Jonathan Mooney

Jonathan Mooney is 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 a holds an honors degree in English Literature. He is cofounder of Project Eye-To-Eye, a widely duplicated mentoring program for disabled students. He is also a winner of the prestigious Truman Scholarship for graduate studies in creative writing and education and was a national finalist for the Rhodes scholarship.

With the publication of Learning Outside the Lines when he was 23, now in its eighth printing, a book that is part memoir and part alternative study skills, Mooney has established himself as one of the foremost leaders in LD/ADHD, disabilities, and alternative education. His second book, The Short Bus Story, is a work of creative non-fiction, part travel literature, part memoir, part oral history, consisting of true tales of physical and cognitive deviance from a cross-country journey through disabled culture,

Mooney has lectured at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Brown University, the University of Wisconsin School of Education, New York University Medical School’s Grand Rounds, and Beaumont Pediatric Hospital’s Grand Rounds. But to this date, his favorite gig was at an elementary school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the kids gave him hope.

He has been featured and quoted in The New York Times, The Providence Journal, The Boston Globe, USA Today, and numerous other local and regional papers in the cities, states, and countries where he has traveled. His most memorable experience, however, was being interviewed for the Brazilian cable company El Globo, where his voice was dubbed into Portuguese. The company reported that they haven’t received that much mail since their feature on David Hasselhoff.