LD Blog

Molly Sullivan Sliney, who has dyslexia, is prouder of her academic accomplishments than her Olympic medals. Under the headline “Olympic fencer Molly Sliney shares story of struggle and triumph” in the Danvers (MA, US) Herald, Sally Kerans reported on a talk Ms. Sliner gave at Highlands School.

[Despite Ms. Slineys many achievements], the two-time member of the U.S. Olympic Fencing team points to something else as her proudest accomplishment: her degree from Notre Dame.

Not bad for a kid who couldn’t read until the age of 9.

Every Olympian has a story of how they reached the Olympic stadium, said Sliney. Hers began as a fourth-grader struggling and failing to learn to read and feeling her self-esteem crumbling.

The crowd was silent as she related the story of the fourth grade spelling bee. She had studied her spelling words every night for the week leading up to the class contest. Her teacher gave her “the easiest word on the list” to spell. Sliney got it wrong. Some of her classmates laughed. She returned to her seat, frustrated and stung by their taunts of “dumb” and “stupid.”

The story pushes the motivational aspects of achievement pretty heavily. To be sure, any elite athlete must have intense interest in success, but practice, good coaching, and other factors also contribute to their triumphs. I’m glad that Ms. Sliney shares her personal experiences with children. I hope the students take away from her presentations an understanding that there is no magic key, including motivation, to overcoming obstacles.

Read the full story here. There are lots of other examples of coverage of Ms. Sliney’s efforts to encourage students: See Ms. Sliney’s home page, watch a video about her fencing, check the press coverage of her work, or read a profile of her accomplishments.