Famous People That Use or Used Wheelchairs in the Past

Published: 2017-11-10 - Updated: 2021-05-20
Author: Disabled World | Contact: Disabled World (www.disabled-world.com)
Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A
Library: Famous Disabled People Publications

Synopsis: A list of well known and famous people who use or used wheelchairs since birth and later in life due to disabilities. Today, there are many types of wheelchairs, and they are often highly customized for the individual user's needs. A mobility scooter is a motorized assist device, but with a steering 'tiller' or bar instead of the joystick found on wheelchairs.

Main Digest

A wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits, propelled either manually or via various automated systems. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, or disability. The earliest record of the wheelchair in England dates from the 1670s.

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Today, there are many types of wheelchairs, and they are often highly customized for the individual user's needs. Types of wheelchairs include Beach wheelchairs, Sports wheelchairs, Electric wheelchairs, and Manual wheelchairs.

A smart wheelchair uses an artificial control system which augments or replaces user control. Its purpose is to reduce or eliminate the task of driving a motorized wheelchair. Smart wheelchairs usually employ sonar, infrared sensors or laser rangefinders to detect obstacles and to ensure that the platform does not collide with them.

A mobility scooter is a motorized assist device, but with a steering 'tiller' or bar instead of the joystick found on wheelchairs.

Adapting buildings and surroundings to make them more accessible to wheelchair users is one of the key campaigns of disability rights movements and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

List of Well Known and Famous People Who Use and Used Wheelchairs

Barbara Jordan
Cherylee Houston - (20 Aug. 1974) - British actress currently playing Izzy Armstrong in Coronation Street. Cherylee Houston was diagnosed with the rare connective tissue disorder, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Type III hypermobility type, after she had graduated. Cherylee has also a played in the TV soap Doctors, The Bill, Emmerdale, Little Britain, and Holby City.
Christopher Reeve
David Madison Cawthorn (born August 1, 1995) - American politician.
F.D. Roosevelt
Frida Kahlo
Itzhak Perlman
Jean Driscoll
John Charles Hockenberry
Joni Eareckson Tada
King Phillip II of Spain
Lionel Barrymore
Nick Vujicic
Stephen Hawking
Tanni Gray-Thompson
Teddy Pendergrass
Tim Curry (Timothy James Curry) - born 19 April 1946, is an English actor and singer. Tim Curry uses a wheelchair after suffering a stroke in July 2012. This limited his acting to mostly voice-over, although he continues to perform as a singer and has started making appearances at fan conventions.

NOTE: If you know of a discrepancy in this list please contact us so we can amend the entry.

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