In his article Dyslexic CEO, Mathewson recalls Cisco CEO John Chamber's admission that he had dyslexia:

"Chambers' admission struck a chord with me because it reawakened a lot of my own struggles with dyslexia. The idea of a dyslexic editor may seem like an oxymoron, but it is not a contradiction in terms in my case. I remember all those years of working with my mom after school on spelling--an hour a day for five years--without appreciable improvement in what were horrible spelling grades. Most of my struggles were based on my brain's natural tendency to invert letters on tests. I could recite the proper spelling in our after-school sessions, but it never translated into testing success.

The biggest challenge was not the disability, but overcoming the frustration associated with working so hard and still failing. For me, the natural inclination was to pay attention to math and science and not even try in English. Why put so much effort into something without hope for success?

Mom claimed it was genetic. She was the word person and Dad was the math person. The only impediment to my success in math and science was boredom. English was another story altogether. Mom said I had Dad's brain. He was an excellent engineer who made himself the consummate communicator. But he couldn't spell cat if you put him to the test. He knew enough to hire a secretary who could spell, and he had a knack for conveying ideas verbally and for the format of business letters and memos. This was enough in those days."

Mathewson went on to gain two Master's degrees from the University of Minnesota (Philosophy of Language and Linguistics and Scientific and Technical Communication), become an award winning author and writer, and Editor-in-Chief of IBM.com and Computeruser.com.

Studies of dyslexia at the university level have suggested that there is an over-representation of dyslexics in school of engineering and design. In one study from Harper Adams University in England, over 1/4 of first year engineering students had significant signs of dyslexia.

Mathewson's story is a good reminder that the early challenges with the mechanical aspects of writing should not be an obstacle to a future career in writing or communication. Dyslexic strengths of big picture thinking, an ability to see facts and details within a context, and recognition of a good story or insight - lend themselves to natural leadership and excellence in communication.