with dyslexia for developing listening skills and memory tricks he uses every day with constituents and legislators.
Despite reaching his state's top elected position, there's still lingering embarrassment over his learning difficulties, Malloy told students Tuesday at Greenwich's Eagle Hill School, a campus for children with language-based learning disorders like his own.
"I have to tell you, I'll be right up front about it: I'm the governor of the state of Connecticut and I can't write anything well," Malloy told the rapt students. "This is who we are. I can't write things. I'm embarrassed all the time about that, particularly if people don't know that about me."
Read more of Stephanie Reitz's article HERE.
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