Judy Heumann’s story is the story of many people with disabilities: lives limited due to discrimination.
And it is what she’s crusaded against for decades. The fruits of her success are abundant: She helped usher in the groundbreaking Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and served in the Clinton administration as an Assistant Secretary in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
What are some fun facts about Judy Heumann?
- Judith Heumann has devoted her life to fighting for the rights of people with disabilities, herself included.
- Born in Brooklyn in 1947, she was paralyzed after contracting polio as a toddler
- Denied the right to attend public school because she couldn’t walk, she watched her mother, a community activist, demand inclusion for her daughter, who was eventually allowed to attend a special school and a public high school.
- Her mother came to the US from Germany in 1935 while her father came in 1934. Heumann’s grandparents and great-grandparents died in World War II. Her brother Joseph Heumann is a film professor and author. Heumann had polio at the age of 18 months, nd used a wheelchair most of her life.
