A disability-rights activist or
disability-rights advocate is someone who works towards the equality of people with disabilities. Such a person is generally considered a member of the
disability-rights movement and/or the
independent-living movement.
Hiljmnijeta Apuk – founding director of the Little People of Kosovo
Abia Akram - disability rights activist from
Pakistan. She is the founder of the National Forum of Women with Disabilities in Pakistan and a prominent figure in the disability rights movement in the country, as well as in Asia and the Pacific. She was named as one of the
BBC's 100 Women in 2021.
Giselle Bellas –
Cuban-American singer-songwriter
Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's
dementia advocate.[10][11] She collaborates with various Alzheimer's awareness organizations, and in honor of her grandmother who died due to the disease, released a song about her.[12]
Charlie Carr – cofounder of National Council on Independent Living, Boston Center for Independent Living and founder and CEO of The Northeast Independent Living Program in
Lawrence, Massachusetts; went on to become Commissioner of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission under Governor
Deval Patrick[17]
Bob Casey, Jr. – United States Senator from Pennsylvania, widely recognized as a leading advocate for people with disabilities expansion of Medicaid home and community-based services.[18]
Mama Cax – American-Haitian model and disabled rights activist
Judi Chamberlin – American activist, leader, organizer, public speaker and educator in the
psychiatric survivors movement; her political activism followed her involuntary confinement in a
psychiatric facility in the 1960s[19][20] the author of On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System, which is a foundational text in the
Mad Pride movement[21]
Cäsar Jacobson – Norwegian-Canadian. Bilaterally Deaf activist[28] & United Nations Youth Champion, this person is a registered Health Care Worker focusing on Equality & Disability Rights Activism[29]
Lois Curtis – American activist and the lead plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case about unjustified segregation of people with disabilities in healthcare institutions
D
Paul Darke – British academic and international disability rights activist
Nyle DiMarco – activist and spokesperson for LEAD-K, 'Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids' campaign for American Sign Language and English in education setting
D. P. Sharma –
Indian disability rights activist working for equal opportunity in education, tech enabled education access, and transformation in education and employment policies
Rich Donovan – economist and founder of the Return On Disability Index
Rick Hansen – former Canadian Paralympian; raised $20 million for spinal cord research, rehabilitation and wheelchair sports by travelling by wheelchair through 34 countries[48]
I
Tonya Ingram, – brought awareness through her writing to subjects such as chronic illness, organ donation, Lupus, kidney failure, the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on disabled people, mental illness, suicide, depression, and disability rights.[49][50][51][52][53]
Abha Khetarpal - Indian disability-rights activist, founder of Cross The Hurdles, the first-ever counselling/educational resource website and mobile application designed exclusively for people with disabilities.
Frank Larkin – activist who, inspired by the frustrations of living with
spina bifida, sought to improve the lives of others with the condition; attended the
European Parliament and other continental-level events[66]
Paul K. Longmore – American history professor and activist who was instrumental in the establishment of
disability studies as an
academic discipline, and in changes to Social Security that granted people with disabilities more rights[67]
Ron McCallum – member of
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; has been on the National People with Disabilities and Carers Council; Chair of Radio for the Print Handicapped of New South Wales Co-operative Ltd.; the first totally blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship at an Australian university[70]
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi – The co-founder/director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund. She also currently serves as president of RespectAbility, a nonprofit fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities
Leroy F. Moore Jr. – African American writer, poet, community activist, feminist, and the founder of Krip-Hop
Karen Nakamura – American academic, author, filmmaker, photographer and the Robert and Colleen Haas Distinguished Chair of Disability Studies and Professor of Anthropology at
University of California, Berkeley
Yetnebersh Nigussie – blind lawyer and disability rights and anti-
AIDS activist from
Ethiopia; founded the Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD)
O
Corbett O'Toole – disability rights activist and author in Berkeley, California; established the National Disabled Women's Educational Equity Project
Mary Jane Owen – disability rights activist, philosopher, policy expert and writer who has lived and worked in Washington, D.C. since 1979
Edward Roberts – first quadriplegic to attend the
University of California, Berkeley; his fight for access at Berkeley spread into seeking access in the community and the development of the first Centre for Independent Living[85][86]
Jay Ruderman – President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, advocating for the rights of people with disabilities in the United States and in Israel[88]
Peggy S. Salters – first survivor of electroshock treatment in the United States to win a jury verdict and a large money judgment ($635,177) in compensation for extensive permanent amnesia and cognitive disability caused by the procedure
Sandra Schnur – director of the New York City Half-fare Program for the Handicapped; wrote an early guide for disabled in the city; had quadriplegia[91][92]
Simon Stevens – disability issues consultant known for his high-profile work around disability issues in the UK
T
Joni Ericson Tada – evangelical Christian author, radio host, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community."[101]
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah – Ghanaian cyclist with one leg who rode across Ghana to raise awareness and works to increase the number of wheelchairs in his country[108]
Stella Young (1982–2014) – Australian journalist, comedian, and disability activist, used a wheelchair for most of her life, editor of the ABC online magazine Ramp Up
Z
Frieda Zames – mathematics professor, writer and advocate for access to all aspects of public life, especially transportation; as an official of
Disabled in Action, campaigned for wheelchair access on New York City buses, ferries and taxis and buildings like the
Empire State Building; with her sister, Zames, wrote the book, The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation
Maysoon Zayid – Palestinian actress, comedian, and disability rights activist known for her Ted Talk, "I've Got 99 Problems...Palsy is Just One"
Hale Zukas – architectural and transportation barriers consultant, known for his pioneering work in Berkeley, California; lobbied for the creation and adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
A disability-rights activist or
disability-rights advocate is someone who works towards the equality of people with disabilities. Such a person is generally considered a member of the
disability-rights movement and/or the
independent-living movement.
