Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Has anyone on the planet NOT seen Susan Boyle sing her heart out on "Britain's Got Talent" -- if you haven't do it NOW. She sings the very difficult, very moving "I dreamed a dream" from Les Miserables. I just checked and her video has garnered more than 22 million hits on YouTube...that's right MILLION. I picked up the piece below from Patricia Bauer's blog which I visit frequently...bottom line here is not to judge a book by its cover,; something Lucas and all people with disabilities will struggle with their entire lives. Bravo, Susan!

Susan Boyle says disabilities shaped her life

April 16th, 2009

International singing sensation

From the [UK] Mirror, [UK] Times, CBS Newsand elsewhere:

By now, just about everybody has heard about Susan Boyle, the plain Scottish spinster whose extraordinary singing voice dumfounded the judges of a British talent show this week. Videos of her thrilling performance on “Britain’s Got Talent” have gotten more than 18 million views on Youtube, and she is already reportedly in talks with a record label.

But what many may not know is that Boyle, an unemployed church worker who cared for her elderly mother until her death two years ago, has a lifelong history of disability. Boyle says she has learning disabilities, the result of oxygen deprivation at birth, and was bullied in school because she was slow and had frizzy hair.

“The ones who made fun of me are now nice to me,” she told CBS News, “so I may have won them round.” She said she hopes her arresting debut on the TV talent show will remind people not to judge by appearances.

(Photo from the [UK] Times)

See also: It wasn’t singer Susan Boyle who was ugly on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ so much as our reaction to her — Tanya Gold in the [UK] Guardian

UPDATE: From Deadine Scotland:

[Boyle] says she hopes the show will highlight her disability too. She said, “I was slightly brain damaged at birth, and I want people like me to see that they shouldn’t let a disability get in the way. I want to raise awareness — I want to turn my disability into ability.”