Judith Heumann


Judith Ellen Heumann "Judy" is an American disability rights activist. She is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Heumann is a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. Her work with governments and non governmental organizations, non-profits, and various other disability interest groups, has produced significant contributions since the 1970's 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.

Early life

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. Instead, for three years she was given home instruction twice a week for about an hour each visit. Heumann's mother, Ilsa Heumann, a community activist in her own right, challenged the decision. Heumann was then allowed to go to a special school in the fourth grade for disabled children. Per city policy, Heumann was to return to home instruction for high school. Heumann's mother rallied against this policy with other parents who put enough pressure on the school to reverse the policy. Heumann entered high school in 1961.
She attended Camp Jened, a camp for children with disabilities, in Hunter, New York every summer from ages 9 to 18. Heumann's experience of camp brought her a greater awareness of the connected of disabled experience, later saying, "We had the same joy together, the same anger over the way we were treated and the same frustrations at opportunities we didn't have." At Camp Jened, Heumann met Bobbi Linn and Freida Tankus, who she would later work with as disability rights activists. The 2020 documentary Crip Camp features Camp Jened campers, including Heumann.

College

Heumann began making major moves toward rights for people with disabilities while attending Long Island University. She organized rallies and protests with other students with and without disabilities, demanding access to her classrooms by ramps and the right to live in a dorm. Heumann studied speech therapy.

''Heumann v. Board of Education of the City of New York''

Heumann 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 sued the Board of Education on the basis of discrimination. A local newspaper toted a headline of 'You Can Be President, Not Teacher, with Polio'. After the judge recommended that New York City’s Board of Education rethink its decision, and it became very likely the Board of Education would lose, they settled out of court. Heumann became the first wheelchair user to teach in New York City and taught elementary school there for three years.

Policy work and advocacy

Disabled in Action

Heumann received much mail from disabled people around the country due to her press coverage while suing the Board of Education. Many wrote in about their experiences with discrimination because of their disabilities. Based on the outpouring of support and letters, in 1970, Heumann and several friends founded Disabled in Action, an organization that focused on securing the protection of people with disabilities under civil rights laws through political protest. It was originally called Handicapped in Action, but Heumann disliked that name and lobbied to change it. Early versions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were vetoed by President Richard Nixon in October 1972 and March 1973. In 1972, DIA demonstrated in New York City with a sit-in protesting one of the vetoes. Led by Heumann, eighty activists staged this sit-in on Madison Avenue, stopping traffic.

Center for Independent Living

asked Judy to move to California to work for the where she served as the deputy director from 1975 to 1982. She was an early adopter of the Independent Living Movement.
Heumann was responsible for the implementation of legislation at the national level for programs in special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, serving more than 8 million youth and adults with disabilities.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

While serving as a legislative assistant to the chairperson of the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare in 1974, Heumann helped develop legislation that became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

504 Sit-in

Initially, Joseph Califano, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, refused to sign meaningful regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which was the first U.S. federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities. After an ultimatum and deadline, demonstrations took place in ten U.S. cities on April 5, 1977, including the beginning of the 504 Sit-in at the San Francisco Office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. This sit-in, led by Heumann and organized by Kitty Cone, lasted until May 4, 1977, a total of 28 days, with more than 150 people refusing to leave. It is the longest sit-in at a federal building to date. Joseph Califano signed both Education of All Handicapped Children and Section 504 on April 28, 1977.

World Institute on Disability

Heumann co-founded the World Institute on Disability with Ed Roberts and Joan Leon in 1983, serving as co-director until 1993.

Department on Disability Services

Mayor Fenty, District of Columbia, appointed Heumann as the first Director for the Department on Disability Services, where she was responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Clinton Administration

Heumann served in the Clinton Administration as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the US Department of Education from 1993 to 2001.

World Bank

From 2002 to 2006, Heumann served as the World Bank Group's first Advisor on Disability and Development, leading the World Bank's work on disability and worked to expand the Bank’s knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society on including disability in the Bank discussions with client countries, its country-based analytical work, and support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people around the world to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities. She was Lead Consultant to the Global Partnership for Disability and Development.
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Special Advisor

In 2010, Heumann became the Special Advisor on International Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department appointed by President Barack Obama. Heumann was the first to hold this role, and served from 2010-2017. On January 20, 2017, Heumann left her post at the State Department with the change of a new administration. The Special Advisor role has not yet been filled under the Trump Administration. Paralympian Ann Cody is currently the most senior official working on international disability rights at State.

Ford Foundation

From September 2017 to April 2019, Heumann was a at the Ford Foundation. At Ford, she worked to help advance the inclusion of disability in the Foundation’s work. She also promoted the intentional inclusion of disability in philanthropy work. Heumann produced a paper co-written by Katherine Salinas and Michellie Hess titled . This paper explores the lack of representation of disabled people in front of and behind the camera, as well as prominent stereotypes of disabled characters when represented in the media, and concludes with a call to action to increase disabled representation in media.

Author

Heumann's book, “,” was published in February 2020. It tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and "just be human."

Media

Heumann graduated from Long Island University in 1969. She also earned a Master of Science degree in public health at the University of California, Berkeley in 1975.
Heumann has been awarded six honorary doctorates:
  1. Long Island University, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, 1994
  2. University of Toledo, Ohio, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service, 2004
  3. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration, 2001
  4. Brooklyn College, Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, 2018
  5. Middlebury College, Honorary Doctorate of Education, 2019
  6. Rowan University, Honorary Doctorate of Humanities, 2019

    Awards and recognition

Heumann is married to Jorge Pineda, and lives in Washington, D.C. Heumann was born in Brooklyn to German-Jewish Immigrants and is the oldest of three children. She is the sister of Joe Heumann, a noted film professor and published author. Judy does not view her disability as a tragedy, saying, “Disability only becomes a tragedy for me when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives- job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example. It is not a tragedy to me that I’m living in a wheelchair”.