The incapacity group is numerous and stuffed with expertise, mind, creativity, and innovation. All through historical past, disabled people have earned fame for improvements and innovations that not solely profit the incapacity group but in addition drive change and enhance the lives of all people. Beneath are simply a number of the many well-known folks with disabilities who’ve made vital contributions to society.
Well-known Folks With Disabilities
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist recognized for her vivid and vivid self-portraits. She contracted polio on the age of 6 and was additionally in a automotive accident at 18. Lots of her self-portraits depict her expertise residing with bodily disabilities. (1907–1954)
Laura Bridgman
Laura Bridgman was the primary deafblind girl to be formally educated in america. She misplaced her sight and listening to on account of scarlet fever, which she contracted on the age of two. Laura attended Perkins College for the Blind, the place beneath the course of Dr. Samuel Howe, she realized to learn and write using particular tactile paper. (1829–1889)
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin is a deaf actress, writer, and activist. She misplaced most of her listening to at 18 months outdated. In 1986, she grew to become the primary deaf actress to win an Academy Award for her efficiency in Youngsters of a Lesser God. She has since been monumental in paving the way in which for extra roles in Hollywood for deaf people. (b. 1965)
Hunter Woodhall
Hunter Woodhall is an American track-and-field athlete and Paralympian. He was additionally born with fibular hemimelia and underwent a double leg amputation at 11 months outdated. He received the gold medal within the Males’s 400 Meter T62 division on the 2024 Summer season Paralympic Video games. (b. 1999)
Eddie Ndopu
Ndopu is a South African incapacity activist, humanitarian, and writer residing with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). He was additionally the primary African disabled scholar to be accepted to Oxford College, the place he graduated with a grasp’s in public coverage. Ndopu is a worldwide advocate appointed by the Secretary Common of the United Nations for the Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDG). (b. 1990)
Rick Hoyt
Rick Hoyt was a triathlete, marathoner, and Ironman. Born with cerebral palsy, Rick participated in his first wheelchair duo race, pushed by his father, Dick, in 1977. The duo accomplished over 1,000 marathons, duathlons, and triathlons, together with 32 Boston Marathons. They have been additionally the primary wheelchair duo to finish the Hawaii Ironman. A statue in honor of Rick and Dick Hoyt was in-built 2013 close to the beginning line of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. (1962–2023)
Ralph Braun
Ralph Braun is named the “Father of the Mobility.” Ralph was identified with muscular dystrophy in childhood. His want for independence spurred him to develop the primary battery-powered scooter and the world’s first wheelchair raise. He later based BraunAbility, which continues to be the main producer of mobility merchandise worldwide. (1940–2013)
Alice Wong
Alice Wong is a disabled activist, writer, and group organizer. Wong was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). She is the founding father of Incapacity Visibility Undertaking, which seeks to amplify tales of people with disabilities by way of oral and written narrative. Her accolades embrace receiving the 2016 American Affiliation of Folks With Disabilities Paul G. Hearne Management Award and inclusion within the BBC’s Prime 100 Girls in 2020. (b. 1974)
Edward V. Roberts
Ed Roberts is taken into account the daddy of the impartial residing motion for people with disabilities. Ed contracted polio at age 14, which resulted in him being paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a ventilator to breathe. He grew to become the primary scholar with a big incapacity and wheelchair person to attend UC Berkeley. Together with different incapacity activists, he helped to determine the Berkeley Middle for Unbiased Residing. In 1983, together with incapacity rights activist Judy Heumann, he co-founded the World Institute on Incapacity (WID), which works to unfold the impartial residing motion worldwide. (1939–1995)
Simone Biles
Simone Biles is a creative gymnast for america. She was identified with ADHD as a toddler. She has 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals, making her essentially the most embellished feminine gymnast on this planet. She has additionally develop into an outspoken advocate relating to psychological well being, following her withdrawal from the 2020 Summer season Olympic Video games after creating the “twisties.” (b. 1997)
Judy Heumann
