World-renowned radiology expert, Beryl Benacerraf, also struggled with dyslexia.

Benacerraf describes her experiences in school as very shameful. At first, her struggles were attributed to being multilingual. Because of this, she was thrown into an English-speaking classroom when she was 8 years old after moving with her parents to the United States from Venezuela. However, her reading abilities did not improve as she learned English and her parents often described her as simply lazy or careless. Although this led her to have lower confidence in her abilities, her success was not limited. With dreams of going into the medical field, she was able to enroll in a medical school that did not require an MCAT score and was then able to transfer to Harvard Medical School in her second year.

While she once had extremely low self-esteem, Benacerraf was able to work as a clinical professor at Harvard University and an expert in radiology. She is known for her discovery of an important fetal indicator for Down syndrome and her development of a genetic sonogram to improve the way pregnant women are screened. She received many awards for her work and is a clear example that dyslexia does not limit success.

 

READ MORE ABOUT BENACERRAF’S STORY HERE.