Despite their disabilities, these notable Americans overcame adversity and went on to achieve great success in government, art, entertainment, education, civil rights and activism.
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) Learning Disability |
Harry Belafonte (b. 1927) Dyslexia |
Ray Charles (1930-2004) Blind from Glaucoma |
Thomas Edison (1847-1931) Almost Deaf, Possibly from Scarlet Fever |
José Feliciano (b.1945) Blind since Birth |
Daniel Inouye (b. 1924) Lost Arm in World War II |
William Ellsworth Hoy (1862-1961) Deaf from Meningitis |
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) Multiple Sclerosis |
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) Childhood Polio, Street Car Accident |
Helen Keller (1880-1968) Deaf and Blind |
Audre Lorde (1934-1992) Low Vision, Cancer |
Anne Sullivan Macy (1866-1936), depicted with Alexander Graham Bell and Helen Keller Low Vision |
Wilma P. Mankiller (b.1945) Myasthenia Gravis |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) Adult Onset Polio |
Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) Symptoms Consistent with Epilepsy and Narcolepsy |