C‘is a stage on which Tom Holland (30 years old) never went up, despite countless requests. The protagonist of Spider-Man: Brand New Day revealed, guest of the podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehlerthat he had repeatedly refused the invitation to host the Saturday Night Livethe hit NBC comedy show, because of its dyslexia. «I have severe dyslexia. I’m terrified of having to read aloud in public».
Tom Holland and dyslexia, insecurities and fear of reading
The presenter Amy Poehler he immediately understood the problem: the posters with jokes, the famous people cue cards of the show. «I’m terrified of having to read something that’s constantly changing», explained the actor. «I can read just fine on my own. But when I have to do it out loud, something clicks… it’s like a mental block. I freeze». What makes the famous show even more frightening is precisely the improvisation, in particular the idea of updating the scripts until the last moment before broadcast. «I’m so severely dyslexic that when I post something on Instagram (where he has 63.7 million followers), I make sure at least two or three other people read it. It stresses me out to think that everyone saw it and that I might look like an idiot.”
The hardest day on set for Tom Holland
The actor has learned to live with dyslexia. Holland confessed that the worst day on set of any production it is always that of read-throughthe collective reading of the script with the whole cast. To prepare, he developed his own strategy: highlight everything in advance and learn the lines by heartso that you can “skim” the text rather than actually read it. Holland received the diagnosed with dyslexia at seven years old. It also has theADHD. The parents, Dominic and Nikki Hollandwere fundamental in supporting him: «They always told me: as long as you try with all of yourself, it’s fine».
What to know about dyslexia
Holland’s story offers an opportunity to shed light on an often misunderstood disorder. There dyslexia it’s a specific learning disorder (DSA) which mainly concerns the reading process: the term comes from Greek dys-(“difficulty”) e lexis (“word”). It has nothing to do with intelligence. A dyslexic person has a real difficulty that does not depend on their efforts. In Italy, according to the most recent data available from the Ministry of Education, dyslexia is Most common DSA. The causes are a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In adults it is often invisible: over the years, compensatory strategies develop which make the disorder latent, but this does not mean that it has disappeared. The brain has different rhythms related to speech processing, nothing to do with laziness, stupidity or inability.
How to reach the diagnosis
A correct diagnosis it is essential for implementing strategies to manage the disorder: it minimizes the impact on subsequent school years and on the increasingly complex demands that come with growth. The diagnosis must be carried out by specialized professionals: child neuropsychiatrists, clinical psychologists or speech therapists with expertise in learning disabilities. Parents and teachers they play an important role in recognizing signals. In adults, the assessment is more complex and takes into consideration reading, writing, spelling, reading comprehension, mathematics and time management.
The diagnosis isn’t about putting a label: it’s about knowing yourself better and discover the right tools to enhance yourself. For Tom Holland, that realization came at age seven. And it helped him build precise strategies by transforming his weaknesses into simple characteristics.
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