Jake Sussman knows how it feels to be called stupid.
To pick up a book, want to read — and be unable to.
To be told dismissively, “I can’t believe someone in high school wrote that.”
He also knows what it’s like to find out that he can learn — just differently from his peers.
To embrace his differences.
And to discover his superpower.
The Westport native — who struggled mightily with ADHD before graduating from the Forman School, then the University of Hartford — ultimately learned to advocate for himself.
He learned that 1 in every 5 people is neuro-divergent — including up to 10% with dyslexia, and 5% with ADHD.
He took a huge step forward — gaining confidence and renown — when “The Forgotten Child,” a poem he wrote as a college junior for a poetry slam went viral.
With lines like “Imagine yourself as the child that always smiled/You were wild, you were beguiled/Until the day you were profiled,” it touched a chord with youngsters battling every day against a world filled with peers, teachers, even parents who did not understand them.
That forgotten child “refused to acknowledge he would never go to college,” Jake wrote — and repeated that poem and message to parents and educators.
A video of his poem went viral.
Jake had found his passion. His calling. And his superpower.
The 28-year-old could not deliver his message of overcoming frustration, affirmation and ultimately elation to his younger self.
But he could tell it to the millions of boys and girls just like him, growing up now in a world that — despite greater knowledge of learning differences — still does not provide the role models and lived experiences those kids need.
Jake’s younger brother Max empathized completely. A basketball player in Staples High School’s Class of 2018, and a business/ entrepreneurship major at Northeastern University, he was the perfect partner to help spread Jake’s message of how to reach “that kid in the back of the class.”
When Jake spoke to educators, parents, community groups and at a global dyslexia conference, people asked if worked with young people.
“I’m not a parent, a teacher or a therapist,” Jake says. “But I had credibility, because I lived this. I spoke kids’ language, because I knew it. I was relatable. I had the missing link.”
With Max’s help, Jake set up an online mentorship program. Four youngsters quickly turned into 30.
“They sat their totally focused” as he talked with them, Jake recalls. “They couldn’t get off the call.”
Of course, mentoring more than 2 dozen kids himself was unsustainable. So Superpower Mentors was born.
Jake is the heart of the company. Max is its CEO.
Their mentors are not licensed healthcare professionals. They are not competing with schools.
The mentors are men and women — just a few years older than their mentees — who provide guidance, advice and support based on their own lives. “They speak the same language,” Jake notes.
Those lives are impressive. Mentors include a NASA engineer, professional musician, animator and video game designer.
Mentors undergo rigorous training through a proprietary course. They are matched with mentees who share their interests and backgrounds. Then they meet online, up to 6 hours a month, sharing experiences only someone with a learning disability can understand.
Mentors offer practical advice in areas like time management, organizational skills and executive functioning.
Equally important is the confidence and excitement youngsters gain, just by talking with someone who knows what they’re going through.
But Superpower Mentors serve parents too. They have access to the mentors to discuss their child’s progress, and gain insights and tips.
“They ask things like, ‘how can we handle the fight we always have just before dinner?'” Jake says. “It’s a family partnership.”
“The myth is that kids with learning disabilities can’t sit still,” he adds. “But they can. And they do, the entire time they’re with their mentors.”
Since launching, Superpower Mentors has enlisted over 100 mentors. They’ve conducted over 7,000 sessions, with mentees as far away as Spain and Norway.
But as important as that is, Jake has another goal: to impact the town he grew up in.
His time in the Westport public schools “did not work out well for me,” he says. “But I’m not pointing fingers. I want to be partners. We can help change the world. And it can start here.”
Jake’s home town is filled with “artists, creative people, entrepreneurs,” he says.
“They’re people who think differently. We want to make sure our schools are empowered to reach those types of kids. Max and I love this town!”
To reach those area kids (and adults), Superpower Mentors has partnered with Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities.
“A Mind Like Mine: Inside the World of Kids with LD and ADHD” is an interactive program for parents and educators, to learn strategies and empower youngsters. The free event is May 7 (7 p.m., Westport Library). (Click here to register.)
Westport Board of Education and school officials have been invited.
Over 100 people have already signed up, a month before the event. Jake looks forward to meeting them.
And — even more — to helping their kids’ unleash their superpowers.
(To learn more about Superpower Mentors, click here.)
She has been inspired too by teachers like Cathy Schager (Contemporary World Studies) and Suzanne Kammerman (AP U.S. Government “We the People”) and Ann Neary (Advanced Placement Literature).
