Celebrity
Henry Winkler Shares Wisdom With Kelly Clarkson's Daughter About Growing Up With Dyslexia
“How you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are.”
It can be tough to feel even the slightest bit different when you’re a kid, so when a famous person who understands what you’re going through has some advice to offer, you listen. Hopefully Kelly Clarkson’s 8-year-old daughter River had the chance to hear Henry Winkler’s sweet message to her about dealing with dyslexia, because as someone who is dyslexic himself, he gets it. And what’s more, he was so genuinely kind when he delivered his advice, Clarkson herself had a tough time holding it together.
Winkler was on Clarkson’s talk show to talk about his children’s books when the mom of two noted that it’s wonderful to tell her own daughter about what a successful writer Winkler has become. During the morning drive to school the day before, Clarkson told Winkler that she “found it amazing to tell my daughter that you’ve written 40 books and you’re dyslexic.”
The singer, who is also mom to 7-year-old son Remy, went on to explain that her daughter “was getting bullied at school for not being able to read like all the other kids.”
At which point Winkler noted that 1 out of 5 kids have some form of dyslexia, which is correct according to the International Dyslexia Association. “I didn’t know it was that common,” Clarkson said. “She’s in the tribe!” Winkler said.
The Barry star then turned to the camera to address River herself. “River,” he said, pointing to the camera. “How you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are.” At which point Clarkson welled up with tears to the point where she had to reach for a tissue and say, “It’s fine! It’s fine! My makeup artist is going to kill me!”
Clarkson has been very fortunate on her show to get tons of excellent advice from people about life with her kids, from how to deal with being a single mom over the holidays to trying to come to terms with divorce, from First Lady Jill Biden no less, after she and ex-husband Brandon Blackstock parted ways.
While early detection of dyslexia makes all the difference in the world, support from people who understand it themselves is just as important. As Clarkson herself said about her daughter learning that so many celebrities have dyslexia, “It really empowered her that y’all are so open about it.”
And now River has a personal message from the Fonz himself.
