‘Disability’ can make us Unique, Inspiring, Creative, and Strong.

This Presidents’ Day, I thought it would be nice to reflect not just on a few U.S. presidents who have encountered mental or physical disabilities while achieving greatness, but to also feature individuals who have overcome their own obstacles while becoming leaders in their respective fields. Throughout history, society has often viewed disabilities as something to be hidden, kept quiet, or even something of which to be fearful.

It is only in the most recent decades that society has started changing its perception to see that a mental or physical difference could be an asset rather than a liability; that these differences could be an integral part of what makes these individuals unique, inspiring, creative, and strong.

So, in celebration of Presidents’ Day (at least here in the U.S.), let us give a nod to several great men and women throughout the world, who not only accomplished great achievements for society as a whole, but also achieved these great feats while navigating the challening world of having a disability.

Patricia Polacco (1944— )

Author and Illustrator Patricia Polacco’s artistic talents were apparent very early in her childhood, but she was not diagnosed with dyslexia until she was 14 years old. It was at that time that Polacco’s teacher recognized her learning disability, and he was able to provide her with appropriate interventions. Polacco went on to earn a Ph.D. in art history and is now a nationally known children’s book author with dozens of published works, including Thank You, Mr. Falker, Mr. Lincoln’s Way, and The Lemonade Club.

Marlee Matlin (1965— )

Despite becoming deaf at 18 months of age due to illness and high fevers, Marlee Matlin has risen to become one of the most famous deaf actresses in history. Not only has Matlin received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her phenomenal acting skills, but she has also appeared in many leading TV shows including Law & Order: SVU, Dancing with the Stars, and Seinfeld.

James Earl Jones (1931— )

The deep, rich voice of actor James Earl Jones is iconic as Darth Vader, Mufasa (The Lion King), and as the voice announcing, “This is CNN.” It is hard to believe that Jones stuttered so badly that he spent eight years as a young boy barely speaking to anyone except his very close family and the animals on the Mississippi farm where he lived.

Upon much encouragement from his high school English teacher, Jones began reading aloud the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe in front of the class, thus forcing him to work on his stutter. Jones’s story is so inspirational that in 1987, he became the first recipient of the Annie Glenn Award, which honors those who positively affect people suffering from communication disorders.

Emily Blunt (1983— )

Famous actress Emily Blunt is known for movie roles in films such as The Devil Wears Prada, The Girl on the Train, Sicario, and Mary Poppins Returns. However, she is much less well known for her history of stuttering. Blunt’s parents tried multiple therapies and relaxation classes to help her overcome the stuttering that caused her to be bullied by her classmates.

Blunt discovered that if she tried funny voices or funny accents, she could speak more fluently. One day, the acting teacher at Bunt’s school overheard these impressions and encouraged her to enroll in the school play despite her stutter. Blunt used her acting skills to almost eliminate her stutter, but she states that the stuttering still returns when she is tired.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882—1945)

Roosevelt was a beloved U.S. president who helped to guide the nation successfully through the Great Depression and World War II. Not only was he the only president to serve four terms in office, but he was also the first president with a significant physical disability to be elected. FDR contracted polio from drinking water at a campground and became paralyzed from the waist down when he was 39 years old. At that time, Roosevelt took a break from public life to focus on his rehabilitation. This encompassed swimming, practicing walking with the assistance of leg braces, exercising, and surrounding himself with people who brought “good cheer” to keep him company during the rehab process. His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, played a huge role in convincing FDR to resume his political career.

As he moved up the political ladder, FDR’s advisors often feared that his disability would be a hindrance. However, it was never widely brought up in the 1932 presidential campaign. This may have been assisted by FDR’s request that the press avoid photographing him in assisted walking or transferring in and out of his car. Most reporters largely accepted this request. In addition, FDR had a specially made wheelchair in which he took a standard kitchen chair and added bicycle wheels. Therefore, to those who did see FDR in his wheelchair, it looked much like any other sitting chair. Even though Roosevelt chose to primarily keep his paralysis discreet, he continued to champion for others with polio. He created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which later became the March of Dimes that we know so well today. Disabled or not, FDR was a symbol of strength for Americans. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856—1924)

Not many people are aware that Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, had dyslexia. He did not learn the alphabet until he was nine, could not read until he was twelve, and remained a slow reader throughout life. Wilson was able to overcome these difficulties and become a professor at Princeton University, author of a popular book on George Washington, governor of New Jersey, and president of the United States.

