Fifteen Years of Percy Jackson- Celebrating Dyslexia and ADHD:-

Most avid readers are accustomed to perfect characters as protagonists- the Straight A student, who is also a fantastic athlete and loved by all the teachers. However, Rick Riordan, for the first time created a protagonist, who is not without flaws. In fact, he has learning disabilities- ADHD and dyslexia, which leads him to be scorned upon by most of his classmates. Percy Jackson is the child of Poseidon and a mortal woman, making him a “demigod”, which makes this pentalogy one of the most eccentric fiction books.

Despite all the fictional touch, most adolescents and pre-teens with dyslexia or those who are hyperactive can identify with this protagonist at a closer level than others. Riordan’s bestselling books served the twin purposes of making people aware of the fact that learning disabilities are not some excuses cooked up by “dumb” or “arrogant” children and also helped the young generation see that we donot need to be the most talented or smartest person in the room to help others. Percy is portrayed as a character, who is not smart like his friend Annabeth or even a good fighter like those at Camp Half-Blood. He is just another young boy, who gets mystically drawn into this world . However the most inspiring portion of these pentalogy and the multiple spin-offs is that we see an overly flawed young boy who uses his willpower, perseverance and presence of find to attain the unattainable.

Mental ailments and learning disorders like ADHD have always been a taboo in most nations. These are actually perceived as mere excuses. We see in these books how ADHD makes it difficult for the demigods to concentrate on the work at hand and the dyslexia impairs their ability to read texts which are not in Greek. But, despite all these glorious touch-ups, the ADHD community can not help but feel a sense of pride and reassurance upon reading it. Apparently, it is a teenfiction, which serves the sole purpose of entertaining readers. If we delve deeper, we see that the book in its simple language has conveyed that ADHD and dyslexia are not disorders to be taken lightly or ignored.

For a long time, mental health has been a taboo. Our very beloved,”SeaWeed Brain” has been a ray of hope for all those hyperactive kids, who have been mocked at by friends. Maybe losing oneself in the book we can , just for once believe that no matter how imperfect we are, true success comes with grit and hard work. Maybe the Greek Gods will not help us bring rain or heal wounds, but the books have in the most expressive way brought people with ADHD and dyslexia to the forefront, in a way that the demigod children have been portrayed as a similar community as the Indigo Kids. The pentalogy is not just a literary marvel, they have relieved most of the people with ADHD from the status of “brats” or “retards”. This is a taboo which we should fight against and give all such victims of learning disorders a better world that is not fragmented by the stigma of being “abnormal”.

Hail Camp Half-Blood!