Parenting & Family Quote by Bruce Jenner

Jenner’s line lands because it refuses the tidy, clinical storyline people like to tell about dyslexia: spot the “deficit,” apply the fix, move on. Instead, he shifts the center of gravity from the page to the mirror. The real injury, he argues, is not the scrambled letters but the identity you’re taught to build around them. That’s a bracing claim from an athlete whose public brand was built on mastery, precision, and being “naturally” gifted. He’s puncturing that myth from the inside.

The intent is practical and protective: if you can change how a kid interprets their struggle, you can change the trajectory of their life. “Perception of themselves” is coded language for shame, isolation, and the low-grade dread of being found out as “stupid” in classrooms that reward speed and conformity. By adding “That was my biggest problem,” Jenner makes the statement less like advocacy-by-committee and more like confession. It’s a way of granting permission: your struggle is real, but it doesn’t have to become your biography.

The subtext also fits the culture of sport, where pain is tolerated if it can be converted into performance. He’s suggesting dyslexia becomes most damaging when it’s internalized as character failure. Coming from someone who reached the top of a brutally competitive system, the message is clear: the mind’s narrative can be the strongest opponent you face, and the most important comeback is the one that happens privately.