🧠 Episode Overview

This brief but powerful episode takes a direct look at recent public comments about learning disabilities—and why they matter far beyond politics. Mark speaks from decades of experience in special education to challenge harmful narratives and reframe what dyslexia really means for individuals, families, and society.

At its core, this episode is about one thing:

the message we send to kids when we misunderstand how they learn.

🎯 Key Takeaways

1. Dyslexia is not a measure of intelligence
2. It impacts language processing—not cognitive ability, leadership, or potential.
3. What looks like struggle is often strategy in progress
4. Many individuals with dyslexia rely on tools like audiobooks, verbal processing, and summaries—and go on to thrive.
5. Words from leaders carry real consequences
6. Public statements about disability don’t stay in politics—they shape how children see themselves.
7. The real issue is not disability—it’s ignorance
8. Misunderstanding learning differences leads to stigma, lowered expectations, and lost opportunities.
9. Kids internalize what the world tells them
10. When they hear limits, they believe limits. When they’re supported, they rise.

🧩 What Dyslexia Actually Impacts

1. Decoding (sounding out words)
2. Reading fluency
3. Spelling and written expression
4. Processing speed with language

👉 And at the same time, many individuals demonstrate:

1. Strong verbal reasoning
2. Creativity and innovation
3. Big-picture thinking
4. Leadership and interpersonal strengths

🔥 Core Message

This episode challenges the idea that learning differences define capability—and calls on parents, educators, and advocates to push back against narratives that diminish individuals with disabilities.

Your brain works differently.

Your challenges are real.

And your potential is not up for debate.

🧭 Notable Context Discussed

1. Public comments made by Donald Trump regarding Gavin Newsom and dyslexia (March 2026)
2. Newsom’s lived experience with dyslexia and his adaptive strategies
3. Responses from Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom
4. The broader impact of stigmatizing language on individuals with learning disabilities

📚 References & Resources

1. Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery
2. Ben and Emma’s Big Hit
3. International Dyslexia Association – Research and resources on dyslexia
4. Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity – Science and strengths-based perspective on dyslexia

🎧 Final Thought

Ignorance may be loud…

but it doesn’t have to be what leads.

specialedrising.com

https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-rays-respite-care-mission

Hello, I’m Mark Ingrassia—special educator, advocate, and parent coach.

Welcome to Special Ed Rising: PURGE 47 Edition where we pull back the curtain on the policies, the politics, and the power plays shaping the lives of individuals with disabilities and the families who support them.

For nearly four decades, I’ve been in the trenches—IEP tables, classrooms, crisis calls, and real conversations with families when the stakes are high and the system falls short. And let me be clear: families deserve better—better information, better support, and a system that actually works.

We’re not just talking strategies—we’re calling out broken systems.

We’re not just talking mindset—we’re building resilience in real time.

We’re not just talking inclusion—we’re exposing where it fails and how to fix it.

This is real life and if you’re raising, teaching, or supporting someone with disabilities—you’re not alone.

You’re in the right place.

Now let’s get to work.

So today’s episode is going to be a quick one—but it’s an important one. And I’m going to be direct.

I take this work seriously. Really seriously. Like so many of you, I live and work in the world of disability, and I feel a responsibility to protect and elevate what individuals with disabilities bring to our society. And that’s everything—intellectually, creatively, technologically… across every field, every space, every part of life.

I’ve had the privilege of working with incredible people—kids, adults, families—who have completely changed the way I see the world. They’ve shown me what’s possible when people are given the opportunity to access their strengths and share their gifts. So I see this from both sides. I see the potential… and I also see how limited this world can be. Especially when the people in power—the ones who have the ability to make things better—choose instead to operate from ignorance.

Because at the core of everything I believe is this: every human being has value. Period. And labels? Labels don’t define a person.

But let’s be honest—that belief is not universal.

There are still people—loud people, influential people—who speak with this sense of superiority, like their perspective is the default, like their position is earned by birthright. And they say things about others—about our kids, our community—without any awareness of the weight those words carry or the damage they can do.

And the question I keep coming back to is: how is that still tolerated… when most people actually know better?

So when we talk about leadership, we need to start by defining what that even means.

Is a leader someone who is self-absorbed? Someone who tears others down? Someone who refuses accountability? Someone who claims ignorance about what’s happening under their own leadership? Someone who demands loyalty but gives none in return?

Is a leader someone who mocks people with disabilities? Who disrespects women? Who operates with bias, with cruelty, with a pattern of behavior that we wouldn’t accept in our schools, our workplaces, or our homes?

I’ll stop there, because I said this would be brief.

But really—ask yourself this:

Would you want that person teaching your child?

Running your child’s school?

Being your boss?

Dating your child?

Making decisions about your child’s services… their supports… their future?

When you put it in that context, it almost feels absurd to even consider.

And yet… here we are.

So let’s ground this in reality for a moment, because this is where the conversation needs to shift from rhetoric to truth.

