There are many disabled people that have disregarded their disability and accomplished tasks and goals that many able-bodied people are unable to.
As group home support staff, we can help our residents find disabled role models to look up to and be inspired by. Here is a list of some famous disabled people.
Jim Abbott - Professional baseball player. Abbott was born without a right hand. He played professional baseball with many teams, including the New York Yankees where in 1993, he threw a successful no-hitter.
Simona Atzori - Artist and dancer. Atzori was born without arms in Milan, Italy. She has art exhibitions and dances all over the world and has won many awards. As a teenager she presented Pope John Paul II with a portrait she made of him. At the 2006 Paralympics, Simona danced.
Beethoven - A very famous composer. Beethoven began to go deaf around the age of 28. It caused him to contemplated suicide. However, he continued to work and produced some of his most famous pieces after he had lost his hearing, including his 9th Symphony. Beethoven suffered from ill-health his entire life and it is still not known for sure what caused his deafness.
Michael J. Fox - Diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s in 1991 (he made his illness public in 1998). The Michael J. Fox Foundation works to raise money and awareness about Parkinson’s and stem-cell research. Fox continues to act.
Terry Fox - Right leg amputated six inches above the knee due to osteogenic sarcoma. Fox was only 18 years old. In spite of being an amputee, he dedicated his life to raising money for cancer research and awareness. He set the goal of running across Canada with his artificial limb, collecting money along the way. Sadly, after 18 months and 3,107 miles Fox had to stop running because the cancer had spread to his lungs. He passed away June 28, 1981. In Canada and throughout the world, there is the annual “Terry Fox Runs”.
Rick Hansen - Was involved in an automobile accident that left him a paraplegic. Hansen who is from British Columbia, Canada has won 19 International wheelchair marathons, three world championships and was in the 1984 Olympic Games for Canada. Wheels In Motion which is an annual event held in cities across Canada, it was created in 2003 to raise funds and awareness to help support the quality of life of people who are paraplegics from spinal cord injuries.
Stephen Hawking - Suffers from advanced ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and is a quadriplegic. Hawking is a famous physicist and mathematician He needs help to move and speak. He has published many books and speaks publicly and gives speeches on his work.
Helen Keller - Blind, deaf and mute. Keller devoted her life to helping others with disabilities. She learned to read with raised letters and later with Braille. Alexander Graham Bell met with her and she was a guest at the White House where she met President Cleveland.
Marlee Matlin - Became deaf during infancy. Matlin is a famous actress who has stared in many movies and television shows. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film “Children of a Lesser God.”
Heather Mills - An accident in 1993 resulted in her left leg needing to be amputated below the knee (SBK amputation). She was an established model and the estranged wife of former Beatle, Paul McCartney. After the accident she become an avid activist for amputee rights. She is also very involved with helping to distribute prostheses to those who can not afford them.
Richard Pryor - Has Multiple Sclerosis. Pryor, is considered one of the most influential stand-up comedians He continued to do stand-up comedy and guest-starred on a very influential episode of the TV Show “Chicago Hope” where he portrayed a struggling MS patient.
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