Bizarre: 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."
Culled from UK Mirror