March 30, 2020

AXSChat Podcast recorded in 2019 with Judith (Judy) Heumann, a former Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the US Department of State from 2010-2017

36 minutes

Hosted by Antonio Vieira Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken
Judith Ellen Heumann "Judy" (born December 18, 1947) 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 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 for 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. Judy was then allowed to go to a special school in the fourth grade for disabled children. Per city policy, it was understood Judy would return to home instruction for high school. Judy's mother rallied against this policy with other parents who put enough pressure on the school to reverse the policy. Judy entered high school in 1961.

She attended Camp Jened, a camp for kids 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 "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."[2] It was there that she met Bobbi Linn and Freida Tankus, who she would later work with as disability rights activists.[3]

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