Spotlight on: Jonathan Mooney

Jonathan Mooney is co-founder and president of Project Eye-to-Eye, an advocacy and mentoring program for students who have what he terms “cognitive differences.” Mooney has written two published books, Learning Outside the Lines and the autobiographical The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal. What’s his advice for breaking down the stigmas and misinformation that challenge kids with mental health and learning disabilities?

Rethink one-size-fits-all education mandates. “There has been a greater recognition that learning differences and attention differences are real, but in the last five years we’ve also really taken steps in public policy to standardize education.”

Offer concrete academic accommodations. With the help of digital books, voice-activated software, note-taking help, extra time to take tests, and other substantive classroom accommodations, many kids can succeed in school. “Sometimes school districts and parents fight giving those accommodations,” Mooney says.

Recognize the unique strengths and talents that often accompany mental health and learning disabilities. Mooney cites a 2007 New York Times article, in which 35 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed identified themselves as 
dyslexic. Researcher Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, concluded that 
dyslexics were more likely than non-dyslexics to delegate authority, to excel in oral communication and problem solving, and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses.

Better educate teachers. “Schools need to do a better job—maybe not so much the schools, but the teacher-training institutions. [Most teachers] have taken maybe one course on disabilities and spent maybe one day on 
cognitive differences.”