Meet the man born with his head upside down

Disability is not the same thing as inability; therefore it is no excuse for failure or for quitting. But Scott Hamilton does not even believe that there is anything like disability as he once said: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude”.

 This is the story of Claudio Vieira de Oliveira, a 37 year old Brazilian. He was born with his head upside down plus severely deformed limbs.

Doctors told his mother then to let him starve to death as he was not going to survive anyway but, she refused, determined to turn his son’s disability to “this ability” that he is able to express today.

Today, Claudio is an accountant and an inspirational public speaker, graduating from the State University of Feira de Santana.

MailOnline reports him as saying “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,' he said. '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".

The incredible Claudio types with a pen held in his mouth and operates phones and a computer mouse with his lips. He also has specially made shoes that aid his movement around town.

According to his mother, Maria Jose, “People started saying 'the baby is going to die' because he could barely breath when he was born. Some people would say: 'Don't feed him, he is already dying”.

She added: “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”

While he was growing up, his family had to change the floor of the house so he could walk around without injuring himself and his bed, plugs and lights were made lower so that he could do things for himself without asking for help.

His head is upside down, but Claudio says: “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”

Claudio with a friend

According to MailOnline, doctors recently diagnosed him of having Congenital arthrogryposis, a rare condition that causes curved joints in several areas of the body at birth.

It is caused by a number of factors, including lack of space in the uterus, muscle abnormalities, nerve abnormalities, blood circulation problems and maternal illness.