Jessica Simpson reveals she's dyslexic as she celebrates success of audiobook - Culture

Jessica Simpson has revealed she’s dyslexic in a brave post shared to Instagram on Wednesday.

The singer, 40, who has been in the spotlight for over two decades, took to the social media platform to celebrate the success of her New York Times Best Selling memoir, Open Book, in which she details her personal life and high-profile career.

Musician Jessica admitted recording the audio version of the book marked ‘the first time I’ve read out loud without hesitation’, and said she conquered her fears for ‘the listener, my family and myself’.

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling.

Secret battle: Jessica Simpson has revealed she’s dyslexic in a brave post shared to Instagram on Wednesday (pictured in February)

The mother-of-three wrote: ‘OPEN BOOK, thank you for the therapy. @applebooks, thank you for recognizing and respecting my story.

‘Turning my fears into wisdom has been a soulful journey to say the least. I appreciate the power of this praise with all of my heart.

‘Fact: I’m dyslexic and this was the first time I have ever read out loud without hesitation. I did it for the listener. I did it for my family. I did it for myself.’ (sic)

The fashion designer uploaded the note alongside a screenshot of Apple’s best audiobooks of the year.

Award-winning: The singer, 40, took to the social media platform to celebrate the success of her New York Times Best Selling memoir, Open Book

‘I did it for the listener, my family and for myself’: The musician also admitted recording the audio version of the book marked ‘the first time I’ve read out loud without hesitation’

One in every ten people has the lifelong problem in the UK and the US.

As well as struggling with reading, writing and spelling, signs of dyslexia also include confusing the order of letters in words and finding difficulty in carrying out directions, planning and organising.

Famous sufferers include actor Orlando Bloom, businessman Richard Branson, TV presenter Holly Willoughby and screen star Tom Cruise.

People with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as problem solving and creative thinking.

Signs: Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling (Jessica pictured promoting her book in February)

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling, but intelligence isn’t affected.

1 in every 10 people struggle with the lifelong problem in the UK and the US.

People with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as problem solving and creative thinking.

Signs of dyslexia include:

Confusing the order of letters in words

Reading and writing very slowly

Finding difficulty in carrying out directions, planning and organising

Having poor and/or inconsistent spelling

Forming letters the wrong way round (e.g. writing ‘b’ instead of ‘d’)

Finding it hard to understand written information

Source: NHS

In her book, released in February, Jessica details her journey to sobriety following a dependence on alcohol and pills as a result of being sexually abused as a child by a girl she had considered a family friend.

The With You hitmaker writes: ‘It would start with tickling my back and then go into things that were extremely uncomfortable. I wanted to tell my parents. I was the victim but somehow I felt in the wrong.

‘Dad kept his eye on the road and said nothing. We never stayed at my parents’ friends house again but we also didn’t talk about what I had said.’

The media personality recently shared how she confronted her abuser eight years ago.

She’s not alone: Famous sufferers include actor Orlando Bloom, businessman Richard Branson, TV presenter Holly Willoughby and screen star Tom Cruise (pictured in July 2018)

Speaking on Katherine Schwarzenegger’s The Gift of Forgiveness podcast over the summer, Jessica said: ‘I just want you to know that I forgive you and I don’t really care to be around you that much ever again…

‘But I do want you to know that I know what happened between us and I’m not gonna live in denial about it.

‘I went to her and I just said, “I know you know what was going on and I know that you were being abused”, because she was being abused by an older guy.

‘I was the victim’: In her book, Jessica details her journey to sobriety following a dependence on alcohol and pills as a result of being sexually abused as a child (pictured in February)

‘He was always there at the house as well, so he never touched me, but he would abuse her and she would come to me and do the stuff to me and so, like in so many ways I felt bad for her and I was allowing the abuse to happen.’

In Open Book, the TV star also touches on her four-year marriage to 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey.

She reveals she met the artist, 47, when she was just 18 years of age and fell in love right away.

Former love: In Open Book, the TV star also touches on her four-year marriage to 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey (pictured in July 2005)

While their union seemed to be on strong footing early on, Jessica says they both suffered from anxiety over their careers, which was a factor leading to their split.

The former couple divorced in 2006, which resulted in the blonde paying the presenter $12 million as they didn’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement.

Nick has been married to model Vanessa Minnillo since 2011, while his former spouse tied the knot to former American football tight end Eric Johnson in 2014.

The pair share sons Maxwell, eight, and Ace, seven, and 20-month-old daughter Birdie.

Family first: The pop icon shares sons Maxwell, eight, and Ace, seven, and 20-month-old daughter Birdie with husband Eric Johnson

What are the nine alleged benefits of dyslexia?

1. People with dyslexia often see things more holistically and are able to see the bigger picture.

2. People with dyslexia excel at global visual processing and the detection of impossible figures.

Dyslexic scientist Christopher Tonkin described his unusual sensitivity to ‘things out of place.’ Scientists in his line of work must make sense of enormous quantities of visual data and accurately find black hole anomalies.

3. People with dyslexia often have the ability to spot patterns and see similarities among multiple things.

These strengths help in fields such as science and mathematics.

4. Many people with dyslexia have good spatial knowledge and are better than non-dyslexic people at manipulating 3D objects in their mind.

5. People with dyslexia tend to think in pictures rather than words. Research done by the University of California found that dyslexic children have enhanced picture-recognition memory.

Nineteenth-century French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, could stare at paintings in museums by day and paint them from memory at night. His dyslexia meant he could barely read or write by the age of 14, with his reading skills developing much later.

6. People with dyslexia have better peripheral vision than most, meaning they can quickly take in a whole scene. Although it can be hard to focus in on individual words, dyslexia seems to make it easier to see outer edges.

7. One in three American entrepreneurs have dyslexia which may be due to better strategic and creative thinking.

Richard Branson said: ‘I seemed to think in a different way from my classmates. I was very focused on trying to set up a business and create something. My dyslexia guided the way we communicated with customers.’

8. People with dyslexia are often highly creative and many famous actors are dyslexic such as Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom.

9. Those with dyslexia are well known for having sudden leaps of insight that solve problems with an unorthodox approach.

This is an intuitive approach to problem solving that can seem like daydreaming.

Source: Nessy.com