00:00Probably not because of my learning-based disability.
00:05See, being dyslexic isn't really a fight to survive, but more or less to thrive in a place that can
00:12be hard if you can't read or write or even spell your own last name.
00:16Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Dylan Douglas, and I'm a graduate of the Windward School.
00:26My story begins in 2005. I was living in Bermuda, and I was five at the time. I was just
00:32starting after school.
00:34Right from the get-go, it was apparent that I was slow. But at that age, kids are at all
00:38different levels, and my teacher said I would just catch up.
00:42However, as you may imagine from me standing here, I did not.
00:46As first grade turned to second grade, and second grade turned to third grade, it was apparent that there was
00:52something wrong.
00:53When we would have silent reading, the other kids would take out their books, and I knew they had to
00:58be pretty advanced for the fact I couldn't read the title of them.
01:02And every day, my teacher would come to me and ask Dylan, do you have a book to read?
01:06And every day, I'd pull out my child can read book that I was given all the way back in
01:10first grade, and I would start reading.
01:12And, you know, the kids would laugh at me, and sometimes even the teacher would, saying why I was reading
01:17such a baby book again and again and again.
01:20I didn't mind, though, for the truth was much worse. I hadn't even finished it yet.
01:27The first test I ever took had to be one of the most embarrassing days of my life.
01:32It was in second grade, and it was a vocabulary test.
01:36The teacher gave me the test, and I asked her, could you read the first question?
01:40Little did I know I was pointing at the place to ask you to put your name.
01:44She told me and walked away. I started writing.
01:47D-Y-L-A-N-D
01:55What comes after D, I thought?
01:58Oh yeah, D-U-G-L-A-S-S-S
02:03Douglas, or to a literate person, Douglas.
02:07D-U-G-L-A-N-D
02:11Not knowing how to spell my own last name wrecked my confidence, and as time went on, the teachers started
02:16giving up on me, and I started giving up on me.
02:20I came to the realization that I was dumb.
02:23My desk in the first row went to a small chair with a wooden plank as a board in the
02:28very back of the classroom.
02:31It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when I heard a knock on my English class and an old lady
02:36with dusty gray hair popped up in the window like a jack-in-the-box when my life changed.
02:42Her name is Miss Brown and she was to be my English tutor.
02:45I didn't have much of an extra help program going at my school in Bermuda, so they got
02:50two chairs and they put it in the janitor's closet.
02:54There, in the janitor's closet, we worked like Allied soldiers in World War II decoding
02:58a Mi'kma.
02:59Except, in my case, it was more like a first-grader's word list.
03:04When I told her I couldn't spell my own last name, she did not laugh, instead she remedied
03:09the situation.
03:10See, Mrs. Brown taught me a trick.
03:13She taught me to say, oh, you guys like a snack, O standing for O, U standing for U, and
03:20so
03:20on and so forth.
03:22Mrs. Brown was a great teacher, but it's not like you can be cured from dyslexia, and what
03:28I really needed was a school that specialized specifically in my area of struggle.
03:34In 2008, my parents and I flew to New York so I could be evaluated.
03:40After three days of rigorous testing, my family and I were called into an office.
03:45The woman sat us down and said, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, your son has a learning-based disability
03:51called dyslexia.
03:54Dyslexia.
03:56I've never heard that word before, and you'd think they'd come up with a more, less-syllable-sounding
04:01word for a language-based disability, right?
04:06The woman then went on to tell us about the Windward School.
04:11I went to visit, and I felt like it was the right choice for me.
04:16In 2009, my family and I said goodbye to the warm nirvana of Bermuda, to the bustling city
04:22of New York, where I enrolled in the Windward School.
04:26My first few years in America were hard.
04:29My mother was on Broadway, so she was working when I was asleep and was sleeping when I went
04:35to school.
04:36Also around this time, my father was diagnosed with stage four cancer, a disease unlike dyslexia
04:42that can, in fact, kill you.
04:44At home, I was alone.
04:46But at school, I was far from lonely.
04:49At Windward, I was free.
04:51See, Windward was like the mecca of dyslexics.
04:54I was not the only one.
04:56I was no longer statistic.
