Boy is Empowered by His Weakness

Michael Guggenheim's dysgraphia, a learning disorder that impairs his writing, spurred him to open a nonprofit that teaches homeless students how to use computers.

By Francisco Vara-Orta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Every Wednesday in North Hollywood, Michael Guggenheim teaches a handful of students how to type their names and basic phrases in Microsoft Word and how to work with math, vocabulary and typing programs.

At a recent tutoring session, Michael moved between the laptops used by shelter residents Alicia Lewis and Heaven Sanders, both 7. He coached them for 30 minutes on typing their names, then switched to a half hour of vocabulary and math games.

But Michael is not just another teacher. He is 12, a sixth-grader at Los Encinos School in Encino. He can't drive, vote or write much with a pencil, but he started a nonprofit when he was 11 and teaches computer skills to elementary students once a week.

He doesn't regard his dysgraphia, a learning disorder that severely impairs writing, as a disability. Instead, he has turned it into a driving force.For starters, he was quick to discover that he could use a computer, and now he earns straight A's using a laptop for course work.

Later, he started the nonprofit organization that takes laptops and educational software to elementary school children in homeless shelters.

"The tool that changed my life was a laptop, and it's a skill that's necessary to learn to get good grades and a good job so you aren't left behind."

Dysgraphia, a form of dyslexia, makes it difficult to write by hand. It is a lifelong condition that has nothing to do with intelligence. Like some people with dysgraphia, Michael experiences pain while trying to write. His written work is illegible after a few sentences, and even tying his shoes can be difficult.

Michael was inspired to start his nonprofit -- which he christened Showing People Learning and Technology, or SPLAT -- after participating in school-sponsored volunteer work and observing that some children had little or no access to technology.

So far, he's been able to acquire four laptops and about 20 CDs of donated software by writing to manufacturers and businesses, painstakingly signing each letter.

"Where I think some may see having dysgraphia as a disadvantage, I don't, because my computer skills and teaching these kids is helping me gain even more knowledge," Michael said. "And it exposes me to people I may have never met."