Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Books about great people who didn't fit in as kids

I don't have any specific books to recommend, but for my 2e ds I found it helpful just to google his disability + famous people and I found a lot of greats stories online.

I hadn't heard that Dav Pilkey was dyslexic... so I googled him He has a *fantastic* and brief autobiography on his website that I think would be great to show to a child who's feeling different due to LDs or ADHD. It's in cartoon format, a la Captain Underpants... and yes, I cried when I read the part where he's in college and has to be carried off to the hospital in an ambulance because he passed out when a teacher told him she actually liked his work For all that it's humor... I can so empathize with how that feels for kids with challenges. I'm sure that's how my ds felt at his first school.

It also ends with a bit of wonderful advice from Pilkey - so definitely a must read for parents of 2e kids, as well as for kids too.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thank you for all the suggestions. This "being different" was more related to how he sees the world than his LDs specifically but since they are all a part of him perhaps it is related.

He was tearfully explaining how no one is interested in what he finds interesting. Keep in mind, this is the kid who wanted to leave the nice picture in the trash for the janitor and the one with the soulful moon art in the art thread. He is just not normal. He sees things differently.

He told me about being at recess and his classmates asking him to come play. He was in the little garden watching a beetle. He said, "No one notices these things or if they do it is to scream and run away or step on it and laugh. No one stops and says 'Wow! This is a living thing. What is it? Is it an adult? Where is it in its life cycle? What does it eat? Where does it live? Why is it here? What is it doing?' No one asks. No one wonders. No one cares. The teachers don't care. They just want it to stay outside. I am the only one interested in this stuff. Why is it that I am the only one?"

So did my son. A wonderful book for twice exceptional children!

He told me about being at recess and his classmates asking him to come play. He was in the little garden watching a beetle. He said, "No one notices these things or if they do it is to scream and run away or step on it and laugh. No one stops and says 'Wow! This is a living thing. What is it? Is it an adult? Where is it in its life cycle? What does it eat? Where does it live? Why is it here? What is it doing?' No one asks. No one wonders. No one cares. The teachers don't care. They just want it to stay outside. I am the only one interested in this stuff. Why is it that I am the only one?" [/quote]

I had to think of "The King of Tiny Things" when I read this: http://www.amazon.ca/King-Tiny-Thin...&sr=8-1&keywords=the+king+of+tiny+things I think your son would love it.

There are also several awesome books about Jane Goodall and how she would sit and watch the animals. "The Watcher" is one of them http://www.amazon.ca/Watcher-Jane-G...d=1398731265&sr=8-2&keywords=the+watcher
Another one my son liked was about Albert Einstein as a boy: "On a Beam of Light" http://www.amazon.ca/Beam-Light-Sto...31229&sr=8-1&keywords=on+a+beam+of+light

I know it is about a parrot... But I wonder if your DS would like it since it talks about how people used to think animals like birds did not know much until Alex the parrot...

http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Parrot-Ordinary-Bird-Story/dp/0375868461

Awww I love this kid! My child would appreciate this

I love that kid too!

I just wrote down most of these books to get from the library.

He is probably the sweetest kid that I have read about.
This is not about great people who did not fit in, but I really recommend that you get him the orginal Dr Dolittle books if you have not done so already. My child loves animals too and he enjoyed the books so much - especially the interactions between the characters and how they communicated.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/501/501-h/501-h.htm

Henry Winkler's (aka the Fonz from Happy Days) autobiography online is not too dissimilar to Pilkey's. He was dyslexic but not diagnosed until 31 yrs old yet somehow went to Yale for a MA in theatre. He's been vocal for dyslexics and kids, been on some national boards, and is very inspirational.

Winkler has a semi-autobiographical series, Hank Zipzer, for kids. We read "I Got A "D" in Salami. My ds8 and I thought it was wonderful and gave an excellent message for all children, but especially 2e kids. Henry Winkler went way up in my view after I had read about his struggles and then read this book; he wrote for kids what he had hoped and always wanted his parents to do/say.


Helen Keller and Dav Pilkey are excellent too. I love both of them. Very partial to both.

Here's two books on women which I just love and got for my ds8 because, darn it, I want him to know that girls can invent and discover too and have made important contributions to society too (yes, Jane Goodall and Mary Leakey are in the first book!!):

1. The Sky's the Limit: Stories of Discovery by Women and Girls, by Catherine Thimmesh (http://www.amazon.com/Skys-Limit-St..._7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398800735&sr=1-7)

2. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmesh (http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Think-E..._1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398800704&sr=1-1)