Success through resiliency and student empowerment

Growing up as a student with dyslexia who struggled with learning how to read, Jonathan Mooney is an outstanding example of perseverance. Today as a result of his resiliency, Mooney is a successful writer, speaker and advocate, traveling the world to share his story with educators and other students and learners like him.

His next stop will be as the opening keynote speaker for the upcoming Teaching for Impact: Training for All Educators Supporting Learners with Disabilities on June 5-6 in Des Moines. His empowering session will focus on his life’s journey and how educators play an important role in supporting students who may face similar challenges.

Mooney is an author of three books, Normal Sucks, Learning Outside the Lines and The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal. He has also contributed to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, HBO and NPR, among many other media outlets.

Recently, Mooney shared a glimpse into his backstory and why he is so passionate about student empowerment.

We are excited for your keynote session at the upcoming Teaching for Impact event! Why are you passionate about sharing your story and advocating for students?

One in five students learn differently. I was one of those one in five! I had such a hard time sitting still as a kid that I ended up chilling out with the janitor in the hallway a lot of the time. I was always told I was the bad or crazy kid, which caused a deep existential wound in me and it’s one that a lot of kids suffer from. When I speak to young people with atypical brains, I ask them to describe themselves. I frequently hear the words stupid, crazy and lazy. It’s taken a long time for that wound to heal in me, but it has healed. And I know it’s possible for others, especially if parents, teachers and our broader world would reframe what we call “the normal student” and celebrate the multiple manifestations of human intelligence and talent.

In your latest book, Normal Sucks, you promote the idea that “we should stop trying to fix people and start empowering them to succeed,” which is a powerful message for any educator working with learners with disabilities. What are some tips that educators can use to help empower their students and young learners?

I was diagnosed with learning and attention disability/disorders when I was in third grade. Because of the narrow set of institutional and cultural beliefs governing what’s normal, I was considered deficient. But, the reality is that I did not have a disability, as it’s common to say, but experienced disability within an environment that had a narrow definition of what constitutes a normal student. That’s good news because it means we don’t have to fix kids, but rather we have to create schools and communities that adopt a set of practices that celebrate differences. All around the country I see examples that we can aspire to, including schools, businesses and communities where students with differences are empowered.

One concrete way to empower neurodivergent students is to find what they’re good at and build on these strengths and talents. When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me that I had value to the world not despite my differences, but because of them. For a long time, people like my mom were dismissed as delusional about the talents that go hand-in-hand with the challenges of an atypical brain. But, it turns out that my mom and others like her who believe in the potential and value of difference were right. There is overwhelming research that creativity, entrepreneurship, problem solving and innovative thinking are a direct result of neurodiversity. Every kid has something right with them. Find it, build on it and celebrate it, because the world needs the atypical kids more than ever to solve the big, entrenched problems we are facing!

You have shared that you have faced your own challenges as a student growing up and were often written off by others. Now, you’re a successful author and speaker. What advice on resiliency do you have for students who may be facing adversity?

You’re not broken. We have a culture that treats differences as deficiencies and pathology. And that’s wrong. You have a right to be angry about the experiences of discrimination and marginalization that you have experienced because of your difference. Normal sucks. It’s those with differences that have always and will continue to change the world.

How impactful can an educator be in a student’s life? Did you have a teacher in your life who made an impact?

The research is clear. Young people who struggle in school, but go off to thrive in life had at least one meaningful adult in their corner who believed in their potential, held them accountable to high expectations and built a personal relationship. The vast majority of the time these meaningful adults are teachers. I had a third grade teacher named Mr. R., an AP English teacher named Mr. S. and many more who are directly responsible for my success in life!

*The Teaching for Impact: Training for All Educators Supporting Learners with Disabilities will be held June 5-6 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Iowa educators can register for the free, two-day event through May 21.