Hannah Tomiko Holmes
Educator and disability rights activist
Educator and disability rights activist
Renowned author and Hansen’s disease activist who resided in Kalaupapa from 1937 until her death in 2006.
Tilly Aston, ‘Australia’s Own Helen Keller’ was a blind writer and teacher who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers and later went on to establish and become secretary of the Association for the Advancement of the Blind.
She laid the foundations for educational attainment among blind people in New Zealand, when many assumed that the blind were incapable of leading productive lives.
American poet, journalist, and disability rights activist. Known for her powerful writing and advocacy, she explored themes of disability, identity, and social justice.
Swedish founder of Tysta Skolan, a school for deaf/mute children
Pioneering Swedish educator known for her work with students with intellectual disabilities. She founded the first institution for such students in Gothenburg in 1866, providing education and supportive home and asylum for patients.
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver was a key figure in the Kennedy family, known for her philanthropy. She founded the Special Olympics, a sports organization for those with physical and intellectual disabilities, earning her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 for her dedicated efforts.
Irish campaigner for the welfare of the blind
Not only was she one of Britain’s first ‘police women’, she was also a pioneering teacher of deaf children, and a passionate suffragette determined to change women’s lives for the better.Hare’s vision for auditory/oral education. In her will Mary Hare wrote ‘my efforts on behalf of the Deaf have been my greatest joy in life.’