Nelson Rockefeller (1908—1979)

Nelson Rockefeller did not let his dyslexia get in the way of becoming vice president of the United States under the Gerald Ford administration. When Rockefeller was a child, there were no special instructors or tutoring options for dyslexics.

After an especially poor 9th grade school year, Rockefeller found even more determination and fought “tooth and nail” for the grades needed to attain his goal of getting into Dartmouth College. Once there, Rockefeller continued this philosophy of hard work and awoke at 5am every morning to study. As vice president and in later professional positions, Rockefeller spoke about his dyslexia and gave it credit for helping him to develop essential administrative skills necessary to help him succeed professionally.

Stephen Hawking (1942—2018)

One of the most well known physicists in the world, Stephen Hawking, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) when he was 21 years old. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. One of his most famous books was A Brief History of Time, and he is one of the few contemporary physicists and researchers to transcend the world of scientists to become a household name around the world.

Despite being paralyzed from head to toe for over thirty years and communicating through a voice synthesizer, Hawking was able to continue with his scientific research, publication, and lecturing. He even made appearances as himself on popular TV shows such as The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. In addition, Hawking’s story was also portrayed in the film The Theory of Everything.

Stevie Wonder (1950— )

Arguably one of the most famous and beloved musicians alive today, Stevie Wonder was born 6 weeks prematurely. The blood vessels in his eyes had not yet developed, causing his blindness.

Widely considered a child prodigy, Stevie signed his first record label at age 11, and has recorded more than 30 U.S. top ten hits including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” In addition, Stevie has won over 25 Grammy Awards. Wonder is also noted for his work in political activism including his campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, and was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009 for his efforts in peaceful political causes.

Frida Kahlo (1907—1954)

Famous Mexican painter and artist, Frida Kahlo, contracted polio when she was 6 years old which caused a permanent deformity of her leg. She was further injured in a trolley accident as a teenager. After the accident, Kahlo was placed on bedrest for several months to heal her broken back, but the injury never truly mended.

Kahlo’s dreams of going to medical school ended with her injury, but she returned to her hobby of art with new dreams of becoming an artist. Her paintings are loved throughout the world for their vibrant energy and use of color. Kahlo is also known for her self-portraits, many of which depict her in her wheelchair.

Helen Keller (1880—1968)

Keller became both blind and deaf at 19 months of age from an unknown illness described by doctors as “an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain,” which may have been meningitis or scarlet fever. Keller had more than 60 home signs to communicate with her family when her parents sought out further tutoring. Twenty-year-old Anne Sullivan became Keller’s teacher, her governess, and eventually her companion for 49 years.

Helen Keller was a strong advocate in the struggle for women’s civil rights and other labor rights. Keller’s vast number of accomplishments include being the first deaf and blind person to earn a college degree, authoring a total of 12 published books, and being a much sought after political activist and lecturer. The story of how Anne Sullivan helped to develop a language that Keller could understand by spelling words into Keller’s hand was famously documented in the play/film, The Miracle Worker.

John Nash (1928—2015)

Now widely recognized due to the film A Beautiful Mind, John Nash was a famous American mathematician whose work provided insight into the factors that govern chance and desecision-making found in everyday life. These insights are widely used in the field of economics. In his early thirties, Nash began showing significant signs of mental illness and spent many years in psychiatric hospitals being treated for paranoid schizophrenia. Despite these struggles with mental illness, Nash contributed great theories and insights into the fields of mathematics and economics, and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994.

King George VI (1985—1952)

When Prince Albert ascended the throne of England to become King George VI, making frequent speeches to large crowds of people suddenly became an unavoidable part of life. King George had a significant stutter that many past attempts at therapy had failed to correct. As famously portrayed in the film The King’s Speech, Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist helped the prince overcome his stuttering during the time that he ascended into power and became the King of England. The English people gained great comfort from the King’s newfound ability to address his people during World II through frequent live radio addresses.

Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)

Historians have long remarked on Thomas Jefferson’s “peculiarities,” with many of these peculiarities closely matching the current diagnostic criteria for high functioning autism. This founding father was known for his lack of social skills and strong avoidance of public speaking, but a greatly preferred elegance with writing, hence causing him to be the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson’s strengths and weaknesses were often discussed amongst his peers and archived in their letter correspondence. Jefferson was known to always wear a too-tight button up vest, possibly the precursor to compression garments that many individuals with autism find so calming today. He was also known to have the strong need for long horse rides every day (even when injured), possibly for calming proprioceptive and vestibular sensory input. While there is not much discussion of a possible mental health label to be attributed to Jefferson’s quirks, the book by Norm Ledgin makes an extremely convincing argument.

Temple Grandin (1947— )

Dr. Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Her employers call her “the most accomplished and well known adult with autism in the world.” Living in a rural state, I have known almost as many people who have attended Grandin’s lectures as the authority on livestock behavior, as who have attended for her first person narratives on living with autism.

Grandin’s textbooks on “humane livestock handling” are taught across the country. Grandin credits her autism and ability to “think in pictures” with helping her empathize and relate to the animals she works with in order to improve their quality of life. Grandin’s story was excellently depicted in the award-winning 2010 HBO movie Temple Grandin.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770—1827)

Young Beethoven was already a celebrated pianist and composer by his mid-20s and was known as the most important musician since Mozart. Around the age of 26, Beethoven began to notice a buzzing sound in his ears, and he slowly lost all hearing over the next decade. By the age of 44, he was almost totally deaf and was unable to hear conversations. The cause of the hearing loss is unknown, but an autopsy carried out after death found that Beethoven had a distended inner ear that had developed lesions over time.

When Beethoven first began to lose his hearing, he lost the higher pitches first. Therefore, many of his compositions during this time focused on the lower register. The higher notes returned to his works toward the end of his life, suggesting that Beethoven was composing these pieces entirely in his imagination.

Michael J. Fox (1961— )

Already a famous actor for his roles in the Back to the Future movies and the television show Family Ties, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he was just 29 years old. Despite being told he should retire, Fox continued with his acting career, including the wildly popular sitcom, Spin City, before retiring from full time acting in 2000. Since retirement, Fox has become a strong advocate for finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease, and his foundation has raised over $230 million for Parkinson’s research.

Heather Whitestone (1973— )

Miss America, 1995, Heather Whitestone became deaf when she was 18 months of age due to a serious ear infection. Her doctors told her parents that she would never read beyond a third grade level, nor learn to speak. She obviously exceeded these predictions and when asked by the judges of the Miss America pageant what her aim in life was, Whitestone replied that she would like to assist children from all backgrounds to reach their fullest potential in life.

Whitestone is currently the spokesperson for the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation and Starkey Hearing Foundation. She also authored the book entitled Listening with My Heart.

Chris Burke (1965— )

Actor Chris Burke is probably best known for the character, Corky, on the television series Life Goes On. Through his work, he was able to transform how Americans viewed individuals with developmental disabilities and Down syndrome in particular. Burke currently serves as the National Down Syndrome Society ambassador and travels all around the country delivering inspirational speeches.

Patty Duke (1946—2016)

Actress Patty Duke became recognized for her acting abilities at a very young age. At the age of 13, she starred as Hellen Keller in the play The Miracle Worker. In 1965, at the age of 17, Patty became the youngest person to win an Academy Award in a regular category (best supporting actress) for her role as Hellen Keller in the movie version of this same play. Though successful as an actress, Patty Duke struggled with mental health difficulties and was diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder in 1982. After her diagnosis, Duke devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on issues relating to mental health.

Bruce Willis (1955— )

Willis has his stuttering to thank for much of his toughness. Throughout his childhood, the stutter caused Willis to be the object of so much bullying that he reported, “I had to fight my way out.” Like many other actors listed in this article, Willis, too, reports that acting became his savior. “It took me three minutes to complete a sentence,” said Willis, “yet when I became another character, in a play, I lost the stutter. It was phenomenal.”

Willis didn’t get help from a speech-language pathologist until an acting teacher in college encouraged him to do so. Now, he is an active advocate for people who stutter.