04:58I was Dylan Douglas, D-Y-L-A-N-D-O-U-G-L-A-S.
05:05By the end of 2010, everything was back as normal as home.
05:09I could finally see my mom again, and my dad was cancer-free.
05:12Life was beautiful.
05:17It was a cloudy Wednesday morning in sixth grade where I met Mrs. Brown's successor, for
05:23lack of a better word.
05:24I was running in the hallway, as I somewhat do, when I heard a voice like thunder that
05:30hit me.
05:31You!
05:32She said.
05:33Stop running in the hallway!
05:38And I turned to this grouchy lady holding a food tray with her finger out at me.
05:44And I take one look at this.
05:45I'm out of here.
05:46So I book it down the hallway.
05:49She drops the tray.
05:50She comes after me.
05:52And she put up a good fight, I do admit, but I was faster.
05:57I later found out from some of the eighth graders that her name was Miss Gay, and she
06:01was the meanest, strictest teacher in all the school.
06:07So you can imagine the scare I had when I saw her name on my class list for eighth grade.
06:13The first few days I was in her class, I admit I wasn't much of a fan.
06:16But as time went on, I grew fonder and fonder of her.
06:21She was like a pineapple, with the outer shell being full of spikes.
06:26But if you peeled away, what remained was sweet and genuinely good.
06:35See, this game is straightforward with you.
06:38If your paper sucked, she'd be the first one to say it.
06:41She wanted the best for all of her students.
06:45And I know Miss Gay is my role model, and I don't say that lightly.
06:49She's helped me in ways I can't explain then and now as my tutor, and I don't know how
06:53I can ever repay her.
07:00Miss Gay is just one of the many incredible Windward teachers that's aided me on my journey
07:05to success.
07:07See, Windward is a really special place.
07:10The teachers there are the most qualified and intelligent people I ever met.
07:18Their program works.
07:21It works.
07:22And I can't stress that enough.
07:24Take me as their success.
07:26Although I do admit I did read this speech over a few times before sharing my money.
07:33Windward did not save my life.
07:36Windward did not cure me.
07:38But I know for a fact it saved my life.
07:40And I know all the Windward donors here tonight are very happy to know that there's value in the Windward
07:44way.
07:45Especially after this auction.
07:48It's funny how dyslexia changed me.
07:51In my opinion, for the better.
07:53Without it, I wouldn't be living in New York.
07:56I wouldn't have met my best friend, nor Miss Gay, or be attending the master's school.
08:01I see myself eight years ago in the back of my classroom.
08:07Trying to hold back the tears as my teacher wrote words on the board I couldn't understand.
08:12If only I could tell myself the man Deglas had become.
08:17I'm terminally ill with dyslexia.
08:21It didn't kill me though.
08:23In fact, quite the opposite.
08:26Dyslexia made me stronger.
08:32Now, enough about me and let's get to the main event.
08:36It gives me a great honor in introducing a fellow dyslexic in a room of many I assume.
08:42Mr. Orlando Bloom.
08:44Mr. Bloom, as you all know, is an actor well known worldwide for movies such as Troy, Kingdom of Heaven,
08:50and my favorites Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
08:55Unfortunately, he cannot be here tonight, which is kind of upsetting because I had to ask him.
09:00He did Lord of the Rings. Did he read the books beforehand?
09:04Or, I'll take audio as an answer too. I mean, that's pretty valid.
09:10Here he is to share his story.
09:16First of all, I'd like to thank Dylan for his introduction and for sharing so courageously his own story of
09:22dyslexia.
09:23I'd also like to thank Dr. Russell, the board of trustees, and to congratulate my fellow honorary, Dr. Marianne Wolfe.
09:30Lastly, the Wynwood School for the work it does to support young people struggling with dyslexia.
09:37As Dylan so articulately pointed out, dyslexia was, for me, as it is I'm sure for many of you in
09:44the room tonight across the bay, it's cruel.
09:48As a young person, to feel inadequate amongst your peers can be crippling for your growth and human development at
09:55such an important time in your life, your years of early education.
10:00When I was diagnosed with dyslexia, it felt like I was being given a life sentence to being less than,
10:07inadequate, unlikely to succeed and destined for a life of struggle and without...
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