Judith Ellen Heumann was an American disability rights activist best known for spending decades of her life attacking a political establishment indifferent to the rights of disabled people, which led to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities.
Heumann was not born disabled but she contracted polio at 18 months, which confined her to the wheelchair for the rest of her life. Growing up she faced discrimination in public schools wh... moreJudith Ellen Heumann was an American disability rights activist best known for spending decades of her life attacking a political establishment indifferent to the rights of disabled people, which led to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities.
Heumann was not born disabled but she contracted polio at 18 months, which confined her to the wheelchair for the rest of her life. Growing up she faced discrimination in public schools who did not admit her because of her disability. She first became an advocate for the disabled in 1970, when she tried to become a New York City teacher. In spite of having passed every requirement except a physical, she was denied a position because of her disability. She went ahead and sued the city and won becoming New York City’s first teacher in a wheelchair. Heumann went on to become a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities, she worked with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and various other disability interest groups to produce stellar results. She founded founded Disabled in Action (DIA), an organization that focused on securing the protection of people with disabilities through political protest. She worked with a lot of foundations and organizations like the World Bank and helped develop Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She was also a recipient of numerous awards for her activism.
