Successful

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Successful People Thought to have Disabilities
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Tom Cruise

• Tom Cruise is unable to read due to severe
  dyslexia. He memorizes his lines by listening to
  them on tape.

Just wanna serve my country,be the best fighter
pilot in the navy, Sir.
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Tom Cruises road was never paved. It was always
full of potholes, and he jumped over all of
them. Don Sempon US movie producer
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Thomas Alva Edison

• Edison could not read until he was 12 years old.
  He had very poor writing skills.
• His inventions included the telegraph, telephone
  and electric generator. He also improved the
  light bulb and produced a practical,
  incandescent, electric light. He is known as the
  father of electric light.

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George WashingtonFirst President of the United
States

• George Washington was unable to spell and had
  very poor grammar usage. His brother suggested
  that surveying in the back woods might be an
  appropriate career for him.

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Jay LenoComedian, Tonight Show Host

• Jay Leno has mild dyslexia.
• One thing about mildly dyslexic people-theyre
  good at setting everything else aside to pursue
  one goal. I go five nights a week every week, no
  days off, no sick days. Can you wear thin that
  way? Maybe.

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James Earl JonesActor, Spokesman

• James Earl Jones is an actor. Hes been in
  several movies.
• He is currently the spokesman for Verizon.
• He stuttered between the ages of 6 and 14.
• Although he does not stutter now, he does not
  consider himself cured. His feeling is that
  once you are a stutterer, you are always a
  stutterer.

James Earl Jones was the voice of Darth Vader in
Star Wars
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I feel no flattery when people speak of my
voice. Im simply grateful that I found a way to
work around my impairment. Once a stutterer,
always a stutterer.James Earl Jones
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Billy Bob ThorntonActor

• Billy Bob Thornton has both dyslexia and ADD.
• He learns his lines by having friends repeatedly
  read them aloud.
• He was diagnosed in his 30s.

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Whoopi GoldbergActress, Comedian

• Whoopi Goldberg has stared in numerous movies,
  including Ghost, Sister Act, and The Color
  Purple, (for which she won a Best Actress Golden
  Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.)
• She currently stars in Whoopis Littleburg on
  Nick Jr.
• Whoopi Goldberg is learning disabled.

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Robin WilliamsActor, comedian

• Robin Williams has been successful in both
  television and movies.
• He was Mork from Ork in the hit series Mork and
  Mindy from 1978-1982.
• He has had roles in numerous movies, including
  Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King, Dead
  Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Aladdin.

Robin Williams has ADHD.
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Walt DisneyCartoonist

• Walt Disney was not successful in school.
• He became a famous cartoonist, inventing
  characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald
  Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto.
• It is a myth that Walt suffered from dyslexia.
  Any problems that he had in school were probably
  tied to his intense work schedule and the fact
  that he had to get up very early to deliver
  newspapers for his father.

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Albert EinsteinFamous Scientist

• Albert Einstein did not speak until the age of 3.
  
• His teachers considered him to be mentally slow,
  unsociable and a dreamer.
• He developed the theory of relativity.
• Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
• It is a myth that Albert Einstein was learning
  disabled.

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childdevelopmentinfo.com/disorders/famous.shtml
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www.oneaddplace.com/famous.htm
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These are just a few web sites about learning
disabilities. There are many more. www.familyvil
lage.wisc.edu/general/famous.html www.masspac.org
/awareness/celebrities.htm www.disabilitycentral.
com/activteen/gameroom/trivia/celebrity_trivia_1.h
tml www.ldpride.net www.ldonline.com
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Many successful people struggle with
disabilities. They have learned to overcome
them, or at least work around them.
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We all have strengths and weaknesses.
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With hard work, patience, and perseverance, we
can all be successful.