July 2025 - Being Heumann, by Judith Heumann

Post composed by Ralph Edwards

The 1840 U.S. Census provides data of the number of Lynn’s nearly 10,000 citizens who were “Deaf and Dumb”, “Blind”, and “Insane and idiots”. Swampscott was a subset of that number. It was not unusual for the “Idiots” and “Insane” to be kept chained in cages and fed like animals. The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded (later, Walter E. Fernald State School) was established in 1848 to provide housing, education, and training for disabled individuals. Plagued by overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate funding, expansion of the categories of the individuals included (e.g., unwed, pregnant females), institutionalization, and importantly, devaluing of the

individuals served, Fernald and its duplications across the country devolved into inhumane warehouses of abuse, neglect, and the stifling of the human spirit for incarcerated residents and staff.

In her book Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, Judith Heumann shares her family’s story and challenges in obtaining an education, as well as the support she needed to “be human”. The resistance and barriers were not personal, but generically applied to people who are different. In her case, access to education in the public school was unavailable because Heumann used a wheelchair and “posed a fire hazard”.   It was argued that emergency evacuation was compromised, as well as

bathroom access, and . . . well, a person in a wheelchair made students uncomfortable.

With the persistent advocacy of her mother, Judith takes on the human, female, and disability challenges, often exceedingly succeeding, sometimes not, and sometimes conceding. She completes high school and college and has an inspiring career in disability rights.

What is the importance of her story to Diversity?

As she becomes aware of her identities, their interactions, and the way these sculpt her, she can appreciate them as differences, not deficits. She discovers and embraces a multi-layered, complex culture that enables her to thrive. As an advocate, she masters skills to enable others to innovate and apply technology, architectural, policy and attitudinal adjustments that liberate individuals and groups with and without challenges to thrive. She contributes to the formation of a disability community with norms, values, language, institutions, mythologies, etc. that distinguishes it from other communities.

Membership increases via senescence and longevity as well as life’s aches and pains and accidents.

It is important to note that overall, societal dynamics play a major role in life outcomes in the disability community.

Ø People with Disabilities (PwD) are the least healthy and wealthy of our citizenry.

Ø People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) are the least healthy and wealthy of the above group.

Ø People of Color (PoC) are the least healthy and wealthy of the group above.

Housing, education, employment, opportunities and other determinants of “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness” elude members of the community and require vigilance and social action to achieve equity and inclusion.

In embracing and empowering any community, an attitudinal change is essential. For example, the difference between a “disability” and a “challenge” has significant implications for the individual and the society regarding expectations, allocation of resources, participation in decision-making, etc. An advantage for the disability community is knowing that today’s adversary ages into tomorrow’s advocate. Just wait!