Hiljmnijeta Apuk – founding director of the Little People of Kosovo
Abia Akram - disability rights activist from
Pakistan. She is the founder of the National Forum of Women with Disabilities in Pakistan and a prominent figure in the disability rights movement in the country, as well as in Asia and the Pacific. She was named as one of the
BBC's 100 Women in 2021.
Giselle Bellas –
Cuban-American singer-songwriter
Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's
dementia advocate.[10][11] She collaborates with various Alzheimer's awareness organizations, and in honor of her grandmother who died due to the disease, released a song about her.[12]
Charlie Carr – cofounder of National Council on Independent Living, Boston Center for Independent Living and founder and CEO of The Northeast Independent Living Program in
Lawrence, Massachusetts; went on to become Commissioner of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission under Governor
Deval Patrick[17]
Bob Casey, Jr. – United States Senator from Pennsylvania, widely recognized as a leading advocate for people with disabilities expansion of Medicaid home and community-based services.[18]
Mama Cax – American-Haitian model and disabled rights activist
Judi Chamberlin – American activist, leader, organizer, public speaker and educator in the
psychiatric survivors movement; her political activism followed her involuntary confinement in a
psychiatric facility in the 1960s[19][20] the author of On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System, which is a foundational text in the
Mad Pride movement[21]
Cäsar Jacobson – Norwegian-Canadian. Bilaterally Deaf activist[28] & United Nations Youth Champion, this person is a registered Health Care Worker focusing on Equality & Disability Rights Activism[29]
Lois Curtis – American activist and the lead plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case about unjustified segregation of people with disabilities in healthcare institutions
D
Paul Darke – British academic and international disability rights activist
Nyle DiMarco – activist and spokesperson for LEAD-K, 'Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids' campaign for American Sign Language and English in education setting
D. P. Sharma –
Indian disability rights activist working for equal opportunity in education, tech enabled education access, and transformation in education and employment policies
Rich Donovan – economist and founder of the Return On Disability Index
Rick Hansen – former Canadian Paralympian; raised $20 million for spinal cord research, rehabilitation and wheelchair sports by travelling by wheelchair through 34 countries[48]
I
Tonya Ingram, – brought awareness through her writing to subjects such as chronic illness, organ donation, Lupus, kidney failure, the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on disabled people, mental illness, suicide, depression, and disability rights.[49][50][51][52][53]
Abha Khetarpal - Indian disability-rights activist, founder of Cross The Hurdles, the first-ever counselling/educational resource website and mobile application designed exclusively for people with disabilities.
Frank Larkin – activist who, inspired by the frustrations of living with
spina bifida, sought to improve the lives of others with the condition; attended the
European Parliament and other continental-level events[66]
Paul K. Longmore – American history professor and activist who was instrumental in the establishment of
disability studies as an
academic discipline, and in changes to Social Security that granted people with disabilities more rights[67]
Ron McCallum – member of
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; has been on the National People with Disabilities and Carers Council; Chair of Radio for the Print Handicapped of New South Wales Co-operative Ltd.; the first totally blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship at an Australian university[70]
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi – The co-founder/director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund. She also currently serves as president of RespectAbility, a nonprofit fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities
Leroy F. Moore Jr. – African American writer, poet, community activist, feminist, and the founder of Krip-Hop
Karen Nakamura – American academic, author, filmmaker, photographer and the Robert and Colleen Haas Distinguished Chair of Disability Studies and Professor of Anthropology at
University of California, Berkeley
Yetnebersh Nigussie – blind lawyer and disability rights and anti-
AIDS activist from
Ethiopia; founded the Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD)
O
Corbett O'Toole – disability rights activist and author in Berkeley, California; established the National Disabled Women's Educational Equity Project
Mary Jane Owen – disability rights activist, philosopher, policy expert and writer who has lived and worked in Washington, D.C. since 1979
Edward Roberts – first quadriplegic to attend the
University of California, Berkeley; his fight for access at Berkeley spread into seeking access in the community and the development of the first Centre for Independent Living[85][86]
Jay Ruderman – President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, advocating for the rights of people with disabilities in the United States and in Israel[88]
Peggy S. Salters – first survivor of electroshock treatment in the United States to win a jury verdict and a large money judgment ($635,177) in compensation for extensive permanent amnesia and cognitive disability caused by the procedure
Sandra Schnur – director of the New York City Half-fare Program for the Handicapped; wrote an early guide for disabled in the city; had quadriplegia[91][92]
Simon Stevens – disability issues consultant known for his high-profile work around disability issues in the UK
T
Joni Ericson Tada – evangelical Christian author, radio host, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community."[101]
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah – Ghanaian cyclist with one leg who rode across Ghana to raise awareness and works to increase the number of wheelchairs in his country[108]
Stella Young (1982–2014) – Australian journalist, comedian, and disability activist, used a wheelchair for most of her life, editor of the ABC online magazine Ramp Up
Z
Frieda Zames – mathematics professor, writer and advocate for access to all aspects of public life, especially transportation; as an official of
Disabled in Action, campaigned for wheelchair access on New York City buses, ferries and taxis and buildings like the
Empire State Building; with her sister, Zames, wrote the book, The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation
Maysoon Zayid – Palestinian actress, comedian, and disability rights activist known for her Ted Talk, "I've Got 99 Problems...Palsy is Just One"
Hale Zukas – architectural and transportation barriers consultant, known for his pioneering work in Berkeley, California; lobbied for the creation and adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.