Giving Compass' Take:

· While running for governor of California, Gavin Newsom has been very open about his dyslexia and his trouble reading. If he is elected governor, Newsom hopes to raise the profile of this disorder and help others who suffer from it find ways to manage it.

· How can schools help students with dyslexia? What programs and services can be offered for these students?

· Read about dyslexia therapy training for teachers.

If Gavin Newsom is elected governor of California in November, he would likely be the first one to have trouble with reading, or at least be the first willing to admit publicly that he does.

For years, Newsom has been very open about the fact that he suffers from dyslexia, a neurologically based learning disability that makes it difficult to read, and which was a major contributor to making his school years miserable, even torturous.

As governor, he would raise the profile of a reading disorder that affects between 5 and 20 percent of the population, and is only now getting the attention that it warrants. Last fall, the California Department of Education published the California Dyslexia Guidelines, as a result of a 2015 California law, Assembly Bill 1369, intended to help improve educational services for dyslexic children.

In fact, Newsom mentioned that he had the reading disorder in his recent speech after winning the top spot in the primary election. But to reach this point in his life — within sight of becoming the chief executive of the world’s sixth largest economy — he has had to figure out ways to manage his dyslexia.

Read the full article about Gavin Newsom by Louis Freedberg at EdSource.