Hellen Keller

June 27, 1880 June 1, 1968

Disability: Blind and Deaf

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist and lecturer. She was the first
deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Kellers teacher, Annie
Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the
girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the
dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Sullivan taught Helen to
communicate by spelling words into her hand, beginning with d-o-l-l for the doll that she had
brought her as a present. A prolific author, Keller was well traveled and was outspoken in her
opposition to war. She campaigned for womens suffrage, workers rights, and socialism, as well
as many other progressive causes. In 1920, she helped to found the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU). Keller and Sullivan traveled to over 39 countries, making several trips to Japan
and becoming a favorite of the Japanese people. Keller met every US President from Grover
Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson and was friends with many famous figures, including Alexander
Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, and Mark Twain.

Frida Kahlo
July 6, 1907 July 13, 1954

Disability: Polio
Frida Kahlo was a renowned Mexican painter who created striking paintings, most of them being
self-portraits reflecting her pain and sorrow. She painted using vibrant colors that were
influenced by the cultures of Mexico. She was the first Mexican artist of 20th century whose
work was purchased by an international museum. Kahlo contracted polio at age six, which left
her right leg thinner than the left, which Kahlo disguised by wearing long, colorful skirts. It has
been conjectured that she also suffered from spina bifida, a congenital disease that could have
affected both spinal and leg development. Although she recovered from her injuries and
eventually regained her ability to walk, she was plagued by relapses of extreme pain for the
remainder of her life. The pain was intense and often left her confined to a hospital or bedridden
for months at a time.

Christy Brown
June 5, 1932 September 7, 1981

Disability: Cerebral Palsy

Christy Brown was an Irish author, painter and poet who had severe cerebral palsy. Born in
Crumlin, Dublin to parents Bridget and Paddy, he was one of 13 surviving children (out of 22
born) in a Catholic family. He was disabled by cerebral palsy and was incapable for years of
deliberate movement or speech. Doctors considered him to be intellectually disabled as well.
However, his mother continued to speak to him, work with him, and try to teach him. One day,
he famously snatched a piece of chalk from his sister with his left foot to make a mark on a slate.
At about five years old, only his left foot responded to his will. Using his foot he was able to
communicate for the first time. He is most famous for his autobiography My Left Foot, which
was later made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name. The Irish Times
reviewer Bernard Share said the book was the most important Irish novel since Ulysses.
Like Joyce, Brown employed the stream-of-consciousness technique and captured the Dublin
culture in his use of humor, language and unique character description.

Stephen Hawking
8 January 1942

Disability: Motor Neuron disease or a variant of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)

Stephen William Hawking is a British theoretical physicist, whose world-renowned scientific
career spans over 40 years. His books and public appearances have made him an academic
celebrity and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and in 2009 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the highest civilian award in the United States. Stephen Hawking is severely disabled by motor
neuron disease, likely a variant of the disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS).
Symptoms of the disorder first appeared while he was enrolled at Cambridge; he lost his balance
and fell down a flight of stairs, hitting his head. Worried that he would lose his genius, he took
the Mensa test to verify that his intellectual abilities were intact. The diagnosis of motor neuron
disease came when Hawking was 21, shortly before his first marriage, and doctors said he would
not survive more than two or three years. Hawking gradually lost the use of his arms, legs, and
voice, and as of 2009 was almost completely paralyzed.

Ludwig van Beethoven

1770-1827

Disability: Deaf
Beethoven is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in history. He gave his first public
performance as a pianist when he was only 8 years old. He studied in Vienna under the guidance
of Mozart. By his mid-twenties he had earned a name for himself as a great pianist known for
unpredictable and brilliant improvisations. In the year 1796 Beethoven began losing his hearing.
In spite of his illness he immersed himself in his work and created some of the greatest works of
music. Beethovens finest works are also the finest works of their kind in music history: the 9th
Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Late Quartets, and his Missa
Solemnis. And he achieved all this despite being completely deaf for the last 25 years or so of his
life.