A study examined how, when, and under what conditions severe dyslexics developed high literacy skills, as well as the role of gender differences in literacy development and professional success. Subjects were 60 highly successful dyslexic adults (30 men and 30 women) and 10 nondyslexic male and female normative controls. Results indicated that literacy development was motivated by avid reading in a content area of passionate personal interest. Both male and female dyslexics on average developed basic fluency between ages 10 and 11. Results revealed two distinct groups of highly successful dyslexics, a compensated group and a partially compensated group. Levels of compensation did not vary by gender. Gender differences were found in topics of personal interest reading and mentoring patterns. Findings suggest a model of dyslexia whose key elements are passionate personal interest in a content area requiring reading; avid, highly focused reading; contextual guessing strategies; and deep schema knowledge. (Contains seven references.) (RS)