WEIRD: 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. Continue
“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.”