By Barbara Berg
Hard work, supportive mother and understanding teachers helped Keira overcome obstacles associated with dyslexia
When Keira started school it was, to quote Keira, “amazing.” She was at the top of her class. The only problem was that Keira wasn’t actually reading difficulty, she was reciting the books she’d heard at home by heart.
It was only when she was given a book she wasn’t familiar with that her teachers and her mother realized she couldn’t read at all. By the time Keira was 6 and a half, she was diagnosed with Dyslexia.
Like so many children who are diagnosed with symptoms of Dyslexia or other learning disorder, Keira saw herself differently. She had gone from being at the top of her class to the bottom. Fortunately, her teachers and her mom taught her that being dyslexic “doesn’t mean you’re stupid…it just means that you work in a different way.”
Hard Work and Rewards
Her Dyslexia didn’t stop Keira, her mother or her teachers. They provided the support she needed to help her succeed. Keira’s love of acting from the age of 3 became the carrot her mother dangled in front of her. As Keira’s head teacher, David Cooper, said, “If she wants to act, then you let her act but she’s only allowed to do it if her grades stay the same or go up.”
One of her first tasks was to read aloud the screenplay for the novel Sense and Sensibility, which her mother, actress/playwright Sharman Macdonald, had gotten from her friend Emma Thompson. The reward was the promise of acting classes during summer holidays.
Though Keira remembers being called stupid by many kids at her school and an audition where she couldn’t learning to read her lines, the actress went from one role to another, eventually becoming the only non- American on the list of highest-paid actresses. Stupid indeed.
A successful career
Knightley’s long list of credits include a supporting role as Queen Amidala’s decoy in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Her breakout role in Bend it Like Beckham opened the door to playing Elizabeth Swann in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean series of films. Later, she has nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (2005).
Winning a dyslexia battle
With all her success, the challenges Knightley faces due to her dyslexia do not disappear. For Knightley, it meant simple hard work. “A lot of it is down to perseverance and, hopefully, you will have parents who will work hard with you, because that’s what mine did. I still have days when reading just won’t work, but most days it will.”
In an interview for Begin Again, she explained that in order to work while on set, she can’t read anything or really do anything when she is on pause between scenes. “Some people work in different ways – some people with dyslexia can be incredibly sociable, but I can’t be sociable and then be that other person with dyslexia. I’ve got to be sort of concentrated.
So I’m literally on pause.” It’s this quietness of mind and soul that sometimes creates an impression of being aloof. As she shared in an interview with Annabel Brog in Elle UK’s July issue: “I have an on/off switch and, when I’m doing publicity, I’m absolutely okay, but when I’m not working and people come up to me, I’ve not got the head on to handle that. I don’t give off a nice energy and that makes me nervous.”
Not just an actress, an inspiration
Like so many celebrities, Keira Knightley serves as an inspiration to others with similar issues. But even with all the assistive technology and special programs available, it takes more than the individual who is dyslexic or has learning disabilities or ADHD to put in the hard work necessary to overcome their challenges.
It takes a team comprised of truly dedicated and supportive parents, knowledgeable and understanding teachers and even the public at large to understand that everyone has something to contribute – everyone can be a success with hard work, determination