Judy Huemann- The Mother of Disability Rights.

The incredible Judith Huemann, most commonly known as Judy Huemann, is the indisputable mother of disability rights. An internationally recognized leader in the Disability Rights community, Judy has distinguished herself with many awards and nominations due to her passionate work in disability justice and civil rights.

Born on December 18th, 1947, Judy contracted Polio at 18 months (about 1 and a half years) old. She spent three months in an iron lung, a mechanical respirator used to assist respiration by stimulating the action of breathing in patients who have lost most control of their muscles. Judy then went on to spend 3 years in and out of the hospital for ongoing care. She soon after became a wheelchair user to assist her mobility as she became paralyzed.

Judy first began her experiences with ableism and discrimination at a young age. She would feel the fear from her neighbors whenever they would purposefully avoid passing in front of her childhood home due to the false narrative of also contracting polio just from passing by.

At the age of 5, she had her rights to education denied due to the schools considering her as a “fire hazard.” Her mother took her to the school personally to enroll, and as she pushed her wheelchair and pulled her up the steps into the school, the principal briefly greeted her by stating Judy cannot attend their school due to the inaccessibility on campus. Instead of attempting to make the grounds more accommodating for Judy and future disabled students, they guided her to having the Board of Education to send a teacher to her home instead, for a whopping 2 hours and a half a week.Yes, you read that correctly, 2 and a half total hours a week.

Her parents quickly became strong advocates for her rights, but Judy realized that justice was up to her and working in collaboration with other disabled people who are passionate in the fight against ongoing discrimination and segregation.

Judy went on to find a pro-bono lawyer who pushed for her right of education, won, and later studied to become a teacher. Yet, this was not the only battle needed to be won, as years later Judy was denied her teacher's license years later due to her paralysis, and fought against the New York City school system, and ultimately won her lawsuit.

Judy was eventually able to attend school and a public high school. After graduation, Heumann went to Long Island University in Brooklyn where she organized students to start demanding ramps for access to classrooms. She graduated with a B.A. in 1969.

Judy became a major American civil rights advocate who flew under the public's radar until the last three years of her life. She released her autobiography, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist in February 2020. Her words speak to her experiences in fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for every single one of us.

Judy also gained recognition through a 2020 Oscar-nominated, and Academy Award winning documentary, Crip Camp. Judy Huemann's personal story was told along with many other people with disabilities, telling the progression of how a summer camp changed the lives of many-- if not the whole world.

Crip Camp focuses on the shift from attending a camp focused on inclusion and freedom, to later camp members becoming dedicated activists for the disability rights movement and their fight for accessibility legislation.

As her passion grew towards disability rights, Judy was a leading member of the Section 504 Sit-in protest, the longest takeover of a governmental building in United States history. A protest made up of more than 150 disabled activists, allies and community members, Judy had yet another success. She and many other disabled activists successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled people's rights, later sparking the national movement for people with disabilities, leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Judy famously summed up the disability civil rights movement with one quote, "Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives — job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example," she said. "It is not a tragedy to me that I'm living in a wheelchair."

It was unheard of, and still is for many people, to think that a person with disabilities does not pity themselves or see their conditions as a burden. Judy never saw her condition to be something needing pity for, and rather, insisted that it was society's expectations towards disabled people that needed pity. Society falsely believes that we should feel less capable to build a career, follow an education in college, or build a romantic relationship.

Her loud and powerful views on how disabled people are humans that deserve their rights, and and not to be seen as less than or needing to fit society's standards instead of vice versa, are what pushed her to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.