Five Disability Rights Trailblazers You Should Know
Let’s talk about the ones who moved the needle when nobody else would. These five trailblazers didn’t just talk about change. They made it law, made it personal, and made it happen.
Here are 5 people whose legacy is baked into why we fight, and how we win:
1. Chanda Smith – The Student Who Took on LAUSD
In the late ’90s, Chanda Smith—an autistic teen in Los Angeles—filed a class-action lawsuit against the school district for failing to provide appropriate special education services. The result? A massive consent decree that reshaped how LA schools include students with disabilities—including access to extracurriculars. Today, LAUSD is one of the most inclusion-forward districts in the country. And it started with one kid who said “this isn’t right.”
2. Judy Heumann – The Architect of Our Rights
You like the ADA? Thank Judy. You like IDEA? Thank Judy. You like having any rights as a disabled person in America? THANK. JUDY. She was the mother of the modern disability rights movement and never stopped fighting—until the end. “If you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it.”
3. Ed Roberts – The Godfather of Independent Living
He was the first wheelchair user to attend UC Berkeley, and he didn’t just open the door—he bulldozed it for thousands. He co-founded the Center for Independent Living and helped reimagine what accessibility could look like.
4. Brad Lomax – Black Panther + Disability Rights Legend
Lomax brought the Black Panther Party into the 504 Sit-In—the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. He showed the power of intersectional advocacy and made sure civil rights for the disabled became part of the broader justice conversation.
5. Temple Grandin – The Voice That Changed Perception
Temple didn’t just describe life as an autistic person—she reframed it. Her work in animal behavior, her academic contributions, and her global advocacy helped people see autism as a different way of thinking—not just a complete and utter deficit. Just scroll through the awards section alone and tell me otherwise.
This is why we’re loud. This is why we push.
Because of them we don’t have to start from scratch.
But we do have to keep going.