The disabled community is diverse and full of talent, intelligence, creativity and innovation. Throughout history, people with disabilities have gained a reputation for innovation and inventions that not only benefit the disabled community, but also drive change and improve the lives of all individuals. The following are just some of the many famous disabled people who have made significant contributions to society.
Famous disabled person
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo is a Mexican artist known for his bright and vivid self-portraits. She suffered from polio at the age of 6 and had a car accident at the age of 18. Many of her self-portraits depict her experience of physical disability. (1907–1954)
Laura Bridgeman
Laura Bridgeman was the first deaf woman to receive a formal education in the United States. She lost her vision and hearing from scarlet fever and she signed up at the age of 2. Laura attended Perkins School for the Blind, and under the guidance of Dr. Samuel Howe, she learned to use special touch paper to read and write. (1829-1889)
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin is a deaf actress, writer and activist. She lost most of the hearings at 18 months old. In 1986, she became the first The little god’s child. She has been paving the way for more characters in Hollywood since then. (Born in 1965)
Hunter Woodhall
Hunter Woodhall is an American track and field athlete and Paralympic Games. He was also born with Micephala fibula and received amputation of both legs at 11 months old. He won the gold medal in the men’s 400m T62 division at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. (b. 1999)
Eddie Ndopu
Ndopu is the South African disabled activist, humanitarian and author of Spine Muscle Atrophy (SMA). He was also the first African student with disabilities to be admitted to Oxford University, and he graduated with a Master of Public Policy. NDOPU is a global advocate appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). (b. 1990)
Rick Hort
Rick Hoyt is a triathlete, marathoner and Ironman. Born with cerebral palsy, Rick participated in his first wheelchair duo, driven by his father Dick. The duo completed more than 1,000 marathons, duo and triathlons, including 32 Boston Marathons. They are also the first wheelchair duo to complete the Hawaiian Ironman. The statue commemorating Rick and Dick Hoyt was built in 2013 near the starting point of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. (1962–2023)
Ralph Braun
Ralph Braun is known as the “Father of Mobility”. Ralph was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy during childhood. His desire for independence prompted him to develop the first battery-powered scooter and the world’s first wheelchair lift. He later founded Braunability, which continues to be a leading manufacturer of mobile products worldwide. (1940-2013)
Alice Huang
Alice Wong is a disabled person, writer and community organizer. Huang Tiansheng suffers from spinal muscle atrophy (SMA). She is the founder of the Disability Visibility Program, which aims to expand the stories of people with disabilities through verbal and written narratives. Her accolades include receiving the 2016 Americans with Disabilities Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award and being awarded among the BBC’s Top 100 Women in 2020. (Born in 1974)
Edward V. Roberts
Ed Roberts is considered the father of the independent living movement for people with disabilities. Ed contracted polio at the age of 14, which caused him to paralyze from his neck and rely on a ventilator to breathe. He became the first student to attend UC Berkeley with a large number of disabled and wheelchair users. He helped establish the Berkeley Independent Living Center with other disabled activists. In 1983, together with disability rights activist Judy Heumann, he co-founded the World Institute for Disability (WID), a research institute dedicated to spreading independent living movements around the world. (1939-1995)
Simone bile
Simone Biles is an American rhythmic gymnast. She was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. She has 11 Olympic medals and 30 world championship medals, making her the most decorated female gymnast in the world. After she quit the 2020 Summer Olympics after developing “Twisties”, she also became an outspoken advocate about mental health. (b. 1997)
Quote: “We’re not just athletes, we’re people at the end of the day, and sometimes you just have to take a step back.”
