Princess Victoria's Dyslexia

[avrilo]

Again the ponytail and that line above her forehead like she doesnt know what to do with her "bangs". She is helpless!

 

[Avalon]

Again the ponytail and that line above her forehead like she doesnt know what to do with her "bangs". She is helpless!

I thought Princess Victoria looked simply stunning!
I am not even going to complain about the ponytail, because on this particular occassion, I really liked it.

 

[magnik]

Thanks Tartucat Victoria looks so beautiful on these two photos.
http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=26yg0.jpg

 

[avrilo]

I thought Princess Victoria looked simply stunning!
I am not even going to complain about the ponytail, because on this particular occassion, I really liked it.

I know! in this particular ocassion it looked nice, but we see it every single day in every single picture!

 

[LadyFinn]

Crown princess Victoria talks about her dyslexia:
Jag måste ha en linjal när jag läser/I have to use a ruler when I read/Expressen

Victoria tells: It hasn´t gone so many years when I read my first book. I have to use a ruler when I read.
The crown princess understood quite early that she had inherited her father´s handicap, dyslexia. (Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. Although dyslexia is the result of a neurological difference, it is not an intellectual disability.).
"It was in fact my mother who noticed my dyslexia at the beginning", Victoria tells.

The crown princess visited yesterday Bjorkesta school in Nykvarn outside Stockholm and handed the Bertil Hults Prize and 500 000 Swedish Crowns for their work involving dyslexia.
After the award ceremony Expressen got a unique chat with Victoria. She revealed how difficult she has with her handicap.
- "I have always had it very difficult to read. I have in principle never read a book voluntarily"
How does this effect to your life?
- "Everything takes a longer time. It is difficult to concentrate. But you learn from different situations and you invent your own methods that make it easier".
What was the most difficult at school?
- "That I always compared myself with my schoolmates, who didn´t have the same handicap. Then I saw how slow I was. People sat and glanced at their books. After a time it was just me who was glancing. Everyone else had gone ahead and I stayed at the same page and trampled".
What advice would you give to children and youngsters that are at the same situation?
- "You should never forget that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. You have strengths and weaknesses. You just have to find you strengths so that you can compensate your weaknesses.
Victoria also praised the winner of the Bertil Hults Prize, the Bjorkesta school in Nykvarn:
- "They are absolutely fantastic. It is amazing that they have had strength to carry out their plan to help all pupils with dyslexia".

** I have tried to translate here everything Victoria said. I think this was a very important interview.

 

[Gita]

Thank you very much LadyFinn for translating this interview for us all to read, I found it particularly touching as I myself have dyslexia and dyspraxia.

 

[royalone3]

Doesn't Prince Carl Philipe also have dyslexia?

 

[Gita]

Yes Prince Carl Philip does have dyslexia but I don't know if Princess Madeleine does have it or not, perhaphs any of the other posters here can tell us if Princess Madeleine has dyslexia?

 

[LadyFinn]

Crown princess Victoria has told in an interview, that in addition to dyslexia she suffers also from face blindness.
Victorias dolda handikapp/Expressen
She has difficulties to remember people´s names and faces. She says that she tries to learn and remember the names and faces of the people she meets very hard, but it is sometimes very difficult to put the names and faces to a right place. This is a big minus at her job, says the crown princess. It´s a big help for her that she has assistants to help her.
More information about face blindness:
Faceblind.org

 

[Marengo]

Crown princess Victoria has told in an interview, that in addition to dyslexia she suffers also from face blindness.
Victorias dolda handikapp/Expressen
She has difficulties to remember people´s names and faces. She says that she tries to learn and remember the names and faces of the people she meets very hard, but it is sometimes very difficult to put the names and faces to a right place. This is a big minus at her job, says the crown princess. It´s a big help for her that she has assistants to help her.
More information about face blindness:
Faceblind.org

That isn't very handy for a royal, but luckily she can use ladies in waiting who help her. Nice that the Crownprincess is open about her disabilities (also about dyslexia in the past).

 

[Marengo]

It doesn't seem that it is something that can be overcome by therapy,
but she has managed perfectly well with the disability thus far, so...

Here some info:

Prosopagnosia (sometimes known as face blindness) is a disorder of face perception where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively intact. The term usually refers to a condition following acute brain damage, but recent evidence suggests that a congenital form of the disorder may exist. The specific brain area usually associated with prosopagnosia is the fusiform gyrus.
Few successful therapies have so far been developed for affected people, although individuals often learn to use 'piecemeal' or 'feature by feature' recognition strategies. This may involve secondary clues such as clothing, hair color, body shape, and voice. Because the face seems to function as an important identifying feature in memory, it can also be difficult for people with this condition to keep track of information about people, and socialize normally with others.
Some also use the term prosophenosia, which refers to the inability to recognize faces following extensive damage of both occipital and temporal lobes.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[norwegianne]

That isn't very handy for a royal, but luckily she can use ladies in waiting who help her. Nice that the Crownprincess is open about her disabilities (also about dyslexia in the past).

I think that if you're open about things like this, as Victoria has been, it is something which will serve her much better in the long term. Much better to tell things before they get to the point of being headlines in the newspapers (such as the anorexia became), then you get a modicum of control of the situation.

 

[Lena]

I think that if you're open about things like this, as Victoria has been, it is something which will serve her much better in the long term. Much better to tell things before they get to the point of being headlines in the newspapers (such as the anorexia became), then you get a modicum of control of the situation.

