She was a longtime advocate on behalf of disabled people through protests and legal action.
Judy Heumann, a renowned activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, died Saturday at age 75.
She spent the rest of her life fighting, first to get access for herself, and then for others, her brother recalled. She lobbied for legislation that eventually led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act. She served as the assistant secretary of the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, beginning in 1993 in the Clinton administration, until 2001.
"Judy Heumann dedicated her life to the fight for civil rights -- starting as a young organizer at Camp Jened and later helping lead the disability rights movement," Barack Obama tweeted Saturday night."Michelle and I were fortunate to work with Judy over the years, and are thinking of her family and friends."
Her book recounts the struggle her parents, German-Jewish immigrants who got out before the Holocaust, experienced while trying to secure a place for their daughter in school."Kids with disabilities were considered a hardship, economically and socially," she wrote.
During the 1970s she won a lawsuit against the New York Board of Education and became the first teacher in the state who was able to work while using a wheelchair, which the board had tried to claim was a fire hazard.
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