Interview with Dr. Dan Peters: Parent Footprint
A common thread that runs through the lives of many dyslexics is
their incredible struggle to read and to discover their path to success in
life.
This is especially true for those who were never diagnosed or
given support or accommodation in their younger years. How does a struggling
dyslexic develop the hope and resolve necessary to work through their issues
and discover their life’s work?
One way is to look to the example of other people with dyslexia
who have found their way to a fulfilling life. I recently met Dr. Dan Peters, a
licensed psychologist, who struggled early in life with undiagnosed dyslexia,
but managed to find his path to success in life through hard work and
determination. Today he is happy that his work allows him to help many other
families with dyslexic children to thrive.
I wanted to share his story because I found it inspiring. I hope
you will too.
Don: Please tell us about yourself.
Dr. Dan: I am forty-nine years old and fortunate to be happily married
with three children (who are all dyslexic) ages fifteen to nineteen. I work as
a licensed psychologist and I am the executive director of Summit Center, a
group of psychologists and educators passionate about helping children,
adolescents, and families realize their developmental potential. I also
co-founded Parent Footprint, an educational resource for families, with the
mission of making the world a more loving and compassionate place, one parent
and child at a time. In addition to an online interactive parent training
program (Parent Footprint Awareness Training), I have a podcast which I enjoy
immensely. When not at work, I enjoy spending time with my family, being in
nature, running, building, and creating.
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Don: What was it like growing up with dyslexia?
Dr. Dan: When I was growing up, I didn’t know I had dyslexia. However, I
learned I had dyslexia once I was in my late 30s, after the third of my three
kids was also diagnosed with dyslexia. Suddenly, my school experience as a
child made more sense. I read very slowly. My spelling was poor and my
handwriting illegible (and still mostly is). Math didn’t stick (I had math
tutors through graduate school). I couldn’t put my thoughts on paper for
writing assignments and I remember crying at the kitchen table as my mom tried
to help. I didn’t feel as smart as my friends. I remember being confusing to
teachers—not reaching my potential, not doing well on tests when I seemed to
know the material. I relied on my people skills, relationships, and a lot of
hard work to get by. I was often nervous about tests, worrying that I wouldn’t
finish if I took all the time I needed to understand the questions and think
them through. I cheated when I had to, which made me feel bad since it is not
part of my moral code. One strong memory is having to give an oral book report
on a chapter book. I kept trying to read the book but couldn’t get past the
first few pages. I didn’t know what to do. My teacher called me up to the front
of the class when the time came, and I made up the entire book (which everyone
seemed to enjoy), and then was anxious for weeks waiting to get caught.
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Don: What were your challenges and how did you come to accept them
and commit to your passions?
Dr. Dan: My primary challenges included reading and understanding textbooks,
expressing my ideas in writing and using appropriate grammar, understanding and
remembering math, and taking tests. Growing up, I was passionate about tennis
and played competitively. I gave everything to it—I practiced, studied the
game, and learned from watching the top players. Tennis was where I felt
competent and confident. I later learned that dyslexic athletes have unique
skills on the court and field due to their visual/spatial strengths and their
ability to anticipate what is unfolding. I had this ability. I was also
passionate about leadership in high school and people in general. I didn’t
realize it was a skill, but I could read people and situations well and often found
myself in a “counseling” and problem-solving role. I am not sure I ever
accepted my challenges back then. I feel I just dealt with them, was frustrated
by them, and tried to focus on my interests.
Don: When did you choose to go into psychology? Did your dyslexia
play a role in the choice?
Dr. Dan: This is actually a funny story that I share with clients. During
my senior year in high school, my parents took me to the college counselor that
my older cousins had used. I took a bunch of tests and then we met with him for
the results and his recommendations. He said that I should be a business major
and a Spanish minor, study abroad in a Spanish speaking country to become
fluent, and then go to law school to become a bilingual attorney. I remember
thinking that absolutely nothing he said resonated with me, but I figured that he
was the expert so he must know. We had a follow-up meeting with the counselor
at the end of my freshman year in college. He asked me two questions that
changed my life: “What classes did you like the most this past year?” and,
“Which classes did you do the best in?” My answers were psychology and
psychology. He asked if I had ever thought about being a psychologist and I
said I had not. He then told me to change my major to psychology, sign up to
work in a research lab, and get a part-time job working in a group home for
children. Now that resonated! I did what he said, and the rest is history.