Judy Heumann was a incapacity activist and writer, continuously often known as the “mom” of the Incapacity Rights Motion. She contracted polio at 18 months outdated and have become a wheelchair person thereafter. She grew to become the primary wheelchair person to be a trainer within the state of New York, following a lawsuit after she was denied a educating license as a result of she failed the medical examination as a result of her incapability to stroll. In 1977, Judy led the 504 Sit-In in San Francisco, a 26-day protest that led to the institution of Part 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Judy went on to serve in each the Clinton and Obama administrations, together with being appointed by President Obama as the primary Particular Advisor for Worldwide Incapacity Rights on the U.S. Division of State. (1947–2023)
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth is an Military veteran and American politician. Whereas serving as a U.S. Military helicopter pilot throughout the Iraq Warfare, her helicopter was hit by a grenade, leading to her changing into the primary feminine double amputee throughout the struggle. She then entered politics, the place she served for 2 phrases on Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District within the U.S. Home of Representatives earlier than being elected in 2016 to the U.S. Senate. (b. 1968)
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve was a Hollywood actor and director, most famously recognized for his position as Clark Kent/Superman in Superman. He obtained a British Academy Movie Award, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Display Actors Guild Award. In 1995, Christopher sustained a spinal twine harm whereas using his horse, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a ventilator to breathe. Following his accident, Reeve grew to become an advocate for incapacity and spinal twine harm, founding his personal basis, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Basis. (1952–2004)
Judi Chamberlin
Judi Chamberlin was a incapacity activist and writer. She lived with despair and schizophrenia. On account of her experiences in psychiatric wards, she grew to become an advocate for humane psychological well being look after psychiatric survivors. Her guide, On Our Personal: Affected person-Managed Alternate options to the Psychological Well being System, was revealed in 1978 and has develop into a number one textual content within the Mad Satisfaction Motion. She additionally based the Nationwide Empowerment Middle to empower folks with lived expertise with psychological well being challenges and trauma. (1944–2010)
Lenin Moreno
Lenin Moreno is an Ecuadorian politician and incapacity advocate. Moreno is a wheelchair person as a result of dropping his means to stroll on account of gun violence. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for his incapacity advocacy and served because the forty sixth president of Ecuador from 2017 to 2021. (b. 1953)
Farida Bedwei
Farida Bedwei is a Ghanian software program engineer who lives with cerebral palsy. She is the co-founder of Logiciel, a know-how firm in Ghana. In 2013, Bedwei was named essentially the most influential girl in enterprise and authorities in Africa for the monetary sector by South Africa’s CEO journal. She can be an writer and incapacity rights activist. (b. 1979)
Haben Girma
Haben Girma is a lawyer, incapacity advocate, and writer. In 2013, she grew to become the primary Deafblind particular person to graduate from Harvard Legislation College. In 2016, Girma was included on the Forbes 30 Below 30 listing for Legislation and Coverage. In 2019, she launched her memoir, and she or he at present serves as a public speaker and advisor. (b. 1988)
Kyle Maynard
Kyle Maynard is an entrepreneur, athlete, writer, and speaker. He was born with congenital amputation, a situation that ends in a person having no arms beneath the elbows and no legs beneath the knees. He realized to dwell independently early on with out prosthetics. He grew to become the primary quadruple amputee to summit Mount Kilimanjaro with out prosthetics. Maynard obtained an ESPN Espy Award for Greatest Athlete With a Incapacity in 2004. He penned a memoir referred to as “No Excuses” and is founding father of a No Excuses CrossFit fitness center in Georgia. (b. 1986)
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps is a former American aggressive swimmer. He lives with ADHD, despair, and nervousness. He’s essentially the most embellished Olympian of all time, with 28 Olympic medals. Moreover, he has set 39 world information, together with 29 particular person and 10 relay information. He additionally holds 20 Guinness World Information. Since retiring from aggressive swimming, Phelps has served as a fierce advocate for psychological well being help for athletes. (b. 1985)
Lydia X.Z. Brown
Lydia X.Z. Brown is a author, incapacity advocate, public speaker, and lawyer. They establish as autistic and are the founder and chief of the Autistic Folks of Colour Fund in partnership with the Autistic Girls & Nonbinary Community. Brown serves because the director of public coverage on the Nationwide Incapacity Institute. In 2013, Brown was named a Champion of Change by the Obama administration for his or her management throughout the incapacity group and their dedication to the promise of the People With Disabilities Act (ADA). (b. 1993)
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