Scott Sonnon

Scott Sonnon was advised early in life that he should not set very high expectations for his potential. In fact, he overcame dyslexia so severe that he was hospitalized in a children’s psychiatric institution.

Thankfully, Sonnon did not heed the advice he was given, but rather went on to far exceed his own expectations. Sonnon became a five-time world martial arts champion, an award-winning producer and author, patented inventor, and a fitness industry magnate. He was named one of the top 24 trainers in the world by Men’s Fitness Magazine, and one of the six most influential martial artists of the 21st century by Black Belt Magazine.

Sonnon recently gave a TED Talk titled “How we suppress genius and create learning disability”. He discusses how the physical abuse he witnessed as a child fueled both his dyslexia, and his desire to learn to defend himself with martial arts. In fact, he learned how to bind language with movement—this is how martial arts became his learning style. He encourages others to find their own learning styles, as, according to Sonnon, there are 70 “non-verbal” learning styles. He believes that if you can find your own learning style, you can do great things.

DyslexiaHelp’s Dr. Pierson had the pleasure of meeting Scott when he spoke to families in Brighton, MI in August 2014. He truly is an inspiration. Check out his great words of wisdom and resources he provides on his Twitter page.