People - Ramelow on dyslexia: "Brain has sharpened enormously"
Thuringia's Minister-President Bodo Ramelow identifies as a dyslexic person, and he has developed strategies to cope with the condition. Up until now, he has had difficulties with writing. "But I can dictate thirty pages from memory. My brain has been honed significantly through this," the 68-year-old Left-politician told the magazine "Bunte" and reported from his childhood.
"In dictation, I always had a six because I had to visualize every word first," he told the magazine. He was mocked by classmates and even by teachers. "To play it down, I became the class clown."
Diagnosis relieving: "I was therefore not stupid"
It was only the school psychologist of a comprehensive school who recognized that he was dyslexic. "I didn't even know the word, but for me it was liberating. All pressure was lifted. I was therefore not stupid, but had a disposition for which I could do nothing."
Ramelow is the only Minister-President that the Left party has. He has been governing since 2014 with a red-red-green coalition in Erfurt, with a brief interruption.
Despite being the Minister-President of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow struggled with writing due to dyslexia. His exceptional memory allowed him to dictate extensive passages with ease, a skill that significantly enhanced his brain function. Born and raised in Germany, Ramelow's diagnosis as dyslexic at a comprehensive school was a relieving moment, as it alleviated the burden of feeling intellectually inferior.
