What Jennifer Aniston’s Dyslexia Can Teach Us

The big news from a recent Hollywood Reporter article on actress Jennifer Aniston is her revelation that she struggled with dyslexia as a young person. She didn’t receive a diagnosis, and the comfort and understanding that it can bring, until her early 20s. “I thought I wasn’t smart,” she tells reporter Stephen Galloway. “Now I had this great discovery.”

But what I feel is at the heart of the piece is a discussion of Aniston’s resilience. Sure, Galloway presents it in tabloid terms: “Aniston’s enduring appeal is rooted in the very fact that she can be hurt, again and again—whether by the Oscars or the Sexiest Man Alive—and she’ll endure.” But the more interesting stuff is pre-fame, pre-Brad, pre-Cake.

She describes a difficult home life and a critical mother—but also outlets for expression, and other sources of encouragement. Her father’s mother: “She was a Greek grandmother who just loved me more than anything.” And she embraced acting. As Galloway writes, her dyslexia pushed her “to develop her innate humor,” and towards the stage.

Aniston acknowledges in the article that doesn’t do much reading because of her dyslexia, and that’s a shame. Over the years we’ve encountered so many talented actors and entertainers who have used their extraordinary reserves of willpower and ambition to succeed despite a learning disorder, and that is admirable. But I don’t think they would be any less successful if they had gotten help earlier in life, when it matters most.

Aniston recounts her diagnosis:

I went to get a prescription for glasses. I had to wear these Buddy Holly glasses. One had a blue lens and one had a red lens. And I had to read a paragraph, and they gave me a quiz, gave me 10 questions based on what I’d just read, and I think I got three right. Then they put a computer on my eyes, showing where my eyes went when I read. My eyes would jump four words and go back two words.

Aniston obviously doesn’t want for success, not to speak of a public that loves her. But the image of her “Buddy Holly glasses” accidental diagnosis reminds us of how important it is to get help for kids who, like her, think there’s something wrong with them because they try just as hard but can’t do what other kids do easily. And maybe Jen can lend a hand.