Dyslexia Isn't a Lack of Intelligence: How to Help Bright Kids Read and Write with Russell Van Brocklen

When a Brilliant Child Can't Get Their Ideas Onto the Page What if a child who struggles to read or write isn't lazy, unintelligent, or incapable—but has simply never been taught in a way their brain can use?

In this episode of Walk With Me: Conversations With Real People, Stephanie speaks with dyslexia researcher and educator Russell Van Brocklen, whose own painful educational journey became the foundation for more than 20 years of work with dyslexic students, parents, and teachers.

Although Russell's intelligence tested in the 96th percentile, he spent much of his early education reading and writing at a first-grade level. He was placed in special education, excluded from opportunities, and repeatedly underestimated. After a successful state government internship was unfairly recorded as a failing grade, Russell decided to confront the very thing that had limited him: reading and writing.

He entered law school and began discovering how differently his dyslexic brain processed and organized information. That experience eventually led him to develop an instructional approach designed to help students translate their ideas into sentences, paragraphs, essays, and advanced academic work.

Russell explains why many dyslexic learners may understand specific details before they can grasp the larger concept, why a child's strongest interests can become powerful learning tools, and why writing can help bring structure to thoughts that otherwise seem to move too quickly to capture.

Together, Stephanie and Russell also discuss the emotional cost of being underestimated, the determination required to challenge established systems, and the importance of recognizing intelligence that traditional education may fail to measure.

In This Episode, You'll Hear About Russell's experience growing up with severe dyslexia while possessing high intelligence

The emotional consequences of being mislabeled or underestimated

How he completed college despite reading and writing at an elementary-school level

The government internship that changed the direction of his life

Why he deliberately entered law school to confront his limitations

How dyslexic learners may process information from the specific to the general