We often see extraordinarily creative ideas arise from individuals who do not fit into the mold of "normal learner." Thomas Edison was definitely an outside-the-box thinker. 

There are stories told about Edison's experience with public schools, some of which are not quite true but are based on facts. According to Snopes, these are the facts of Edison's early school experience: "Thomas Edison was described by educators as 'addled,' and spent only a few months in a formal classroom before being taken out of school and educated by his mother."

Snopes quotes a Library of Congress biography of Edison: "Edison was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison 'addled,' his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, 'My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint.' "

It can make all the difference to each of us to have just one person who believes in us, like Edison's mom.