Show Mooney speaks on overcoming learning obstacles Renowned author and public speaker visits at Redwood Andrew Marshall Contributing Writer Jonathan Mooney became an English major graduating from froman an Ivy League school with wilh honors honors honors hon hon- ors and a 40 He also didn't learn to lo read until the age of 12 Tl This s man has faced and dyslexia and adapted to lo the world around him Mooney spoke to lo students and faculty April 19 at the Student Center at al Redwood Campus The lecture was brought to lo by the Student Life and Leadership Fine Arts and Lectures council as well as the Disability Resource Center Mooney's message was clear in the public lecture It was a message promoting accommodation tion and empowerment to lo the dis dis- dis- dis Tl This s year old punk as he called l himself grew up in LA where he was judged andy and y y- treated unfairly by l his s father l his s schoolmates and teachers alike He read slowly spelled poorly and day dreamed constantly Mooney's life changed when two Iwo people encouraged and mo motivated moti- moti l him m to achieve great things despite his disabilities One of these people was l his s mother who read the story Leo the Late- Late Bloomer to him nightly The storys story's moral focuses on the fact that all can reach great heights some simply later than others The other person that impacted him was Mr R a teacher who believed in him him and l his s poten potential al The roadmap that his teachers parents and he l himself followed to find empowerment and go from a sixth grade dropout to a graduate of Brown University included four primary steps The first step was to lo understand understand understand under stand the socialization on of cognitive cognitive cognitive tive difference Mooney spoke of three words that affected him greatly wl while le still at al a young age stupid crazy and lazy Mooney Cont on Page 2 0 Mooney Cont from front No progress can occur until you unlearn those words said Mooney to the full house at the Student Center Wednesday Mooney's second step to progress while working with or being disabled d was to move away from remediation towards empowerment When I 1 was a kid people tried everything to fix me mc said Mooney When we fix too much we lose sight of what I 1 Ican Ican can do what's right with me Empowerment is what gave me success Mooney spoke about academic accommodations or modifications modifications modifications as being the third step toward empowerment He explained to the audience that by recognizing the good inthe inthe in inthe the disabled person and in the actual disability the person will become a harder better worker Along the same line Mooney told The Globe that one of his current projects he is developing for the future is to create an ty that would provide businesses with consulting services to how to be inclusive of cognitive diversity in the workforce I think that's the next horizon horizon horizon hori hori- zon said Mooney Weve got all these kids who have gone through school like me knowing the words dyslexia knowing the words getting accommodations accommodations accommodations and then they get into a working environment and all that stops Mooney believes that if a more inclusive environment can be created people will be more productive productive productive pro pro- because the disabled persons person's learning style is acknowledged and utilized As the fourth and final step in inthe inthe inthe the journey Mooney spoke of a paradigm shift away from the problem of disability to understanding understanding understanding under under- standing the problem of normal- normal cy Mooney does not consider the facts that he spells on the level of ofa a third grader and reads at the rate of a seventh or eighth grader to be a problem Im still learning disabled Im I'm still and I am proud of it said Mooney enthusiastically We need to move away from fixing people to empowering them The large audience was very attentive to Mooney's dynamic enthusiastic personality and mes mes- sage Mooney is a veteran public speaker after having lectured in every US U.S. state but six as well as New Zealand and Taiwan Mooney also published a book entitled Thinking Outside the Lines and is currently in the process of writing a second due out in 2007 Mooney recommended all students students students stu stu- stu- stu dents to be self Students should be vocal advocates advocates advocates cates of their learning ties His hope for the future is a system change in the educational and corporate systems Mooney invited all students and faculty members interested in his ideas or programs to mail e-mail him at His informative web web- site she is found at jonathan- jonathan There he offers r z it t IP e p to LV a U c. t L at o. L U. U As a final thought Mooney said If somebody comes and says I wanna do this we make it happen |