Turns out I didn’t need a bunch of fancy tests (which I apparently didn’t do
well on). I just needed to be asked a few pointed questions. I do think my
dyslexia played a role in my career choice as I was unable to understand
classes that did not make sense to me or did not have any meaning for me (most
classes outside of psychology). I had always been naturally drawn to understanding
people, dynamics between people and groups, and I had an ability to help and
problem-solve (which turn out to be dyslexic strengths).
Don: How did you come up with the title for your platform, Parent
Footprint, and what would you like my readers to know about your work?
Dr. Dan: The name Parent Footprint was coined by my business partner,
Payman Fazly. He told me about his awareness that as parents, we leave
“footprints” on our children, and our job is to become aware of the footprints
that were placed on us by our parents so we can be purposeful about the
footprints we leave on our children and grandchildren. Here’s the key–in order
to raise happy, healthy, and engaged children, we parents have to focus on the
same things in our own lives. As a technologist by training and career, he
wanted to use technology to create an affordable and accessible online training
program that people who cannot afford counseling, cannot geographically access
counseling, or do not feel comfortable with counseling could benefit from. I
was all in! We spent every weekend for at least a year creating the platform
and content for a training program combining my decades of working with
children and parents, his decades of working in technology, and our shared
passion for raising the next generation of healthy humans and making a
difference in this world.
Don: What are your greatest joys and challenges in your work?
Dr. Dan: My greatest joys are seeing people come to understand, accept,
and like themselves; achieve their goals; overcome worry and anxiety; and
realize that their life’s possibilities are virtually limitless. My greatest
challenges are basically the opposite— when people are stuck, don’t see who
they are and who they can become, and are deep in the throes of anxiety and
depression. I have learned that this is part of life and their journey, and yet
I want them grow and thrive. I have learned that I have to be patient and let
their journey unfold.
Don: What books have you written and what would you like my readers
to know about your books?
Dr. Dan: First of all, if you told me as a child that I would be an
author when I grew up, I would have thought you were crazy. I hated to write
and was terrible at it. It wasn’t until after graduate school that I learned I
could express what I thought and talked about all day if I focused on what I
“thought” and used the words I would use to speak to a client, rather than
focusing on “writing.” I have written a series of books to help children,
adolescents, and their parents overcome worry and anxiety (a.k.a. The Worry
Monster):
Make Your Worrier a
Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears
From Worrier to Warrior:
A Guide to Conquering Your Fears
The Warrior Workbook: A
Guide to Conquering Your Worry Monster
These books come from my years of working with children and
families who are dealing with anxiety, and I merely put my training, work, and
experience into written words to guide a reader through the process in a
user-friendly way.
I also co-wrote Raising
Creative Kids with my friend and colleague Susan Daniels, PhD. This book
takes our combined experience in working with and educating creative children
and their parents to help others understand creative people and how to nurture
their strengths and overall development.
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Don: From your training and experience, what is the most important
thing you’d like to share with parents?
Dr. Dan: The most important thing I have come to realize both as a
psychologist working with kids and parents, and as a parent myself, is that we
must know ourselves— our past, our triggers, our personal goals, and our goals
for our children. All of this guides our behavior as individuals and as
parents. If we have that awareness of where we have come from, what we liked
and did not like, and what drives our own behavior, we can parent with
intention and purpose.
Don: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Dr. Dan: Our children are always watching us. Be the person you want
your child to become. What you do is more important than what you say. I will
leave you with the question I ask myself daily and the question I use to end
every podcast, “What footprint do you want to leave?”
Don: I’d like to thank Dr. Dan for sharing his work and message with
my readers, and for all the fine work he is doing in the dyslexia community and
to help parents examine their role so that they can parent with love and
consciousness.
To connect with Dr. Dan:
www.summitcenter.us
www.drdanpeters.com
Amazon Author Page
Listen to the Parent Footprint Podcast with Dr. Dan where he interviews Don M. Winn, author of Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know.
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About Dr. Dan Peters: Dr. Dan Peters, licensed psychologist, is the co-founder and executive director of The Summit Center, specializing in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and families with special emphasis on gifted, talented, and creative individuals and families. Dr. Dan speaks regularly at state and national conferences on a variety of topics including parenting, gifted children, twice-exceptionality, anxiety, and dyslexia. He also writes for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. Dr. Dan is author of Make Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears, and its companion book, From Worrier to Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Fears. He is co-author of The Warrior Workbook: A Guide for Conquering Your Worry Monster, as well as co-author of Raising Creative Kids. Dr. Dan is also a co-founder of ParentFootprint.com, an on-line interactive parent-training program, and Camp Summit, a sleep-over summer camp for gifted and 2E youth. He is the host of the Parent Footprint Podcast with Dr. Dan.
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