Two Ivy League Students with Learning Disabilities and ADD

Give You the Tools for Academic Success and Educational Revolution

by Jonathan Mooney and David Cole (Simon & Schuster, 2000)

Jonathan Mooney describes himself as a dyslexic writer and activist who did not learn to read until he was 12 years old. He is a graduate of Brown University and holds an honors degree in English Literature. Mooney is co-founder of Project Eye-To-Eye, a widely duplicated mentoring program for students with disabilities. He is a winner of the prestigious Truman Scholarship for graduate studies in creative writing and education and was a national finalist for the Rhodes scholarship. When he was 23 years old, he wrote Learning Outside the Lines with David Cole, a book that is part memoir and part guide to alternative study skills.

On Friday, November 15, 2002 Jonathan Mooney provided the keynote address at the 10th Annual Mini-Conference for Students with Learning Disabilities in Higher Education sponsored by Project Mentor at New Jersey City University. He inspired the audience with his impassioned testimonial to the power of self-determination. Mooney urges students who have learning disabilities or ADHD to believe in themselves and arm themselves with knowledge of their strengths and learning styles.

Learning Outside the Lines furthers his platform for students striving for success beyond the K-12 educational system. It is motivating, informative, and practical. Its humorous anecdotes, along with its down-to-earth strategies, can provide hope and help for students struggling to achieve success in a non-conforming environment.

Jonathan Mooney is soliciting stories for a new writing project entitled The Short Bus Story: A Journey Beyond Normal to be published by Henry Holt and Co. in the fall of 2004. In the spring of 2003, he is going to criss-cross the country in a converted short yellow school bus, the stigmatizing mode of transportation for many students in special education, to explore disabled culture and the social and institutional ideas of normalcy and deviance through personal stories of people with disabilities. He is seeking a wide variety of stories that explore a range of social themes—stories that bear witness to the human struggle to embrace cognitive and physical diversity, stories that touch upon our country’s secret history of eugenics and forced sterilization laws, stories that focus on the poverty in which many disabled individuals live, and stories of disabled artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators. In short, he is looking for any and all stories that bring to life the uniqueness, humanity, and beauty of disability culture.

Interested individuals are asked to submit a short written description of the narrative or a cassette recording of their story. The submission should include any details and anecdotes that the individual sees fit. If a story is selected to be part of the project, the individual will be interviewed by Jonathan Mooney during his travels in the short bus, and their story may be re-told and dramatically re-created. Each story will read like short fiction, not interviews. If requested, the participant’s identity and confidentiality will be protected in the final publication.

Short bus stories can be emailed to jonathanmooney@earthlink.net or mailed to:

Jonathan Mooney

Ansonia Finance Station

P.O. Box 230598

New York, NY 10023

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