Margret Gnarr

Early years
Jón Gnarr was misdiagnosed with severe mental retardation as a child and was treated between the ages of 5-7 at the children's psychiatry ward at the State Hospital at Dalbraut, Reykjavík. He suffers from dyslexia and had learning difficulties as a child. Jón Gnarr recounts these experiences in his book The Indian, an autobiographical account of his childhood. Jón Gnarr has been diagnosed with ADHD and has actively discussed his life with ADHD publicly, participated in conventions on ADHD and published articles about his experiences as an ADHD sufferer.
Jón was known as Jónsi Punk as a teenager and punk rocker playing bass in a punk band called Nefrennsli ("Runny Nose"). While attending a number of high schools, he didn't complete the university entrance exam, Stúdentspróf. As a young man, he held jobs with car maker Volvo and drove a taxi in Reykjavík. During the 1980s Jón and Jóhanna became acquainted with the members of the Reykjavík-based alternative rock band the Sugarcubes, including Björk Guðmundsdóttir and Einar Örn Benediktsson. Björk remained a close friend to Jóhanna, dedicating a song to her on her 1997 album Homogenic, while Einar would prove to be an important political ally to Jón in the years to come.