LITCHFIELD - Tools and technology helped banker Donald Winkler overcome his learning disabilities and become a successful Citicorp executive who oversees billions of dollars a day.

"Accept technology," he told students at the Forman School at an informal gathering Thursday. "People will take you very seriously. Almost everybody at the bank is trying to keep up with me."

Winkler, who manages fund transfers of as much as $300 billion daily for Citicorp, is dyslexic and has difficulty reading and comprehending information. He also has dyscalculia, or difficulty with math.

He said he learned to use many tools to hone his reading, writing and logic skills.

As the executive in charge of the information business for Citicorp's financial institutions group, Winkler uses those tools to manage global information needs for banks, insurance companies and brokerage houses.

He relies on computers, tape recorders, calculators and other electronic gadgets, as well as techniques like mental exercises, to help with his work and personal life. He rises at 3 a.m. every day - after retiring at 9 the night before - to study multiplication tables, improve his vocabulary and jog.

That keeps him strong, he said. A former smoker who weighed 265 pounds, Winkler said he was jolted into reality when he was passed over for promotions at the bank.

That's when he decided to take control of his life and conquer his disabilities.

As a child, Winkler couldn't read hymnals. When he got older, he memorized songs so he could sing in church. Now he uses all of his senses to aid his recall of events and things.

"It's hard for me to close my eyes and remember something," he said. "It's what we call 'no-mind's eye.' But I use my senses to compensate for that."

Winkler told the students to accept their disabilities and be honest about them. "It'll take you from being the good people you are today to being great people."

About 220 students attend the Forman School, one of two dozen private schools in the nation that prepare students with learning disabilities for college. Both Winkler's children attended Forman and are now in college.

Recognizing a learning disability and taking steps to overcome it are important, Winkler said.

"Self-recognition is important. You have to accept the 'little' you that wants to avoid the issue. You have to visualize. You have to grow with it."

Once afraid of conversation, Winkler is now comfortable giving speeches.

He practices before a mirror until he is confident he can read his speech in front of an audience. And if he makes a mistake, he doesn't get flustered.

"You have to have a sense of humor," he said.