A Partial List of the Disabled Among Us

(See analysis of social attitudes toward disabled characters at end.)

Stephen Hawking, first rank physicist, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Oidipous Tyrannos, mythical star of the greatest drama (Oedipus Rex) of classical antiquity, talipes equinovarus (club foot).

"Nor is that other point to be passed over, that the Sphinx was subdued by a lame man with club feet …" - Sir Francis Bacon, Novum Organum

A reasonable translation of "Oidipous Tyrannos," following Bacon’s interpretation, is "Clubfoot the Ruler." When a drama has a name of this form, as with "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" or even "Beauty and the Beast," there is a certain hint as to how the plot will go.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President. A polio survivor, he adroitly concealed that he could barely walk.

Michael J. Fox, who continued his acting career after he developed Parkinson's.

Michael Kinsley, founder of Slate Magazine, Parkinson's.

Helen Keller, blind and deaf.

John Nash, mathematician, schizophrenia.

See movie, A Beautiful Mind

Christy Brown, author, Cerebral Palsy.

See movie, My Left Foot

Demosthenes, classical era orator, stammer.

Vincent Van Gogh, painter, psychiatric illness.

Beethoven, composer, deaf.

Ray Charles, singer, blind.

Stevie Wonder, singer, blind.

Marlee Matlin, actress, deaf.

Peter Dinklage, actor, dwarfism.

Joaquin Phoenix, actor, cleft palate.

Jürgen Habermas, philosopher, cleft palate.

Stacy Keach, actor, cleft palate.

Flanner O’Connor, author, lupus.

Robert Pirsig, author, schizophrenia.

Sartre, philosopher, strabismus (exotropia).

Saul of Tarsus (the Biblical Saint Paul), had a “thorn in the flesh,” which was not described.

Sherman Alexie, author, hydrocephalus

Implied fictional disabled characters (other than Oidipous):

Beauty and the Beast

Boo Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird, psychiatric illness.

Of Mice and Men (Lenny Small, limited intelligence)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Tiresias in Oidipous, blind.

Forrest Gump (Crooked spine, I.Q 75)

Cyclops ("Circle Eye," i.e., One Eye)

Captain Hook (Missing hand)

Tiny Tim (possibly renal tubular acidosis (type 1), or rickets)

... And many more.

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Apposite comments from the National Council of Teachers of English:
Are disabled people “pitiable, helpless, evil, super human, magically cured at the end, or dead?” Or are they complex individuals who enjoy their lives and have the same values, hopes, and aspirations as the mainstream?

Patricia Dunn:

Whether students are disabled or non-disabled themselves, they absorb impressions about characters like or unlike themselves from the books they read for school. So when they read books that feature characters with disabilities, what messages are they getting about disability? Does the story reinforce negative stereotypes (that disabled people are pitiable, helpless, evil, super human, magically cured at the end, or dead)?  Or does the text challenge negative stereotypes in its depiction of characters with impairments by showing that they are complex individuals, that they enjoy their lives and are as “normal” as non-disabled people, and that they have agency and voice?

She adds:

Works such  Johnson’s Accidents of Nature, Orr’s Peeling the Onion, and Alexie’s True Diary, written by authors with disabilities similar to those of their protagonists, depict these characters as fully developed individuals with agency, voice, and a critical attitude toward  their ableist societies.

Disabled people are America's largest minority, according to the Department of Labor and the website of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As well, a significant number of mainstream people will be disabled in later years, such as former President George H. W. Bush, wheelchair-bound in his last years. Disabled people are widely distributed among us; are powerful symbolic themes in some of our greatest works of literature; and are, in the final analysis, us.

Online hate against disabled people rising in England

Amy Walker, today, writes:

The charity [Leonard Cheshire, a health and welfare charity] called on global media companies, including Facebook, to take online disability hate crime more seriously and to protect users. It supported recommendations from MPs for government and social media companies to directly consult disabled people on digital strategies and hate crime law.

According to the report, online offenses are increasing, are under-reported, and disabled people are sometimes reluctant to speak out. Those who are targeted do not get social support; and those who discriminate against disabled people suffer no social consequences:

Neil Heslop, the chief executive, said: “Police are increasingly recording online offences, but we know it remains an under-reported area and that disabled people may have reservations about speaking out.

“We suspect many crimes remain under the radar, with survivors never getting support and perpetrators facing no consequences.”

The effect, Heslop said, can cause disabled people to experience stress and isolation. Mocking remarks and hurtful comments demean, degrade, and humiliate people with disabilities, lower their quality of life, and cause them to have “reduced life chances.”

Hate crimes against disabled people could lead to long-term fear, anxiety and isolation.

Janine Howard, who was supported by the charity’s advocacy services after experiencing online abuse, said: “People I don’t know take my photograph when I am out and about, they post it on social media for others to comment on.

“The comments are nasty, hurtful and leave me feeling frightened and angry. There is no escaping this online abuse if I want to use social media.”