Judy Heumann
Judy Heumann is a person with disabilities and author, often referred to as the “mother” of the Disabled Rights Movement. She suffered from polio at 18 months old and has since become a wheelchair user. She became the first wheelchair user to a teacher in New York State, and after the lawsuit, she was deprived of her teaching permit because she failed to undergo a physical examination because she was unable to walk. In 1977, Judy led the 504 sit-in event in San Francisco, a 26-day protest that led to the establishment of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Judy continues to serve in the Clinton and Obama administrations, including being appointed by President Obama as the first special counsel for international disability rights to the U.S. State Department. (1947–2023)
Quote: “Disability becomes a tragedy only when society fails to provide what we need to live our lives.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth is a veteran and American politician. While working as a U.S. helicopter pilot during the Iraq War, her helicopter was hit by a grenade, resulting in her becoming the first female double amputator during the war. She then went into politics, serving two terms in the eighth congressional district of the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois, before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. (Born in 1968)
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve is a Hollywood actor and director, best known Superman. He won the British Academy Film Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award and the Screen Actors Association Award. In 1995, Christopher suffered a spinal cord injury while riding a horse, paralyzing him from his neck and relied on a ventilator to breathe. After the accident, Reeve became an advocate for disability and spinal cord injury, establishing his own foundations, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. (1952-2004)
Quote: “At the beginning, many of our dreams seemed impossible, then they seemed impossible, and then, when we summon the will, they quickly become inevitable.”
Judi Chamberlin
Judi Chamberlin is a disabled and author. She suffers from depression and schizophrenia. Due to her experience at the Psychiatric Association, she became an advocate for humanized mental health care for psychiatric survivors. Her books, I: Patient Control Alternatives for Mental Health Systempublished in 1978, has become the main text of the Crazy Pride movement. She also set up a National Authorization Center to empower people with experience in mental health challenges and trauma. (1944-2010)
Lenin Moreno
Lenin Moreno is an Ecuadorian politician and advocate for the disabled. Moreno is a wheelchair user who loses the ability to walk due to gun violence. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for his disability advocacy and served as Ecuador’s 46th President from 2017 to 2021. (Born in 1953)
Farida Bedwei
Farida Bedwei is a Ghanaian software engineer who lives with cerebral palsy. She is the co-founder of Ghanaian technology company Logiciel. In 2013, Bedway was named the most influential woman in business and government in Africa’s financial sector. CEO Magazine. She is also a writer and disability rights activist. (b.1979)
Haben Girla
Haben Girma is a lawyer, disability advocate and author. In 2013, she became the first deaf dumb to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 2016, Girma was included in Forbes’ list of laws and policies under 30. In 2019, she released her memoirs and currently serves as a public spokesperson and consultant. (b. 1988)
Kyle Maynard
Kyle Maynard is an entrepreneur, athlete, writer and speaker. He was born with congenital amputation, which causes a person to have no arms below the elbow and no legs under the knee. He learned to live independently as soon as possible without prosthetics. He became the first four times the amputee on the top of the mountain mountain without prosthetics. Maynard won the ESPN ESPY Award for Best Athlete in 2004. He wrote a memoir called “No excuses” and was the founder of Georgia’s No excuses CrossFit Stadium. (b. 1986)
Quote: “We should never shy away from the challenge of worrying about failure or being unwilling to fight odds. We should face our problems and not make excuses.”
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps is a former American competitive swimmer. He suffers from ADHD, depression and anxiety. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 Olympic medals. In addition, he set 39 world records, including 29 individuals and 10 relay records. He also owns 20 Guinness World Records. Phelps has been a fierce advocate for mental health support for athletes since his retirement in competitive swimming. (b. 1985)
Quote: “One thing that all successful people have in common: they develop the habit of doing things that people who fail to succeed don’t like to do.”
Lydia XZ Brown
Lydia XZ Brown is a writer, disability advocate, public speaker and attorney. They identify with autism and are the founder and leader of the Autism People’s Fund for Women with Autism and non-binary networks. Brown serves as the head of public policy at the National Institute of Disability. In 2013, Brown was named a change champion by the Obama administration for his leadership in the disabled community and his commitment to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (b. 1993)
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