Trailblazers of the Self-Advocacy Movement

Lois Curtis is an influential Black artist and disability activist with intellectual and developmental disabilities and schizophrenia. She spent a large part of her early adult life living in an institution despite her care team stating she could live in the community. She is best known as the famous plaintiff LC in the landmark Supreme Court case 'Olmstead vs L.C.' which ended unjustified segregation of people with disabilities and established the right for people with disabilities to live independently in their communities as opposed to in institutions. Her lifelong advocacy has impacted the lives of many Americans and got her invited to the White House under the Obama administration. 

Read more about Lois on our blog post Lois Curtis and Her Legacy on Disability Rights.

Hari Srinivasan is the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board Vice Chair. He is a minimally-speaking autistic who types communicate. He learned to type and thus communicate only at age 13. The ability to communicate opened up access to mainstream education allowing him to transition from the special education straight into the mainstream academics world of Algebra, Biology and Shakespeare which he thoroughly relished and graduated as valedictorian from his high school. Srinivasan loves to write and has won many writing awards for his essays and creative writing like poetry, including a National Gold Medal Medal from Scholastic which he received at Carnegie Hall and was subsequently published by Scholastic.

Bio from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's website.

Stirling Peebles works as Dissemination Coordinator for Green Mountain Self-Advocates.  She got into self-advocacy because she wants to educate people with disabilities to make a difference. The only way we can make a difference is to speak up and fight for what we believe in. Stirling serves on the Governor's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities. In 2019-2020 she was a Self-Advocate Fellow in the University of Vermont Leadership Education and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program. In 2019, the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) awarded Stirling the APSE Lois Curtis Award. This award recognizes an individual’s personal achievement in advocating for inclusive, individualized, community-based employment and/or independent living. Stirling has been recognized by Vermont Business Magazine as a 2016 Rising Star. She is also employed at the Center on Disability and Inclusion’s Think College Project at the University of Vermont as a Dissemination Assistant.

Bio from the Green Mountain Self Advocate's website.

Nancy Ward was a founding chair of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), a national self-advocacy organization, and is respected nationally as a leader in the people-first movement. She started her self-advocacy work with People First of Nebraska, and now serves in Oklahoma as the Voting Rights Advocate for the Oklahoma Disability Law Center. Ms. Ward also serves as a member of the Oklahoma UCEDD-LEND Consumer Advisory Committee and advises Self Advocacy Resource and
Technical Assistance Center's work.

Bio from the SARTAC website. 

Liz Weintraub is a well-respected disability leader in Maryland. She is a senior advocacy specialist at AUCD and hosts "Tuesdays With Liz: Disability Policy For All," where she educates grassroots leaders about policy issues through interviews with people involved in policy making and advocacy. Liz has interviewed numerous high-profile elected and appointed officials. Before joining AUCD, Liz worked for CQL, a national nonprofit that supports service excellence for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She completed leadership training at Georgia State University and a four-month fellowship with Pennsylvania's Senator Casey's disability policy staff. Liz served on the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities and chaired the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council. Recently, she was recognized with the Dr. Cathy Pratt Award for Professional of the Year by the Autism Society of America.

Betty Williams was a legendary self-advocate from Indiana who believed in everyone’s right to hope and dream. From President Obama’s Committee for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities to community-based meetings, she took every presented opportunity to teach, engage and prioritize issues of importance to self-advocates.

Betty passed on in 2018, however her indomitable spirit can be felt through all those she supported, mentored, and whose work she strengthened. Check out this beautiful tribute video made in her loving memory by The Arc of Indiana.

Read more about Betty on the National Disability Rights Network's (NDRN) website.

Bio from NDRN website. 

