What is your superpower?
su·per·pow·er |
\ ˈsü-pər-ˌpau̇(-ə)r: a power or ability (such as the ability to become invisible or to fly) of the kind possessed by superheroes : a superhuman power
Have you ever loved someone with a learning difference? I have, and it changed my life for the better. My younger son, Josh, is dyslexic, and he is powerful with incredible mechanical skills that are common in dyslexics. It just took us a while to recognize what was going on, and then once we did, to realize how to unleash his superpower.
Josh’s early adventures as a superhero.
Before that, though, as with any superhero before they realize they have superpowers, there were some dark days. And, I mean literally dark. Okay, at least in my memory they were dark. In my memory the room was incredibly dark, with my husband and me sitting on one end of the elementary school administrative office table and my fifth-grade son’s teacher, the principal, the school counselor, the school psychologist, and the special education teacher all on the other end of the table. In my head, the table was incredibly long, and they were so very far away. I’m sure the room was neither dark nor were they that far away in real life, but stress can do strange things to memories.
The conversation going on between the members of the committee in my head was so loud I was having trouble hearing the actual conversation in the room as they used words like “functionally illiterate,” “doesn’t pay attention,” “needs an intervention,” etc. I had a list of questions rolling through my head as quickly as the end credits of a movie:
“What is my baby boy going to do with his life?”
“What do you mean he can’t read? He read to me last night.”
“What will his future look like?”
“Is this my fault because I travel so much for work?”
“Could I have prevented this if I had been home more to help with homework?”
My husband, always the sweet, kind man, held up our side of the conversation while I sat in silence looking confidently at the people in front of me while internally, I was rumbling with extreme mommy guilt. Any of you ever been there? As I tend to do when I am nervous, while I appeared to be paying attention, under the table, I was squeezing Brad’s hand so tight, I am confident I left a mark or two. After a minute, I realized the conversation had stopped and they were all looking at me waiting for an answer as I heard someone say, “Mrs. Williams?” I was busted for not paying attention as I realized I had no clue what the question was. They repeated their question which I answered politely, and then I finally asked the question that had been burning within me:
“When do you stop treating my child as a problem you have to fix and start treating him as a potential you have to unleash? I am not arguing semantics.”
You see, by this point we had done our homework and we knew our son was dyslexic. We knew that with this comes superpowers and the trade off of these superpowers (because we know all superheroes must make tradeoffs to get their powers) are challenges with reading. So, that day, as I sat in that room listening, I had come to the conclusion that instead of thinking about what was going on with him as a disability, we would embrace the differences he had been given and the known strengths that came with them. We chose to seek out others who embraced his strengths so he could overcome the shadow sides of dyslexia.
Josh sophomore year school picture.
Future cybersecurity expert.
Today, five years later, he is thriving in a school that has a rigorous STEM program that focuses on engineering and computer science. He is in a competitive robotics program where he proudly serves as the head programmer. He takes courses where he gets to do fun projects like hacking a ROOMBA and programming it to do specific tasks. Most of his schoolwork is so technically complex that we haven’t been able to help him for years, although he still gets help with reading from a specially-trained teacher. He has proudly declared that he wants to leverage his superpower for a career in cybersecurity and is starting to look at universities that have programs in this. He still tries to use his dyslexia to not do chores around the house like the dishes, but we’re on to him.
Sometimes in life we need others around us who help us recognize our superpowers so that we can be transformed. This story is foundational to how I became so passionate about helping others unleash their potential. It is also the reason I chose the name for my company, Unleashed Potential Executive Coaching and Advising. Have you ever had a moment when someone saw the superpower in you that you couldn’t see in yourself and it changed your life?