Jim Abbott (1967— )

Abbott pitched for the New York Yankees, California Angels, Chicago White Socks, and the Milwaukee Brewers, all with just one hand. Born without his right hand, Abbott was a leading Major League Baseball pitcher for 10 seasons (1989 to 1999), pitching 31 complete games and six shutout games. In addition, Abbot also pitched for Team USA in their gold-medal finish of the 1988 Olympics.

Shaquem Griffin (1995— )

Griffin lost his left hand when he was only 4 years old, due to a rare condition called Amniotic Band syndrome, which stunted the development of that hand. Despite this hurdle, Griffin grew to become a massively talented linebacker, and was an NFL fifth-round draft pick for the Seattle Seahawks.

Griffin became the first one-handed player to be drafted in the modern era of the NFL. This selection allowed Griffin to be reunited with his twin brother, Shaquill, who also plays for the Seahawks. Griffin began his rookie season as a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2018 football season.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

The paintings The Starry Night and Sunflowers, as well as his many self-portraits have caused Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh to be one of the most recognized artists in the world. The fact that van Gogh infamously cut off his own left ear (December 23, 1888) is almost as well known as his paintings themselves. Even before this occurrence, van Gogh was known for his frequent spells of depression, obsession, psychotic episodes, and delusions. When he was 27 years of age, his parents begged him to seek mental health treatment. He refused, and instead self-medicated with alcohol and other neurotoxic substances. Unfortunately, it was only after his suicide at the age of 37, that his story and his artist works sparked the public interest and brought him the recognition he deserves.

Samuel L. Jackson (1948— )

Jackson reported that his stutter was so bad that he essentially stopped speaking for almost a year while he was in school. As a young man, it often caused him to be ridiculed, leading to many fistfights, which Jackson is quick to report that he won. Jackson took matters into his own hands and went to the library to learn many techniques, such as breathing, to help him lose the stutter. While these techniques helped some, Jackson reports what helped the most was saying a certain 4-letter word. Jackson reported that he does not know how it works, “It just does. It clicks a switch that stops the d-d-d, b-b-b-b-b.” Now, this family-friendly article would certainly never advocate cursing as a therapy technique (especially among children). However, it can’t be coincidental that Samuel L. Jackson’s most infamously quoted lines from film often contain a certain 4-letter word.

About the author:

Melissa Foster is a Nationally Board Certified Occupational Therapist who received her Masters in Occupational Therapy from University of Central Arkansas in 2004. She came to TEAM in 2013 with a wealth of treatment experience in settings that range from NWA to Kansas to New York. Her primary interests are treatment of children on the Autism Spectrum, treatment of children with ADHD and treatment of children with sensory processing and behavioral disorders. Melissa is an active public speaker in the NWA community on topics related to Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. She has authored several resource materials for parents on topics such as sleep and picky eating. Her blog for parents addresses a new topic every Monday and has become a popular resource for families. Melissa loves spending time with her husband and their two children. On warm summer days she enjoys sitting on her patio with a good book and a glass of iced tea.

Resources:

Baseball America: Where Are They Now? Jim Abbott. May 4, 2018.

Diagnosing Jefferson: Evidence of a Condition that Guided his Beliefs, Behavior, and Personal Associations. By Norm Ledgin.

Diagnosing Vincent Van Gogh. March 30, 2017, PBS.

Emily Blunt opens up about stuttering, which afflicted actors from Marilyn Monroe to Bruce Willis. April 14, 2018, The Washington Post.

Famous People with Disabilities. Indiana University. Downloaded December 2018.

FDR Library & Museum. Downloaded January 2019.

King George. Downloaded January 2019, The Stuttering Foundation.

Living Independently Now Center of Southern Illinois

10 Majorly Successful People with Disabilities. October 22, 2013, Huffington Post 

Nelson Rockefeller. Downloaded January 2019, University of Michigan Dyslexia Help. 

Patricia Polacco. Downloaded January 2019, University of Michigan Dyslexia Help.

So if Beethoven was completely deaf, how did he compose. 12 October 2018, Classic fm. 

Stevie Wonder. Downloaded January 2019, Wikipedia.

Temple Grandin, Killing Them Softly at Slaughterhouses for 30 years. August 19, 2015, National Geographic.

Woodrow Wilson. Downloaded January 2019, University of Michigan Dyslexia Help.

Wikipedia utilized to mark birth/death years as well as fill in gaps of information on several individuals. Information downloaded January 2019.