Learn about disability through famous faces

• Warwick Davis is an actor who has restricted growth, sometimes known as dwarfism. Warwick’s also a Scout Ambassador! 
• Stephen Hawking was a world-famous physicist and cosmologist. He had motor neurone disease. 
• Ellie Simmonds is a Paralympic swimmer who has achondroplasia, a rare genetic condition that causes disproportionate short stature. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of dwarfism. Ellie is also a Scout Ambassador 
• Keira Knightley’s an actress. She’s dyslexic. 
• Karen Darke’s a Paralympic hand cyclist. She was paralysed from the chest down after a climbing accident. She’s also a Scout Adventurer. 
• George Webster’s an actor and CBeebies presenter. He has Down’s Syndrome. 
• Selena Gomez is a singer and actress, and has a condition called Lupus. Lupus can cause joint pain and extreme tiredness.
• Justin Bieber’s a singer. He has Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare condition where shingles (an infection that causes a painful rash) affects your facial nerve. This can cause weakness on one side of your face and sometimes hearing problems. 
• Stevie Wonder is a legendary musician, singer and songwriter, who is blind.
• Billie Eilish is a singer-songwriter who has anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome.  

Here’s some information about the disabilities or conditions mentioned in this activity. 

Remember, it will vary from person to person on how people view or describe their disabilities. And whether someone uses the word “disability” or “disabled” when they’re talking about themselves. 

Anxiety: Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. Most people feel anxious at times. It's particularly common to experience some anxiety while coping with stressful events or changes, especially if they could have a big impact on your life. Anxiety can become a mental health problem if it impacts your ability to live your life as fully as you want to. For example, it may be a problem if your feelings of anxiety are very strong or last for a long time, your fears or worries are out of proportion to the situation, you avoid situations that might cause you to feel anxious, your worries feel very distressing or are hard to control, you regularly experience symptoms of anxiety, which could include panic attacks, you find it hard to go about your everyday life or do things you enjoy. (Source: Mind, 2024) 

Down’s Syndrome (DS): Down’s Syndrome (DS) is a naturally occurring genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome.  Down syndrome is not a disease or illness, and people with Down syndrome do not 'suffer', people live with Down syndrome. Whilst people with Down syndrome share some common physical characteristics, each is a unique individual with their own strengths and weaknesses, individual character and personality, each influenced by their families, friends and life – just like everyone else. People with Down syndrome experience the same range of moods and emotions as everyone else in the population. People with Down syndrome have some degree of learning disability which affects their ability to learn, it does not mean that they cannot learn. Children with Down syndrome may take longer to learn new skills, most will get there in their own time. People with Down syndrome can be more prone to some common health conditions but, like the rest of society, benefit from medical advancements and subsequently live longer and healthier lives. People either have Down syndrome or they do not, they do not therefore have it mild or more severe. (Source: Down Syndrome UK, 2024) 

Restricted Growth: Restricted growth, or dwarfism, is commonly described as having a final adult height of 4’10” or less due to a medical condition. There are estimated to be several hundred conditions that can cause restricted growth. These can cause proportionate or disproportionate restricted growth. Proportionate short stature (PSS) means there is general lack of growth throughout the body. The length of the trunk (abdomen and chest) remains in normal proportion with the legs. Disproportionate short stature (DSS) occurs when there is a problem with the way joints and bones grow. Certain limbs may be shorter, or there might be a severe lack of general, all-over body growth. Conditions associated with DSS are usually caused by a genetic condition. Many children born with DSS will have average-height parents and the genetic condition will have occurred spontaneously. One such condition is Achondroplasia, where people with the condition have an average sized trunk and short arms and legs. Most people with restricted growth conditions have normal intelligence and normal life expectancy. People with restricted growth can do just about anything a person of average height can – just sometimes in a different way. (Source: Restricted Growth Association UK, 2024) 

Dyslexia: Dyslexia’s a specific learning difficulty which primarily affects reading and writing skills. However, it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is actually about information processing. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. Dyslexia can also impact on other areas such as organisational skills. As each person is unique, so is everyone's experience of dyslexia. It can range from mild to severe. It's a life-long condition. (Source: British Dyslexia Association, 2024) 

Lupus: Lupus is an autoimmune condition that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints and organs. It’s characterised by inflammation and damage to healthy tissue, caused by the body's immune system mistakenly attacking and destroying its own cells, tissues and organs. (Source: Hidden Disabilities Sunflower invisible disabilities index, 2024) The two most common symptoms of lupus are extreme fatigue, and joint and/or muscle aches and pains. Other symptoms include rashes, anaemia, light-sensitivity, headaches and/or migraines, hair loss, oral/nasal ulcers, brain fog, depression and anxiety. It’s important to note that there are many manifestations of lupus, and it’s rare for two people to share the exact same experience. (Source: Lupus UK, 2024) 

Motor neuron disease (MND): People have nerves in your brain and spinal cord that control how your muscles work. These are called motor neurones. Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a disease that affects the motor neurones. With MND, motor neurones gradually stop telling your muscles how to move. When muscles no longer move, they become weak, which can also lead to stiffness and loss of muscle mass (wasting). MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink, breathe, think and behave. This is usually different for each individual. You may not get all of the symptoms and there’s no set order in which they happen. The disease will progress, which means your symptoms will get worse over time. For some people this can be rapid, for others it is slower. There’s currently no cure for MND. (Source: Motor Neurone Disease Association, 2024) 

Paralysis: Paralysis is when you are not able to move some or all your body. It can be temporary or permanent depending on what causes it. (Source: NHS, 2024) 

Ramsay Hunt syndrome: Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS) is a complication of shingles. It’s the name given to describe the symptoms of a shingles infection affecting the facial nerve. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. As a result of this infection, the facial nerve becomes inflamed and irritated. It can cause a rash or blisters in or around the ear, the mouth, and the scalp or hair line. The rash and blisters are often painful with a generalised sensation of burning over the affected area. 

It can also cause difficulty closing the eye or blinking on the affected side, weakness on the affected side of your face which causes the facial muscles to droop, hearing loss, and difficulty eating, drinking and speaking. (Source: Facial Palsy UK, 2024)  

Tourette syndrome: Tourette Syndrome (TS) is an inherited neurological condition. TS is a spectrum disorder which means that symptoms range from mild/simple to complex. Over 300,000 children and adults are living with TS in the UK. The key features are tics, which are involuntary sounds and movements. They must be present for at least 12 months to meet the diagnostic criteria. Tourette Syndrome’s often misunderstood as a condition which makes people swear or say socially inappropriate things. Although it’s true that ‘coprolalia’ – the clinical term for involuntary swearing – is a symptom of TS, it’s not a criteria for diagnosis and only affects 10 to 20% of people. TS is a fluctuating condition which means that tics can come and go. Tics can also be triggered, or increased by environmental factors, such as stress, excitement or relaxation. Tics can occur in nearly any part of the body and in any muscle. (Source: Tourette’s Action UK, 2024)