15 FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU DIDN’T REALIZE OVERCAME A DISABILITY

Stephen Hawking
At the age of 22, renowned theoretical physicist
Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with a rare form
of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a motor neuron
disease (MND). Confined to a wheelchair, Hawking
used a synthetic voice to communicate with the
world. “My advice to other disabled people would
be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t
prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it
interferes with,” he said in an interview with The
New York Times. “Don’t be disabled in spirit, as
well as physically.”

Kyle Maynard

Congenital amputation means being born minus

limbs; Kyle Maynard came into the world with no

hands or feet but went on to become a mixed

martial arts athlete. He continues to defy society’s

idea of what a disability looks like. Not only has he

received an ESPY award for this athletic prowess,

he is the first quadruple amputee to climb Mount

Kilimanjaro without the use of prosthetics,

according to CNBC. “My parents helped me

develop tools to overcome my challenges,” Maynard says in an essay for Option B, an

organization offering resilience-building tools. “When I was two, my dad decided that my

family would stop helping me eat. He knew that one day I’d live on my own, so I’d have to

look after myself. I learned to eat with a prosthetic spoon, and then with a knife and fork. It

gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.”

 John Nash

Some of the greatest minds of our time live or lived

with disability, including mathematician John Nash.

His experience living with schizophrenia was well-

documented in the award-winning film A Beautiful

Mind. According to the New York Times, Nash said

his conditioned lessened with age, and without

medication. “I emerged from irrational thinking,

ultimately, without medicine other than the natural

hormonal changes of aging,” he told the newspaper.

Check out these 12 easy math tricks you’ll wish you

had known all along.

Andrea Boccelli

Famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is known for

his beautiful voice, but what many may not know
is that he was diagnosed with congenital
glaucoma not long after birth and had limited
vision. At the age of 12, he lost his sight
completely. “Growing up, every day they told me
‘this is too dangerous’ but I don’t care,” he
told The Independent. “Everything is dangerous.
To take the car and go out on the highway is also
very dangerous or to fly in a helicopter. I like very
much to ride horses. I like soccer, I have had a
passion for boxing since I was a child although it
would be stupid for me to box.” Check out
the incredible health benefits of music.
Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential artists of our

time, contracted polio at the age of six. This resulted

in one of her legs being thinner than the other,

according to Disability Horizons. Then, at age 18, she

was involved in a horrific trolley accident that left her

with a broken spine and pelvis, as well as a pierced

abdomen. It was during the year that she was

essentially sequestered from the outside world while

in a body cast that she took up painting as a way to

express her creativity.

Keira Knightley

When you consider how many scripts an actor

must read, it might seem like the profession would

be a turn-off for a person with dyslexia. For film

star Keira Knightley, who was diagnosed with

dyslexia at age six, she actually used her love of

acting to overcome the condition. “Dyslexia is like

a wall… it’s very difficult to see over it,” she told

the BBC. “I was really lucky because I had

acting… it was like a carrot that was being

dangled in front of me because I had to be able to read those lines in order to do it.” Make

sure you don’t fall for these myths about dyslexia.

Daniel Radcliffe

The Harry Potter star has been open about living

with what is considered a mild form of dyspraxia, a

neurological condition that interferes with motor

skills, memory, judgment, mental processing, and

other cognitive skills. In a Facebook chat, he said,

“Do not let it stop you, It has never held me back,

and some of the smartest people I know are

people who have learning disabilities. The fact that

some things are more of a struggle will only make

you more determined, harder working and more

imaginative in the solutions you find to problems.”

Ty Pennington

Best known as the charismatic host of the television

show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Ty

Pennington has ADHD. When Child Mind

Institute asked him what he would tell his younger

self, Pennington said: “Your confidence is not at an

extreme high right now, but things are going to

change. You’re going to realize that you have an

amazing talent of creativity and that you can use

your hands, and that’s going to lead to you

believing in yourself, and when you believe in yourself, the whole world changes.” Watch

for the 12 symptoms of ADHD in adults.

Howie Mandel

Comedian and television host Howie Mandel

was well aware of his obsessive-compulsive

disorder (OCD) and depression for years before

discussing it publicly. Now he has learned ways

to cope with his disability rather than allow it to

get the better of him and advocates for others. “If

the first thing doesn’t work, there is another

alternative, and if that doesn’t work there is

another,” he tells the organization Hope to Cope.

“People should know there are ways to make

their life better. They don’t have to be ashamed

or suffer in silence.”

Itzhak Perlman

Violinist Itzhak Perlman contracted polio as a child,

leading to his need for crutches and a motorized

scooter, which he uses today. Perlman is a

staunch disability rights advocate and supports

inclusiveness across the board. In 2016 he

canceled a North Carolina performance because of

the state’s HB2 law limiting the protections for

LGBT people. “I’ve been an advocate of equality

for the disabled, and this is just another situation in

which this is the subject,” he told NPR. “We are dealing with the equality and dignity of

citizens.”

Dan Aykroyd

Saturday Night Live alum Dan Aykroyd was

diagnosed with Tourette syndrome when he

was 12 years old. Additionally, he has

Asperger syndrome, although he wasn’t

diagnosed until the early 1980s. Interestingly,

living with the condition inspired one of his

most iconic films. “One of my symptoms

included my obsession with ghosts and law

enforcement—I carry around a police badge

with me, for example, Aykroyd told the Daily

Mail. “I became obsessed by Hans Holzer, the

greatest ghost hunter ever. That’s when the

idea of my film Ghostbusters was born.”

Danny Glover

Veteran actor Danny Glover, who has dyslexia,

admits that at one time the condition made him feel

he was “unworthy to learn.” He focused on his

ability to work well with numbers. “I won’t claim that

I didn’t suffer any less with reading or writing, it’s

just that I knew I did something well and sometimes

you just need just a little inch to feel good about

yourself,” he told Ability Magazine. “Honestly, no

one probably ever noticed that I did a little better on

math than my other subjects. Perhaps education begins with feeling that people really care

about you and maybe that’s not part of what I felt.”

Aaron Fotheringham

Born with spina bifida which led to him being unable to

use his legs, extreme athlete Aaron

Fotheringham worked tirelessly to never let anything get

in the way of pursuing his dreams. He has won the

WCMX World Championships (wheelchair motocross)

an impressive four times is known for executing the first

“wheelchair flair”/backflip 180. When he isn’t working on

his next daredevil move, Fotheringham gives

motivational talks to disabled children, showing them

that a wheelchair can be “used as a tool, not a

restriction.”

Magic Johnson

Known for being one of the best professional basketball

players of our time, Magic Johnson was diagnosed with

dyslexia as a child. In an effort to catch up to his

classmates, the iconic athlete would take summer

school, but he never forgot the teasing he received from

his classmates. “The looks, the stares, the giggles…I wanted to show everybody that I

could do better and also that I could read,” he said in an interview. Johnson not only has

five NBA titles, he also holds a gold medal from the 1992 Olympics.

ROB LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK

Millie Bobby Brown

Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown was born with partial hearing loss. Eventually,

she lost all hearing in one ear. In an interview with Variety, she explains why she doesn’t

let that stop her from performing. “I just started to sing, and if I sound bad I don’t care,

because I’m just doing what I love,” says Brown. “You don’t have to be good at singing.

You don’t have to be good at dancing or acting. If you like to do it, if you genuinely enjoy

doing it, then do it. No one should stop you.”