More things Disabled people wish society understood

1. We’re not looking to be cured. 

2. If we need help, we’ll ask. 

3. Just like everyone else, we have our own history. 

The mother of the Disability Movement, which includes many other people than Lois Braille, Helen Keller, and FDR. They’re great. Unfortunately, no one knows the name Judy Heumman, the author of a children’s book called Rolling Warrior. 

Let’s take a trip back in time to the end of World War Two. 

Judy Heumman, had to fight to go school. Why? Because she contracted Polio, which meant she fought to go to grade school, because she was described as a “fire hazard”, because Judy was in a wheelchair. In 1970, she sued the Board of Education of New York. The Board of Education denied her a teaching license because they didn’t believe that she could get herself or her students out of the building in case of a Fire. The local paper ran the headline: You can be a President, not a Teacher with Polio.”

It’s because of Judy Heumman and her 24 day sit in,  that we have the IDEA civil rights law.

Every Disabled Child is allowed a Free, appropriate, public education. The IDEA also mandates Individualized, Education Programs….in the least restrictive environment.  Because of Judy Heumman’s efforts, my friends and I were the first recipients of the IDEA. We were the first generation to be mainstreamed.