Episode Details

Is your child struggling to read or write—and what if the problem isn't intelligence, effort, or motivation, but that your child simply learns differently?

Russell Van Brocklen knows that struggle personally. He shares his personal story with Reginald D, how he experienced severe dyslexia, went through college reading and writing around a first-grade level, struggled through special education, and later learned to read in law school before dedicating his work to dyslexia research and helping parents understand how dyslexic children learn.

What do you do when your child is struggling with reading and writing, falling behind in school, or beginning to believe they're simply not smart enough?

In this powerful inspirational and educational episode, Reginald D sits down with dyslexia professor Russell Van Brocklen for an eye-opening conversation about dyslexia, learning differences, reading difficulties, writing struggles, education, parenting, ADHD, confidence, perseverance, and helping dyslexic children learn differently.

Russell's connection to dyslexia isn't simply professional—it's personal.

Growing up with severe dyslexia, Russell says he struggled to read and write throughout school and remained around a first-grade reading and writing level during college. He recalls being in special education, feeling frustrated with the traditional educational process, and eventually reaching a breaking point after accommodations made during a New York State Assembly internship were rejected academically by his university.

That experience changed the direction of his life.

Russell eventually entered law school, where he says he learned to read within approximately a month and developed his writing ability over the following years. He later secured funding for dyslexia research and began developing an approach designed around how he believes the dyslexic brain processes and organizes information differently.

During this inspirational interview, Russell explains why he believes many traditional approaches to dyslexia don't produce the results parents expect and shares strategies he uses to help children develop their reading and writing abilities.

One of his central messages to parents is to stop assuming a struggling child isn't intelligent.

Russell encourages parents to identify a child's “area of extreme interest and ability” and use that interest to increase engagement during learning. He walks Reginald through a practical writing exercise involving a child's interest in basketball and explains how he uses writing, word analysis, articulation, repetition, and reading aloud as part of his approach.

Russell also shares stories from students and families he has worked with, including children who, according to him, made dramatic improvements in reading and writing after using these methods. These are Russell's reported experiences and outcomes from his own work, rather than independently verified results presented in the episode.

But perhaps one of the most important moments comes when Reginald asks what parents should do when a child says:

“I'm dumb.”

Russell's answer is simple: tell them they're not dumb—they learn differently.

That message makes this conversation bigger than reading scores. It's about protecting a child's confidence while helping them discover a way of learning that works for them.

If you're raising a dyslexic child, parenting a child struggling with reading or writing, navigating learning disabilities or learning differences, homeschooling, dealing with ADHD, or trying to understand why a bright child is struggling academically, this episode offers education, encouragement, practical ideas, and a different perspective.

This inspirational story also demonstrates the power of perseverance, self-improvement, education, resilience, personal growth, purpose, and motivation. Russell went from struggling severely with read