National Disability Awareness Month

October 2011

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931). American inventor, scientist, and businessman.

Hearing Impaired: is a condition wherein the ability to detect certain frequencies of sound are completely or partially impaired. When applied to humans, the term hearing impaired is rejected by the deaf culture movement, where the terms deaf and hard-of-hearing are preferred.

Dyslexia: is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty in reading. Also called specific reading disability, dyslexia is a common learning disability in children. Dyslexia occurs in children with normal vision and intelligence. Sometimes, dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood.

23% of the world’s population has

dyslexia, that is about 1,558,304,211 people in total.

Source: Canadian Dyslexia Association

Michael J. Fox – (June 9, 1961 - ). Canadian–American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist.

Parkinson’s disease: is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. Most often develops after age 50. It is one of the most common nervous system disorders of the elderly. Sometimes Parkinson's disease occurs in younger adults. It affects both men and women.

6,000,000 individuals world-wide suffer from Parkinson’s disease.

Source: National Parkinson’s Foundation

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) – (1882 -1945). Became the 32nd president in 1933, and was the only president to be elected 4 times. Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal.

Poliomyelitis or Polio: is a virus that causes paralysis in those who contract the disease. The virus enters the body through the mouth and then enters the intestinal lining. It then can proceed to the blood stream and into the central nervous system, damaging nerve endings, leading to paralysis and muscle weakness.

1,410 case of Polio in the World

Source: World Health Organization

Spinal Cord Injuries: refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence.

there are nearly 1 in 50 people living with paralysis --

approximately 6 million people.Source: Christopher Reeves Foundation

Christopher Reeves - (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter and author.

Helen Keller - (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Visually Impaired: is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery

284 million in the world are visually impaired

Source: World Health Organization

Leonardo DiCaprio - born November 11, 1974, is an American actor and film producer and environmental activist.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD: is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions).

67,752,357 people suffer OCD in the world

Source: OCD Foundation

Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990), is an American professional surfer. She is known for surviving a shark attack in which she lost her left arm, and for overcoming the serious and debilitating injury to ultimately return to professional surfing.

Amputee: A person who has had one or more limbs removed by amputation

There are 1.7 million people living with limb loss in the U.S.Source: National Limb Loss Information Center

Sir Isaac Newton (December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived.“

Epilepsy: is a brain disorder in which a person has repeated seizures (convulsions) over time. Seizures are episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention or behavior.

50 Million people world-wide have this disease.

Source: World Health Organization

Michael Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): is a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for a child's age and development.

Number of children in the U.S. 3-17 years of age

ever diagnosed with ADHD: 5.2 million

Source: U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Marilyn Monroe – (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl.

Stutter: Stuttering is a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables, or words are repeated or last longer than normal. These problems cause a break in the flow of speech (called disfluency).

About 5% of children (1 out of every 20 children) aged 2 - 5 will develop some stuttering during their childhood. It may last for several weeks to several years.

Source: PubMed Health, online