DISABILITY HALL OF FAME

Famous People with Disabilities

JIM ABBOTT• Major League Pitcher

• Born without a right hand

RICK ALLEN• Musician

• Retaught himself how to play the drums after losing his left arm

• Member of Def Leppard

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

• Inventor

• Learning Disability

SARAH BERNHARDT• French Actress

• Leg amputated due to knee injury

• “The Divine Sarah”

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

• Composer

• Deaf while composing 9th symphony

ORLANDO BLOOM• Actor

• Dyslexia

CHRIS BURKE• Actor

• 1st person with Down Syndrome to star in a weekly TV series

RAY CHARLES• Musician

• Blind at age 7

CHER• Singer and Actress

• Dyslexia

WINSTON CHURCHILL

• British Politician

• Learning Disability

TOM CRUISE• Actor

• Dyslexia

CHARLES DICKENS• Author

• Epilepsy

WALT DISNEY• Animator and

Businessman

• Learning Disability

THOMAS EDISON• Inventor

• Learning Disability

• Couldn’t read until 12 years old

ALBERT EINSTEIN• Mathematician and

Physicist

• Learning Disability

• Didn’t speak until he was 3 years old

MICHAEL J. FOX• Actor

• Parkinson’s Disease

DANNY GLOVER• Actor

• Dyslexia

WHOOPI GOLDBERG• Actress

• Dyslexia

FRANCISCO GOYA• Spanish Painter

• Deaf at age 46

BETHANY HAMILTON

• Professional Surfer

• Lost right arm in shark attack at age 13

STEPHEN HAWKING• Physicist and

Mathematician

• ALS – Lou Gehrig’s Disease

• Uses a wheelchair and computer to speak

BRUCE JENNER• Olympic Athlete

• Dyslexia

MAGIC JOHNSON• Athlete

• Dyslexia

HELEN KELLER• Author and Activist

• Blind and Deaf

JAY LENO• Comedian

• Dyslexia

GREG LOUGANIS• Olympic Athlete

• Dyslexia

JOHN MILTON• English Author/Poet

• Blind at age 43

GEORGE PATTON• American General

• Learning Disability

NELSON ROCKEFELLER

• Former Vice President

• Dyslexia

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

• Former President – served four terms

• Paralyzed by Polio at age 39

HARRIETT TUBMAN• Abolitionist

• Fractured skull lead to narcolepsy

• Rescued hundreds of slaves on Underground Tunnel

WERNER VON BRAUN

• Rocket Scientist

• Learning Disability

• Failed many math tests in High School

GEORGE WASHINGTON

• First President

• Learning Disability

• Could barely write and had very poor grammar

HEATHER WHITESTONE

• Author and Motivational Speaker

• Deaf

• Miss America 1995

HANK WILLIAMS• Musician

• Spina Bifida

WOODROW WILSON• Former President

• Dyslexia

HENRY WINKLER• Actor

• Dyslexia

STEVIE WONDER• Musician

• Blind