Victor Robinson has played a significant role as a leader in the self-advocacy movement in Project Action, based in the Washington DC region. He has been instrumental in ensuring that the national self-advocacy organization, Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), accurately represents the self-advocacy movement in the area. Victor has held various elected positions in SABE, including co-chair, where he has been involved in numerous advocacy efforts centered on disability rights and voting. He has also been vocal about the impact of COVID-19 on the disability community. Victor is currently working as an advocate for DC Quality Trust.

As a founding member of People First of Illinois and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), Tia Nelis played a crucial role in their establishment. During her time at SABE, she held various elected positions, including that of President. Tia was also among the first self-advocates to be employed by the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Her leadership was instrumental in numerous projects on self-determination, leadership, and aging with developmental disabilities through her presidency at People First of Illinois.

Presently, Tia holds the position of Director of Policy & Advocacy at TASH, where she has been a long-standing member. She has received recognition for her efforts, including the Burton Blatt Award from the Illinois TASH chapter and the Elizabeth Boggs award from the President’s Committee. Tia uses her personal experience with disability to promote empowerment for people with disabilities, and she is skilled at delivering training and advocating for progressive policies with legislators and public officials.

Julia Bascom serves as Executive Director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). In this role, Julia focuses on building the political power of the self-advocacy movement. In particular, Julia works to deepen ASAN’s connections to other movements for social justice, and leads advocacy efforts to expand home and community-based services, access to health care, and self-determination for people with developmental disabilities.
Previously, Julia worked in her home state of New Hampshire, where she served on the Developmental Disabilities Council and co-led an inter-agency team to revitalize self-advocacy within the state. Julia edited an anthology of writings by autistic people titled Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking. Since then, Julia has coauthored a variety of publications on topics such as autism research priorities, gender disparities in autism, long-term services and supports, and ethics in service provision.  She is a co-lead on an NIH research project to develop an assessment of autistic traits created by the autistic community. She has served on the boards of numerous disability rights organizations over the years, and currently sits on the boards of the Institute for Exceptional Care and Allies For Independence.

Bio from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network website. 

Linda Kunick is an artist, teacher, and advocate. As a founding member of People First of Ohio, Linda has contributed significantly to the organization's growth and success, including serving as its president. For over forty years, Linda worked at the Resident Home Corporation (RHC) in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she started as a teaching assistant and later became an advocacy coordinator. In this role, Linda conducted workshops to educate individuals with disabilities about self-advocacy and autonomy.

Following her time at RHC, Linda joined Visionaries and Voices as an art teacher. Linda's own artwork serves as a way for her to communicate her identity and disability. Linda draws her artistic inspiration from the captivating beauty of butterflies, which also embody themes of transformation and resilience.

In addition to her extensive professional experience, Linda has contributed to various councils and boards such as the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council. Linda's commitment to advocacy and teaching has made her an exceptional role model for people with disabilities.

Bernard Carabello spent the majority of his life at Willowbrook State School, an institution notorious for its neglectful and appalling conditions, from age 3 to 21. Despite the adversity he faced, Bernard exhibited remarkable fortitude and played a crucial role in exposing the institution's abusive practices alongside Geraldo Rivera and other activists. He became a leading voice in the movement that ultimately led to the shutdown of Willowbrook and other similar institutions throughout New York State. Bernard believed that individuals with developmental disabilities should be empowered to speak up for themselves, which motivated him to establish The Self-Advocacy Association of New York State (SANYS). From 1986 to 1993, he served as SANYS' Executive Director, and later worked as an Ombudsman for The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) until 2017. Even after retirement, Bernard remains a fervent advocate for individuals with disabilities and is a prominent figure in the self-advocacy movement. He is rightfully considered one of the great disability civil rights leaders of our time.

Bernard Baker, the President of a national disability advocacy organization called Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), has firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by people with disabilities. Born prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act, he experienced various obstacles in education and voting as a result of his cerebral palsy. Through his advocacy work and public speaking, he aims to promote disability inclusion. After years of fighting for equal rights in several states, Baker asserts that promoting an accepting attitude towards disability from a young age is a compassionate and community-minded approach.