Well, but if it gets too much, ppl will wonder, if she is qualified at all. She got the job by birth and has though to measure with diplomats...foreign ministers etc. , who got (partly ) the job by qualification.
And IMO it gets too much...and honestly I see no reason to believe, that she is suffering from serious agnosia. If you ask me, she saw the "plus points", she got through the confessions around her anorexia and "had tested blood"

I wish she would simply and just marry...instead of giving the 100th interview on her dyslexia...and other things (I am not interested in fashion, only if it´s important for Sweden...I can´t read, apart from everything on climate changes...I´ve no time for watching TV, but twice as much vacation as an average Swede...I sooo love children, but don´t get any...I sooo love animals, esp as roast beef and chicken burger) Did I ever tell, that I am sooo admiring Queen Elizabeth II for not giving interviews and always going for a professional approach...oh, and of course for catching a prince consort soon in life

 

[Marengo]

Well, but if it gets too much, ppl will wonder, if she is qualified at all. She got the job by birth and has though to measure with diplomats...foreign ministers etc. , who got (partly ) the job by qualification.
And IMO it gets too much...and honestly I see no reason to believe, that she is suffering from serious agnosia. If you ask me, she saw the "plus points", she got through the confessions around her anorexia and "had tested blood"

I wish she would simply and just marry...instead of giving the 100th interview on her dyslexia...and other things (I am not interested in fashion, only if it´s important for Sweden...I can´t read, apart from everything on climate changes...I´ve no time for watching TV, but twice as much vacation as an average Swede...I sooo love children, but don´t get any...I sooo love animals, esp as roast beef and chicken burger) Did I ever tell, that I am sooo admiring Queen Elizabeth II for not giving interviews and always going for a professional approach...oh, and of course for catching a prince consort soon in life

I think that it is almost impossible not to give interviews these days, Queen Elizabeth II is another generation of course buit for the younger royals... I think it can add something when it is done with care, not to frequently and mainly focussed on their role and social causes.

In Sweden that somehow seems different, I have the impression that Victoria does a lot of interviews (a few a year), which makes them less special I suppose, so the added value erodes. And I don't know if they talk about ehr causes in these interviews but I believe that the Dyslexia was mentioned again and again, which gets a bit tiresome indeed.

 

[IloveCP]

I think it's great that she spoke about it.It shows how even though she is a princess,she wants to keep in touch with the people who have the same problems.

 

[HRHHermione]

I think it's great that she spoke about.It shows how even though she is a princess,she wants to keep in touch with the people with the same problems.

I didn't know about this. It gives me even more respect for Victoria.

She's willing to be honest about her life and her problems. That takes some courage.

 

[LadyFinn]

Victoria has given an interview to the school magazine of Carlssons skola about dyslexia. The magazine was published in June.
"Tell so that your surroundings understand you and your situation".
Dyslexia is a reading and writing problem that you hake with your whole life. I was given the opportunity to interview Crown Princess Victoria about her dyslexia and how she found strategies to handle it.
https://static-cs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/cache/fc/63/fc63e836b3fc40f0ce6d8e541da29e4e.jpg

How has dyslexia affected your schooling?
"Although I had dyslexia, I thought it was very fun at school. I loved learning things and I was lucky to have a good teacher. However, I got to work hard because I had it difficult to learn and get information, but my surroundings knew I had dyslexia so I got a lot of help. I was also lucky to discover my dyslexia early and that it was handled".
Could the school do something different to make it easier for you?
"Partly, the school and its teachers need to know about dyslexia, but they also need keys to help the students who need support. Everyone needs to find their own way in which they handle their dyslexia. A child with dyslexia may risk low self-esteem and low self-confidence that may affect whole life. You're not stupid or dumb", The Crown Princess tells about her dyslexia. "You only need other learning methods. The school must be able to assist with support so that you can achieve your full potential".
What are your best tips for dyslexics? Tell!
"You need to tell so that your surroundings understand you and your situation. Dare to ask for and receive help! Find your own way that suits you. I used mind maps, read aloud to myself and listened to others who read aloud. The written word didn't tell me so much, but I used to draw and code with colours what I should learn".

 

[TLLK]

? Smart and sound advice from someone who has dealt with this learning disorder for her entire life. CP Victoria and Prince Daniel will likely be conferring with Estelle and Oscar's teachers over the years to see if their children have any of the traits associated with this learning disorder.

 

[M. Payton]

A very beautiful and bright young lady who has lived it and can talk about to others so that they won't feel left out of society. Princess Victoria is one of the most influential young crown princess out there today who really understands where the need is for those that need it.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Thank you for sharing, LadyFinn. It's great to see that royals who struggled with dyslexia are now speaking up about their experiences. Princess Beatrice and Prince Carl Philip also come to mind, as IIRC Carl Philip mentioned that he was bullied at school because of his dyslexia.
There is still a stigma attached to dyslexia; I have many friends and relatives who are dyslexic and who were dismissed at school for just purely "not being very bright" and not given sufficient support, or given support when it was too late. Here in the UK, many schools are placed into subject sets, and too large of a number of dyslexic students are often placed in the bottom sets where the students aren't given much attention as the teachers presume that they don't want to learn and are careless. Having said that, as much as I hated my time there, my secondary school did have very good dyslexia support and there were designated sets for dyslexic students and extra classes where they could get extra help. It was a small school though, so I can imagine that it would be more difficult to give the same in a big school.

 

[LadyFinn]

Victoria's old interview about her dyslexia:
Victoria_ Utan järnvilja blir man avskräckt och ger upp _ HejaOlika.se
Translation