Australian senator reveals he has a learning disability after spelling mistake

From The Herald Sun in Australia:

Family First Senator Steve Fielding has revealed he has a learning disability after an "embarrassing" spelling blunder.

When asked today about a proposed Upper House inquiry into Labor's economic stimulus spending, Senator Fielding said it was crucial to get "physical" policy working.

"We need to get the physical and monetary policy working," he said.

Asked if he meant to say fiscal policy he said yes, before attempting to correct himself by spelling the word out.

"I will make it quite clear...F..I..S..K..A..L."

Senator Fielding issued a statement this afternoon, revealing he has speech and spelling difficulties.

"I think given how this story has started to blow out it's important I go on the record and confront one of my biggest demons," he said.

"For the last 48 years only those close to me have known that I grew up with a specific learning difficulty.

"It means I’m not the world’s best public speaker or speller for that matter.

"But I hope that by speaking out I can get people talking about learning difficulties and the need to catch them early as they can have a devastating affect on a person’s development and confidence."

Senator Fielding said that to him, the words "physical" and "fiscal" sounded the same, even though he knew the difference.

He said he felt as "big as an ant" after the incident.

"It was a highly embarrassing moment," Senator Fielding said.

Senator Fielding said because of his learning difficulty he scored 29 out of 100 for English at school, but achieved 99 for maths and went on to complete an engineering degree and an MBA.

"Yes, I have some problems with my speech but that doesn’t make me a dummy," he said.