Judith Heumann
| Judith Heumann | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Special Advisor for International Disability Rights | |
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Assumed office June 7, 2010 |
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| Appointed by | President Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services | |
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In office June 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Robert Davila |
| Succeeded by | Robert Pasternack |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1947 (age 69–70) |
| Alma mater |
Long Island University University of California, Berkeley |
Judith E. "Judy" Heumann (born 1947) is an American disability rights activist. An internationally recognized leader in the disability community, Heumann is a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. Her work with governments and non governmental organizations (NGOs) has produced significant contributions since the 1970s to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities. Through her work in the World Bank and the State Department, Heumann led the mainstreaming of disability rights into international development. Her contributions extended the international reach of the independent living movement.
Heumann's commitment to disability rights stems from her personal experiences. She had polio at the age of 18 months, and has used a wheelchair most of her life. Heumann had to fight repeatedly to be included in the educational system. The local public school refused to allow her to attend, calling her a fire hazard. Heumann's mother, a community activist in her own right, challenged the decision, and Judy was allowed to go to school in the fourth grade. Judy Heumann began taking major steps toward rights for people with disabilities in college, organizing rallies and protests with other students with disabilities. When she got out of school and was denied her New York teaching license because the board did not believe she could get herself or her students out of the building in case of a fire, she took the case to court. After the judge recommended that New York City’s Board of Education rethink its decision, Heumann became the first person in a wheelchair to teach in New York City and taught elementary school there for three years.
In 1970 Heumann and several friends with disabilities founded Disabled in Action, an organization that focused on securing the protection of people with disabilities under civil rights laws. While serving as a legislative assistant to the chairperson of the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, in 1974 she helped develop legislation that became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. An early leader in the independent living movement, she then moved to Berkeley where she served as deputy director of the Center for Independent Living.
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