“She’s considered the mother of disability rights – and she’s a ‘badass’”
The Washington Post
Calling her the ‘mother of disability rights,’ and a ‘badass’ only scratches the surface of Judy Heumann’s accomplishments; she was both of those things and far more. She passed away yesterday at the age of 75.
The impacts she had during her life will undoubtedly be felt and appreciated for years to come. She played a pivotal role in groundbreaking and historic legislations that included the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and more.
She co-founded the World Disability Institute in 1983, one of the first organizations led by disabled people and created with the intent of helping disabled people fully participate in their communities.
She worked in the Clinton administration under the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services as an Assistant Secretary, having learned first-hand some of the challenges disabled people face in education.
Heumann contracted polio at the age of 18 months and used a wheelchair for most of her life.
When she was old enough to go to school, the local school system refused her entry stating that due to her inability to walk she was a fire hazard. Instead, the school provided her with two hours per week of homeschooling. Her mother, Else Heumann, a fierce activist herself, was far from satisfied with her daughter only receiving a mere two hours of teaching and challenged the policy. Judy was allowed to attend a school for the disabled in the fourth grade with the caveat that she’d return to homeschooling when she got to high school.
Again, Judy’s mom set a precedent that would be a driving force in Judy’s life; she took on the status quo, rallied other parents, and pressured the school to allow Judy to begin high school on time in 1961. At her high school graduation, her principal tried to stop her from receiving an award onstage because of her wheelchair.
In 1970, after passing both the required oral and written exams, the Board of Education denied her a New York teaching license. Again, citing her disability as being a fire hazard. She sued under the grounds of discrimination, settled without a trial, and went on to become New York City’s first wheelchair user to teach in a school.
She also co-founded Disability In Action (DIA), an activist group that shut down rush hour traffic on New York’s Madison Avenue in front of President Richard Nixon’s reelection headquarters to call out Nixon for vetoing the Rehabilitation Act of 1972. I told you, she was a badass!
Heumann was front and center during the 504 Sit-ins in San Francisco in 1977 and when a federal official met with the protesters at the sit-in to reassure them their needs would be met in an effort to convince them to end the demonstration. Heumann wasn’t having any of it and clearly told him the following:
“We will no longer allow the government to oppress disabled individuals. We want the law enforced. We will accept no more discussion of segregation. And I would appreciate it if you would stop shaking your head in agreement when I don’t think you understand what we are talking about.”
In September of 1988, she spoke at the Joint House Senate Hearing on Discrimination on the Basis of Disability where she encouraged elected officials to “act without delay” to end “reprehensible acts of discrimination” by signing the ADA. “To do any less is immoral,” she said, ending her statement.
In her 2020 memoir (I can’t recommend this book enough), she wrote.
“Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”
She also served as the first adviser on disability and development for the World Bank, worked as a Senior Adviser to the Ford Foundation taking on many disabled stereotypes and calling for accurate media representation, and was the Obama administration’s Special Advisor on International Disability Rights for the State Department.
These are only a handful of Judy Heumann’s accomplishments. She was a warrior who made the world a far better place during her lifetime. She was a hero to many, especially to me, for the way she worked to reshape the way disability is viewed.
“Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things needed to one’s daily life.”
I urge you to check out the following to learn more about her extraordinary life.
- Her podcast was engaging and informative
- Her speech on September 27, 1988 to Joint House Senate Hearing on Discrimination on the Basis of Disability
- Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist – her incredible memoir
- Rolling Warrior, a young adult version of her memoir
- TedTalk
- Hilarious and exceptional interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
- When a friend saw Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, he said, “Judy Heumann is a fucking rockstar and we all should know her name and story!”
- Activist Judy Heumann led a reimagining of what it means to be disabled – PBS obituary
Duke of Dead Air 
She was beyond remarkable! A loss to everyone!😥
LikeLike