Success Story: Michelle Hu
This success story is Michelle Hu's. She is the daughter of An Hu, a film director, and the film "Confetti" is inspired by her. The film follows a daughter who is struggling with the standardized school system in China and has been diagnosed with dyslexia. The mother decides to move to New York City so that her daughter can access education differently. Michelle is flourishing with her fashion design studies, and the creative aspect highlights the amazing aspects that dyslexia brings. She also recognizes that learning differences don't set you back; they just make you start somewhere else.
Article:
Growing up in China, Michelle Hu spent hours every night struggling over homework that other kids breezed through. No one knew she had dyslexia — a condition that didn't even have an official name in China. Her mother, Ann Hu, eventually learned the truth and made a bold decision: move Michelle to New York City to enroll her in a specialized school where she could finally get the right support.
"I code words differently. When I read, it might say the dog is happy — but I might interpret it as the dog was happy. What I read and see on paper, my mind interprets differently."
— Michelle Hu, ABC7 New York, October 2024
Today, Michelle is thriving in college, studying fashion design — a field that plays to the creative, spatial strengths her dyslexic mind naturally brings. Her story inspired her mother's acclaimed film Confetti, which has sparked conversations about dyslexia in communities where it remains invisible, including many Asian families where the pressure to simply "work harder" too often stands in for real support.
Her journey is proof that a learning difference is not a ceiling — it's a different starting point.
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