Meet The Brazilian Man Born With His Head Upside-
down
A man born with physical disabilities so severe his
head is Upside-down has defied the odds to become an
inspirational public speaker.
Claudio Vieira de Oliveira, 37, was born with his neck
folded back on itself, as well as badly deformed legs
and almost no use of his arms and hands. Doctors told
his mother to stop feeding him as a newborn as they
believed he had no chance of survival. But Claudio
from Monte Santo, Brazil, has overcome his extreme
disadvantages to graduate as an accountant and
become a public speaker.
“Since I was a child I’ve always liked to keep myself
busy and work – I don’t like to depend totally on other
people. I do a bit of accounting, research for clients
and consulting. I have learned to turn on the TV, pick
up my cell phone, turn on the radio, use the internet,
my computer – I do it all by myself.” he said.
Claudio types with a pen held in his mouth, operates
phones and a computer mouse with his lips and has
specially made shoes that allow him to move around
town. His determined independence saw him
succeeding at school and qualifying as an accountant
from the State University of Feira de Santana.
When Claudio was born, doctors told his mother Maria
Jose he would not be able to survive. Maria Jose
said:
“People started saying ‘the baby is going to die’
because he could barely breathe when he was born.
Some people would say: ‘Don’t feed him, he is already
dying’. But there’s only happiness now. Claudio is just
like any other person – that’s how he was raised in
this house. We never tried to fix him and always
wanted him to do the normal things everyone else
does. That’s why he is so confident. He is not ashamed
of walking around in the street – he sings and he
dances.”
At eight years old, Claudio, who had previously been
carried everywhere, began to walk on his knees.
His family had to change the floor of the house so he
could walk around without injuring himself.
Claudio’s bed, plugs and lights had to be made lower so
that he could do things for himself without asking for
help.
He cannot use a wheelchair because of his unusual
shape, making it hard for him to be independent
outside the home – but he begged his mother to be
allowed to go to school and learn with the other
children. Doctors have recently diagnosed him with a
rare condition called congenital arthrogryposis.
They believe he has multiple joint contractions in his
legs and arms which mean they cannot extend
properly. Claudio said:
“Throughout my life I was able to adapt my body to
the world. Right now, I don’t see myself as being
different. I am a normal person. I don’t see things
upside-down. This is one of the things I always talk
about in my interventions as a public speaker.
“Nowadays it’s much easier to deal with the public,
I’m not afraid of it anymore and I can say that I am a
professional, international public speaker and that I
receive invitations from all over the world.”