Physical disability

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.

### 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 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 (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 are not born with. 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 (removal) 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 are 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, was 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)