A physical disability is a condition that limits the way the body works.  For example, a physical disability may limit the way a part of the body grows, moves, or does what it is supposed to do.

Types of physical disabilities

Congenital disabilities
A congenital disability is a disability that a baby has when they are born, or had before they were born.  These disabilities used to be called "birth defects."

The most common congenital disability is congenital heart disease - problems in the way the heart grows and works.  In 2013, 34.3 million people around the world had congenital heart disease.  Congenital heart disease also causes more deaths than any other congenital disability.  In 2013, it caused 323,000 deaths.

Other examples of congenital disabilities include:
 Fetal alcohol syndrome
 Spina bifida, a problem with the way the spinal cord formed while a fetus was growing
 Microcephaly, where the baby's head is smaller than usual
 Problems with the way the brain, spinal cord, kidneys, or gastrointestinal system grew while a fetus was developing

Inherited disabilities
Some types of congenital disabilities are genetic.  This means the disability was "inherited," or passed down to a person, through their parents' genes.

Examples of inherited physical disabilities include:
 Cystic fibrosis
 Sickle cell anaemia
 Tay-Sachs disease
 Huntington's disease
 Hemophilia

Acquired disabilities
Acquired disabilities are disabilities that people get ("acquire") after they are born.  Often they are caused by injuries or illnesses.  Examples of acquired physical disabilities include:
 Paralysis, caused by an injury to the spinal cord
 Brain injury, caused by a head injury or an illness (like an infection in the brain)
 Amputation of a body part because of injury or illness
 Chronic back pain from on-the-job injuries
 Chronic medical problems like epilepsy, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and cancer

Famous people with physical disabilities
There have been many famous people with physical disabilities.  Below are some examples.

Leaders and politicians

 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was the United States President from 1933-1945.  He was paralyzed from the waist down from polio.
 King George VI, who was King of England from 1936-1952.  He had a speech disorder (stuttering).
 Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940-1945 and 1951-1955, also stuttered.
 John F. Kennedy, who was the United States President from 1961-1963.  He had many painful health problems caused by Addison's disease and hypothyroidism.

Actors
 James Earl Jones, Emily Blunt, Hugh Grant, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bruce Willis all have stutters.
 Michael J. Fox has Parkinson's disease.

Singers
 Neil Young,| Lil Wayne, and Prince all have epilepsy.

Other famous people
 Stephen Hawking, an award-winning physicist and writer who is paralyzed from motor neurone disease.
 Jim Abbott, a baseball player who was born with only one hand.  He played ten seasons in Major League Baseball; pitched a no-hitter; and won an Olympic gold medal playing for the United States in the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Related pages
 Paralympic Games (Olympic Games for people with disabilities)

References

Disability