Sylvia Walker (July 18, 1937 - February 6, 2004) was a disability rights activist and professor with the School of Education at Howard University.
Born in New York City as a blind African American woman, Walker experienced ableism in her early education and worked to combat this discrimination in her professional career. Walker established the Howard University Centre for Disability and Socioeconomic Policy Studies, which is currently known as the Centre for the Study of Handicapped Children and Youth. Walker oversaw the Howard University Research and Training Centre (HURTC), which specialised in preparing low-income, disabled African American students for future employment, while she was at Howard. She also served as the department of psychoeducational studies chairman.
In 1995, Walker cofounded the American Association of People with Disabilities along with Bob Dole and Justin Dart Jr. In that same year, President Bill Clinton appointed Ronald W. Drach and Walker as vice-chairs of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities after Walker had served on the subcommittee on employee disability concerns, starting in 1987.
Early life
Walker grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, a then-predominantly white neighbourhood in New York City. Walker was adopted in early infancy and had no connection with her birth mother but described her adoptive mother as her "dominant nurturing influence" in her life. Walker was born with a visual impairment, and her eyesight deteriorated throughout her life and past the age of 14, she was considered legally blind.
Due to her family's low-income status, Walker was unable to buy her first pair of glasses until she was in the fifth grade. Walker cites this as the reason why she was placed in a specialized program for children who experienced difficulties with reading in her early education and high school career. In her second year of high school, Walker's reading skills improved and she was placed in an advanced English class. After high school, she worked multiple factory and office jobs before enrolling in college.
Education
Walker completed her undergraduate degree at Queens College, City University of New York where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in social science and education with a focus on the study of early childhood. After completing her graduation, she pursued her master's degree in Education of Physically Disabled People from Hunter College in New York. She continued her study at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she received her M.Ed. in supervision and administration and her Ed.D. in the education of disabled and health-impaired people.
She wrote her doctoral dissertation on disability studies in Ghana where she traveled multiple times in the 1970s. She described her research in Ghana as "combining [her] specialization in administration and the education of persons with disabilities with [her] knowledge of comparative and international education". This interest in international education continued when she conducted multiple training programs and research trips throughout South America and Africa.
Early work
After obtaining her doctorate, Walker taught at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana as well as at Hunter College before serving her multiple roles at Howard University. During her time at Howard, Walker won multiple research grants, including a $270,000 grant in support of a "Howard University Model to Prepare Teachers of Minority and Bilingual/Bicultural Handicapped Children", as well as a $500,000 grant in support of a "Howard University Model to Improve Rehabilitation and Services for Minority Persons with Handicapping Conditions".
Research and advocacy
The Howard University Research and Training Center opened in 1988 with a $2.2 million grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research within the U.S. Department of Education. Under the direction of Walker, the center focused on disabled minorities, as people of color make up a significant percentage of the total disabled population in the United States. Upon analysis of this demographic information, Walker and her team concentrated their research and program development efforts on updating and providing service models for rehabilitation, that specifically address the needs of people of color, particularly black Americans. The HURTC also works to create job training for disabled minorities and conducts employment research in order to inform Congress on policy decisions.