Dylan Smith · Speaker · Motivator · Educator
Adopted at three.
Diagnosed at sixteen.
In 2020, at age 20, Dylan Smith founded D is for Dyslexia. Misdiagnosed with ADHD as a kid and finally diagnosed with dyslexia at 16, he went from failing classes to graduating with his peers — and now speaks to students, parents, and educators about how to make that path easier for the next kid.
Speaker. Motivator. Educator. · Boca Raton, Florida
The through-line
Four moments. One arc.
2003
Age 2½
Adopted from a Russian orphanage with his twin brother. "I'll take them both."
2016
Age 16
Finally diagnosed with dyslexia after years of being told it was ADHD.
2020
Age 20
Founded D is for Dyslexia — the thing he wished existed when he was 12.
2024
Age 24
Working at a hedge fund. No college degree. Just a plan and the willingness to execute it.
The long version
How he got from there to here.
Dylan was adopted from a Russian orphanage with his twin brother at age two-and-a-half. He grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. Early on, school flagged him as the problem — he was misdiagnosed with ADHD and put on medication that, in his words, made him feel like bugs were crawling under his skin. He sat in the small classes. He couldn’t read.
The real diagnosis didn’t come until he was 16: dyslexia. By then most kids would have written themselves off. He chose the other path — work twice as hard, show up every day, ignore the timeline. He graduated with his peers.
In 2020, at 20, he founded D is for Dyslexia — the resource he wished had existed when he was twelve. Four years later he was on a hedge-fund desk at twenty-four, with no college degree. Today he speaks to students, parents, and educators, hosts the D is for Dyslexia and Defying all ODDS podcast, and wrote the book he needed at sixteen.
In their words
“Hey, Dylan, we found out you have dyslexia. Are you ready to work for this?”
His stepfather — the day the diagnosis came back
“I remember walking across the stage at my high school graduation and thinking, ‘I just accomplished the impossible.’ There’s no way that I’m the only one that went through something like that.”
Dylan, on walking the stage
“I now want to create change, bring awareness, and reshape the way people look at dyslexia.”
Dylan Vadim Smith — the mission, in his words
How he works
“Show up. Always. No matter what. That's what we do.”
Something Pappy said. Still the operating principle.
What he does now
Three rooms. Same backbone. Different angle of the same story.
Speaks
To students, educators, and parents — the three rooms that decide whether a dyslexic kid gets through.
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Records
Hosts the D is for Dyslexia and Defying All Odds podcast. Long-form, no soundbites.
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Writes
Wrote the book he needed at sixteen — for the kid in the back row, and the parent who doesn't know how to help.
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What people say
From the rooms he's been in.
“Dylan is changing the way educators view dyslexia, motivating and inspiring kids with dyslexia, and teaching others understanding and tolerance to these students.”
— Educator
“Hard to get a group of middle school kids to stay that engaged and say that guy was awesome! They also expressed wanting to help their friends who were dyslexic because they didn’t know how hard it was for them.”
— Middle school staff
“I was blown away by Dylan, as were the other parents and staff members that heard him speak!”
— Parent
“Love it!! My kids came back today raving about Dylan. They didn’t know their friends struggled so much and want to help!”
— Parent
“I wanted to let you know that my daughter enjoyed the talk on Friday and it could not have come at a better time for us. She has her evaluation tomorrow. Thank you for being so proactive for all of us!”
— Parent
“Two of the reading specialists immediately went to our principal and said, every teacher needs to hear this message and we need to show the recording at a professional development meeting and have the teachers discuss!”
— School administrator
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