Two prominent mathematicians who were disabled in ways which would have made it difficult to work were Lev Pontryagin and Solomon Lefschetz.
Pontryagin was blind as a result of a stove explosion at the age of $14$, though he learned mathematics because his mother read him math papers and books, and he went on to contribute to algebraic topology, differential topology, and optimal control in significant ways. Several results now bear his name, including Pontryagin's Maximum Principle in optimal control which was a landmark theoretical development in the field.
Solomon Lefschetz lost both of his hands in an electrical transformer fire in his twenties. This accident pushed him towards mathematics and he went on make contributions to algebraic geometry, topology, and nonlinear differential equations. The Picard-Lefschetz formula and the Lefschetz fixed-point theorem are named after him, and his work in nonlinear differential equations helped interest in the field to grow, particularly in the United States.
There are surely other similar examples in the history of mathematics that I don't know about. Accordingly, my question is:
Who are some mathematicians that have made important contributions to mathematics despite their ability to work being hampered by a disability?
An answer to this question should, naturally, contain the name of the mathematician and the way in which their ability to work was impaired. It should also contain a (possibly brief) description of their contributions, with mention of specific results where relevant.
Best Answer
Joseph Plateau should be mentioned. While Wikipedia classifies him as a physicist, this was back when there was much less distinction between physicist and mathematician. He more or less invented the "moving image", and was obsessed with light and the eye. He used to stare at the sun or other bright lights to try to understand the retinal fatigue experienced afterwards. Perhaps because of this, he went blind later in life.
With worsening vision, he went to other aspects of physics. The most interesting in my opinion is the semi-understood phenomenon now called "Plateau's Rotating Drop." If you suspend a viscous liquid in another liquid of the same density, and rotate the suspended drop at the right acceleration, then it will deform from a sphere to an ellipsoid to a torus. Here are some pictures from my old lab (my first research experience!) on this experiment.
It's said that he would rotate drops for hours, making his son describe exactly what was happening.
Plateau also worked a lot with capillary action and soap bubbles - a differential geometer before his time.