FIVE INDUCTED INTO NYS DISABILITY RIGHTS HALL OF FAME

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Sally Johnston (right) gives her acceptance speech upon being inducted into the NYS Disability Rights Hall of Fame at the Albany Marriott. Also pictured: co-hosts Clifton Perez and Denise DiNoto.

ALBANY, NY (05/19/2022) (readMedia)-- The New York State Council on Independent Living (NYSILC) inducted five individuals into the New York State Disability Rights Hall of Fame on May 12 at the Albany Wolf Road Marriott.

More than 80 people, including two of the five inductees, attended the fourth annual induction event in person, with more than 40 attending virtually. Clifton Perez, a 2018 Hall of Fame inductee, and Denise DiNoto, communications and outreach specialist at Consumer Directed Choices, co-hosted the ceremony.

The Disability Rights Hall of Fame 2022 inductees are:

  • Bernard Carabello, who was instrumental in exposing the horrific conditions at the notorious Willowbrook State School on Staten Island and bringing about its closure, and has devoted his career to improving the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  • Susan Dooha, who served as the executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY (CIDNY) for nearly 20 years, greatly expanding the services provided and the population served by the organization, and bringing about increased accessibility to subways, polling places, homeless shelters and other public accommodations
  • Judith Heumann, who has been called the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement" for her lifelong advocacy work, which includes co-founding the Berkeley Center for Independent Living and the World Institute on Disability; working with the Clinton and Obama administrations and the World Bank on disability issues; authoring a memoir; and hosting a podcast
  • Sally Johnston, who brought Consumer Directed Personal Assistance (CDPA) to upstate New York; demonstrably changed it to increase its effectiveness, attractiveness and reach; and founded the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State, the only statewide resource on CDPA for consumers and fiscal intermediaries
  • Janice Lintz, the world's leading advocate for individuals with hearing loss, who successfully advocated for assistive technologies in venues ranging from New York City taxis to Buckingham Palace; worked with advertisers and airlines to bring closed-captioning to commercials and in-flight entertainment; and co-wrote the National Park Service's Accessibility Guidelines for hearing loss

"We are immensely proud of our Disability Rights Hall of Fame Class of 2022," said NYSILC Executive Director Brad Williams. "Each inductee is a true trailblazer who has played a key role in improving the lives of people with disabilities in New York state and beyond. The opportunities that younger generations of individuals with disabilities take for granted today would not exist without the work of these front-line fighters for their civil rights."

The New York State Independent Living Council (NYSILC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, consumer controlled organization. The council is composed of 26 appointees from around the state, a majority of whom have disabilities, representing diverse cultures and needs in the state. NYSILC is responsible for jointly developing, monitoring and evaluating the three-year Statewide Plan for Independent Living (SPIL).

NYSILC created the Disability Rights Hall of Fame in 2018 to recognize individuals whose made lifelong achievements positively impact people with disabilities in society.

Full biographies and photos of the 2022 Hall of Fame inductees can be found at https://nysilc.org/inductees.

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