Education

Interesting Facts

Proof Positive that People can Overcome their inAbilities

There are over 750 million people in the world today with some type of a disability!

Think about that number for a minute - the population of the state of California is about 30 million people. The population of the United States is about 250 million people. The population of the United States would only equal one third the number of disabled people there are in the whole world!

Some disabilities are visible, such as a person in a wheelchair, but other disabilities are invisible. Like an individual with a learning disability, even though you can not see a person's disability does not mean they do not have one.

Albert Einstein did not speak until the age of three. Even as an adult Einstein found that searching for words was laborious. He found school work, especially math, difficult and was unable to express himself in written language. He was thought to be simple minded (retarded), until it was realized that he was able to achieve by visualizing rather than by the use of language. His work on relativity, which revolutionized modern physics, was created in his spare time.

Thomas Alva Edison was unable to read until he was twelve years old and his writing skills were poor throughout his life.

George Washington was unable to spell throughout his life and his grammar usage was very poor. His brother suggested that perhaps surveying in the backwoods might be an appropriate career for young George.

Thomas Jefferson was reported to have many learning difficulties.

Woodrow Wilson President of the USA from 1913-1921 as well as

Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President of USA, were both severely dyslexic.

Werner Von Braun regularly failed his high school math examinations but was often caught day-dreaming due to his ADD of one day flying to other planets.

Tom Cruise is unable to read even today due to severe dyslexia, he never even finished High School. He has though, the ability to memorize his lines and perform on both the stage and screen.

Bruce Jenner (Olympic decathlon champ) barely got through school, diagnosed as a dyslexic (sports gave him better self-esteem) he found that through sports he could hold his head up with friends and feel good about himself.

Magic Johnson (basketball player) Has a reading problem, "It's a bad feeling, a lonely feeling" "You've got to take whatever means are necessary to enhance your skills. Then once you've conquered it, once you have met the challenge, teach back and help the next guy, because that is what it is all about"

Henry Winkler (actor, director, producer) As a child was called stupid and lazy in the classroom. Bottom 3% in country, in math, he was thought to have ADD, he once said "It is not easy to compete when you have LD, but it is possible."

                Alexander Graham Bell (inventor)

                Walt Disney (founder of Disney)

                George Patton (World War II General)

                Winston Churchill (former Prime Minister of England)

                Whoopi Goldberg (actress)

                Dexter Manley (former football star)

                Danny Glover (actor)

                Gregy Louganis (athlete)

                Tracy Gold(actress)

(Attention Deficit Disorder)

Well-known Autistic People or well-known people who have chosen to write or speak about their Autistic family members:

* Carl Erskine (former baseball player).

* Beverly Sills about her son, Bucky.

* Dan Marino about his son.

* Mark McKewn (TV weatherman on CBS Morning News), his brother has autism.

* Tom Henke (Toronto baseball pitcher) about his son.

* Richard Burton: a daughter by his first wife.

* BJ Surhoff (Baltimore baseball player, 1996) about his son, Mason.

* Sylvester Stallone about his son, Seargeoh.

* William Christopher (Father Mulcahy on the TV show M*A*S*H) about his son, Ned.

* Wynton and Brandford Marsalis about their brother.

* David Tomlinson (the actor who starred in Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the Love Bug etc) had an autistic son, whose diagnosis and education is mentioned in some detail in Mr Tomlinson's autobiography Luckier than Most.

* Barbara Roberts (Former Governor of Oregon), mother of adult with autism.

* Joe Mantegna (actor), father of daughter with autism.

* Phoebe Snow (singer), mother of daughter with autism.

* Jonathan Shestak (Movie producer), about his son, Dov.

Talented Dyslexics (Inventors/Scientists Performers)

Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison

Alexander Graham Bell Cher

Whoopi Goldberg

Artists/Writers Military/Political Strategists

Leonardo da Vinci

Walt Disney

Hans Christian Anderson General George Patton

Winston Churchill

Athletes

Jackie Stewart

Duncan Goodhew

Neil Smith

Famous People

Winston Churchill, statesman                                            Edgar Allan Poe, writer

Buzz Aldrin, astronaut                                                       Shecky Greene, comedian, actor

Brian Wilson, musician, composer (Beach Boys)                Gordon Sumner (Sting), musician, composer

Ned Beatty, actor                                                             Linda Hamilton, actor

Art Buchwald, writer, humorist                                            Kristin Hersh, musician

Sol Wachtler, judge, writer                                                 Margot Kidder, actress

Tim Burton, artist, movie director                                        Daniel Johnston, musician

Robert Campeau, financier                                                 Bill Lichtenstein, producer (TV & radio)

Dick Cavett, writer, media personality                                  Kevin McDonald, comedian, actor

Rosemary Clooney, singer                                                  Kristy McNichol, actor

Francis Ford Coppola, director                                             Jay Marvin, radio personality, writer

Patricia Cornwell, writer                                                       Kate Millett, writer, artist

Ray Davies, musician                                                          Spike Milligan, comic actor, writer

Patty Duke (Anna Duke Pearce), actor, writer                        Dimitri Mihalas, scientist

Robert Evans, film producer                                                  Jonathan Winters, comedian, actor, writer

Carrie Fisher, writer, actor                                                    Lili Taylor, actress

Larry Flynt, magazine publisher                                            Dimitri Mihalas, scientist

Connie Francis, actor, musician                                            John Mulheren, financier

Kaye Gibbons, writer                                                           Ilie Nastase, athlete (tennis), politician

Nicola Pagett, actor                                                             Jimmie Piersall, athlete (baseball), announcer

Charley Pride, musician                                                       Jeannie C. Riley, musician

Axl Rose, musician                                                             Francesco Scavullo, artist, photographer

Margo Orum, writer                                                              Lori Schiller, writer, educator

Murray Pezim, financier                                                       Frances Sherwood, writer

Alys Robi, vocalist                                                               Muffin Spencer-Devlin, athlete (pro golf)

Vincent Van Gogh, artist                                                      Virginia Woolf, actress

Mark Vonnegut, doctor, writer                                               Sol Wachtler, judge, writer

Here are some famous people with different disabilities as well:

Goya: Spanish painter (1746-1828): At age 46, an illness left him deaf. He went on to create the most famous Spanish art of the 19th century.

Stephen Hawking: physicist/mathematician has Lou Gehrigs Disease and is in a wheelchair. He needs a computer to speak.

John Milton: English Author/poet (1608-1674): He became blind at age 43. He went on to create his most famous epic, Paradise Lost.

Harriett Tubman: Abolitionist (1830-1913): As a child she was struck by an overseer. The blow fractured her skull and resulted in narcolepsy for the rest of her life. She rescued hundreds of slaves on the underground railroad.

Ludwig van Beethoven (Famous Musician) - known to be deaf

Helen Keller (Devoted Life to Persons with Disabilities) She was Blind, Deaf, and Mute.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had Polio, was governor of New York State then elected President of the United States for 4 terms.

And let us not forget our own Superman:

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