When he was 12, Ronald Davis was labeled mentally retarded because he had trouble reading and writing.

“My biggest job in life was to hide from other people that I wasn’t the same as they were. To hide from them … that I couldn’t read or write, and as a result of that I was driven to be successful,” Davis told a Chicago audience this week.

The National Institutes of Health estimates that 15 percent of the population may be dyslexic and the National Assessment of Educational Process reports dyslexia is probably the most common of the language-based learning disabilities.

“Success for me had a different meaning and a different purpose for me than it does for a lot of other people,” Davis said.

Davis said a person who is dyslexic does not see the world through words, but through pictures, which explains why people who are dyslexic are usually more creative.

“The very thing that that person is doing that causes a problem in school is going to make that person more intelligent and more creative than the average human being, and the greatest minds in history all fall under that same category,” Davis said.

Ainis became a facilitator for the Davis program after learning more about dyslexia.

Davis's Chicago visit is part of an international tour promoting his methods.