Right: My parents provided an intellectually stimulating atmosphere in our home, which, of course, was natural for them, but it made up for a lot of the things they didn't do as well. They also assumed that I could do anything I wanted to in school and in life, even when any rational person would have written me off.

Wrong: I started obviously underachieving in 6th grade (though looking back, it's apparent that it started much earlier) and by 9th grade all things academic in my life were pretty much a disaster. I can see now that this was due in large part to undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. I wish they had not simply attributed my lack of achievement to laziness and had gotten me help with reading, math, and executive skills.