Gavin Newsom has dyslexia, a learning disability that affects reading, writing, and spelling. He was diagnosed around age five. Growing up, he struggled academically, especially with reading and written work. Like many of the kids we work with every day, he relied on audiobooks, verbal instruction, and summaries instead of dense text. He didn’t “overcome” dyslexia—he adapted to it. He built systems around it. He learned how his brain works and used that knowledge to function at a high level. And as an adult, he still prefers audio formats for absorbing information.

That is not a deficit. That is strategy.

Newsom responded to Trump’s comments on X Monday night, in which he addressed children with dyslexia.

“To every kid with a learning disability: don’t let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you,” he said. “Dyslexia isn’t a weakness. It’s your strength.”

The governor's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, also issued a response in a video posted to Instagram, calling Trump’s comments “extremely ignorant and offensive.”

Newsom has been a frequent target of Trump, who calls the California governor “Newscum,” and the two have attacked each other repeatedly. Last week, Trump hurled similar insults at Newsom at a rally, saying, “I don't want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency.”

So when someone says a person with a learning disability shouldn’t be president, they are not just talking about one individual. They are sending a message to millions of kids and adults: there is a ceiling on what you can become.

And that is the part that should concern all of us.

Because I have sat across from too many kids who already believe that lie. Kids who are bright, insightful, creative, and capable—but who think they are “less than” because reading is hard. Kids who work twice as hard just to keep up, and then internalize the struggle as a flaw in who they are instead of a difference in how they process information.

When people hear “dyslexia,” they often think letter reversals—but that’s the surface.

In reality, dyslexia impacts:

Decoding (sounding out words)

Fluency (reading smoothly)

Spelling and written expression

Processing speed with language

But here’s the disconnect you’ve seen a thousand times:

👉 These same individuals often have:

Strong verbal reasoning

Big-picture thinking

Creativity and problem-solving

Leadership and interpersonal strengths

That mismatch—high intelligence + difficulty with print—is what confuses people and leads to stigma.

What we know—and what we fight for every single day—is that those kids, when supported, when understood, when given the right tools and the right environment, don’t just succeed… they thrive. They lead. They innovate. They contribute in ways that make our communities stronger.

So the issue is not dyslexia. The issue is ignorance.

And the responsibility falls on all of us—parents, educators, advocates—to push back on that ignorance with truth, with evidence, and with lived experience.

Because at the end of the day, this is not about politics. It’s about people. It’s about our kids. It’s about the message they hear when the world talks about individuals like them.

And the message they deserve to hear is this:

Your brain works differently.

Your challenges are real.

And your potential is not up for debate.

And I’ll close with this—

What we heard wasn’t leadership—it was ignorance. It was careless, dismissive language that takes complex human beings, reduces them to a stereotype, and then judges them based on that reduction. That’s not strength—that’s insecurity dressed up as confidence. It’s the voice of a bully, not a leader.

And it reflects a deeper pattern—a mindset that creates a “they” or a “them,” defines that group as less than, and uses that division to elevate itself. That kind of thinking isn’t accidental—it’s intentionally divisive. Because when you diminish a group—in this case, people with learning disabilities—you don’t just insult them, you actively chip away at their opportunities.

Worse, it invites others to follow suit. It appeals to those who lack empathy or understanding, encouraging them to adopt that same narrow, harmful lens.

And that’s how damage spreads—not just through words, but through the permission those words give to others.

Because real leaders don’t punch down. They don’t weaponize differences. They don’t take something like a learning disability—which millions of people navigate with resilience every single day—and turn it into a disqualifier. That’s not just wrong… it’s harmful.

And the danger isn’t just in the words themselves—it’s in what those words signal to every kid, every adult, every family who’s already fighting to be seen, understood, and respected.

We can—and should—expect more than that from a president. But he doesn’t know how to be any different. He only respects strong armed leaders who rule with an iron fist. His skin is made of paper. For such a supposedly tough leader he is easily wounded by words, he is delicate and he only knows to hit back; Instead of looking inward, taking responsibility, and growing, the instinct is to deflect, to accuse, to diminish others in order to feel elevated—even if that advantage exists only in perception.

That is the mind of a petulant child..

That’s not leadership. That’s immaturity.

And this is exactly why it matters—because ignorance may be loud… but it doesn’t have to be what leads.

Thank you for listening! Join me each week for topics that inform, inspire, and empower you to lead with confidence, self-love, and mindfulness—while taking care of yourself, too.

Music by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review—it helps more families find us. Follow @specialedrising on social media, visit specialedrising.com, or reach out at specialedrising@gmail.com for questions, parent training, or support.

I’ve started a GoFundMe for Ray’s Respite Care—a place that can bring real relief and joy to families. Every little bit helps. You’ll find the link in the show notes.

Take one small step this week.

You’re doing better than you think.

And remember—no parent gets left behind.

Until next time—Peace, and Keep Rising!