1. Famous Adults with Disabilities Can you match these well-known individuals with their learning disabilities?

2. 1) Tom Cruise Despite being a success in his chosen field, this entertainer can learn lines only by listening to a tape. He is formally diagnosed dyslexic.

3. 2) Thomas Edison His head was large at birth. His mother did not agree with those who felt that the child was abnormal. He was sent to school, but the teacher though him to be mentally ill. The mother withdrew the child from school and taught him herself. As it turned out, he might have done well in vocational education.

4. 3) Walt Disney This was another child who was slow in school work. About the only thing this apparently right-brained individual had going for him was his vivid imagination, which used to bother his teachers, especially when he doodled.

5. 4) John Mellencamp Best known for being an American rock singer- songwriter. As a child in Seymour, IN, he had suffered a number of setbacks including being born with a neural tube defect called spina bifida that necessitated a lengthy hospitalization.

6. He was a German composer and pianist. He continued to compose, conduct, and perform after becoming completely deaf.composerpianist 5) Ludwig van Beethoven

7. 6) Muhammad Ali This famous athlete was a great boxer. He was fast, intelligent, kind, strong and he could take a good punch. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

8. 7) Whoopi Goldberg She had a lot of difficulty in school, but it was not until she was an adult did she learn that she had dyslexia. Despite her dyslexia, she has gone on to have a highly successful film and television career.

9. 8) Harriet Tubman When she was thirteen years old she was struck her on the head, and for the rest of her life she had a form of epilepsy. When she was 29, this person escaped from slavery and dedicated the rest of her life to rescuing other slaves and to civil rights.

10. 9) Franklin Roosevelt This person served for 3 terms as President of the United States and helped pull the country out of the depression through social programs. He hid his disability from the American public. Roosevelt contracted an illness diagnosed then as polio which resulted in permanent paralysis from the waist down.

11. 10) Will Smith This actor starred in movies such as Men in Black and Hancock. He started his career as an actor by starring in a TV set in Beverly Hills, and a hip hop artist. He was the first hip hop artist to be nominated for an Academy Award. He has a diagnosis of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

12. 11) Halle Berry This actress is a former Miss Teen America winner and was the runner up for Miss USA the next year. She can be seen in movies such as X-Men and New Year’s Eve. This actress is a diabetic.

13. 12) Bethany Hamilton This professional surfer is the survivor of a shark attack, which resulted in her arm being amputated.

14. 13) Julia Roberts This actress was diagnosed with a speech impairment in her youth, because of a stutter. She is well known for her movie Pretty Women for which she received an Oscar nomination, and also won the People's Choice award for Favorite Actress.

15. 14) Justin Timberlake He has won six Grammy Awards, two Emmys and produced a slew of hit singles. The singer/actor/businessman says that he suffers from both Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and has a hard time completing important tasks.

16. 15) Keira Knightley The Pirates of the Caribbean actress often plays well-to-do and upper class roles. This actress could neither read nor write at age six. She reports that she was called “stupid” by kids at school because of her dyslexia.

17. 16) Cher This famous entertainer has achieved success in two major fields of entertainment. Due to a math learning disability, she person cannot remember telephone numbers or do basic math.

18. 17) Jay Leno This late night host and comedian says that having a learning disability inspired him to work extremely hard to prove himself.

19. 18) Albert Einstein This person could not talk until the age of four. He did not learn to read until he was nine. His teachers considered him mentally slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He failed the entrance examinations to college but finally passed them after an additional year of preparation. He lost three teaching positions and then became a patent clerk.