Maya Hawke: I got kicked out of school because I couldn’t read

Maya Hawke was once ”kicked out of school” because she couldn’t read.

The 22-year-old actress struggles with dyslexia – a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds – and has said her reading skills are ”still limited” after she was expelled from one school as a child over her disability.

She explained: ”[It was] deeply difficult growing up, [but dyslexia is] one of the great blessings of my life in a lot of ways.

”But I did get, like, kicked out of school for not being able to read when I was a kid. I went to a special school for kids with learning disabilities. And it took me a long time to learn how to read, and I still am limited.”

But the ‘Stranger Things’ star – who is the daughter of Hollywood stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman – says there’s plenty of positives to her dyslexia, as it allows her to find different ways to ”understand” stories and movie scripts.

She added: ”The wonderful thing about today’s world is that there are so many options. There’s something about having had a limitation in regards to my ability to produce and take in stories that made me even more determined to love them and understand them and grow in them.”

Maya also praised her famous parents for ”encouraging” her to be creative and continue with her studies, despite feeling as though she was being held back.

She said during an interview with NPR: ”It was deeply difficult, you know, to be in the slow class. Every grade that went by, you get dropped down into a lower and lower reading group. And other kids find out. And there’s bullying in place.

”But my parents did a wonderful job of encouraging me to be creative.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood’ star recently said she’s thankful for her parents, as they’ve been able to keep her informed of the ”pitfalls and the good things” about fame.

She said earlier this year: ”I’m always running decisions by them. They both have similar levels of success but really different experiences within the business.”

”I think that’s the biggest advantage [I have], that I have information about the pitfalls and the good thing. Hopefully, it’ll keep me from making some mistakes that young actors can make.”

Article source: https://www.contactmusic.com/news/maya-hawke-i-got-kicked-out-of-school-because-i-couldn-t-read_6322169