and when I was 18 months old, I had polio.

我生於 1947 年，很久以前了。

I was in an iron lung for three months

在我 18 個月大的時候， 我得了小兒麻痺症。

and in and out of the hospital for three years.

有三個月的時間 我靠著人工呼吸器維生，

Now, we had lots of neighbors in our Brooklyn neighborhood,

有三年的時間我頻繁地出入醫院。

and some of them were really very helpful for my parents.

那時我們住在布魯克林， 附近有很多鄰居，

Some of them were really afraid of contagion,

當中有些人給了 我的父母很大的幫助。

and they wouldn't even walk in front of our house.

但也有些人很怕被傳染，

They would literally walk across the street.

他們甚至不願意走過我家前面。

I think this was a time when my family really began to realize

他們寧願繞路從對面走過去。

what disability meant to some people:

我想，就是在這個時期， 我家人開始真正了解到，

fear.

對某些人而言， 身心障礙意味著什麼：

And it wasn't even a sure thing that I would live at home,

恐懼。

although I didn't learn about this until I was 36 years old.

當時甚至不確定我會住在家裡，

I was having a discussion with my father one night,

我在 36 歲時才知道這件事。

and he said, "You know, when you were two years old,

有一天晚上，我和我父親在討論，

one of the doctors suggested to your mom and I

他說：「你知道嗎，當你兩歲時，

that you live in an institution,

有一位醫生建議你媽媽和我

that they could just go ahead with their lives

把你送到一間機構，

and raise their kids

這麼一來，他們（我父母） 就可以繼續過生活，

and kind of be done with having to deal with all the disability-related things.

養育他們的孩子，

I didn't believe my father, not because he was a liar,

不用再煩心處理所有 和殘疾相關的事務了。」

but I'd never heard this story,

我那時不相信我父親說的， 並不是因為我認為他騙我，

and my mother in fact validated that.

但我從來沒有聽過這件事，

She never wanted to tell me.

其實我母親也證實了此事。

But in reality, I don't know why I was really surprised by this story,

她只是一直不想告訴我。

because when I was five years old,

但實際上，我不知道為什麼 這個故事會讓我這麼驚訝，

and my mother, like mothers and fathers all across the United States,

因為當我 5 歲時，

was taking me to school to enroll,

和美國各地的所有父母親一樣，

she pushed my wheelchair to the school in walking distance to our house,

我母親帶我去學校辦入學，

pulled the wheelchair up the steps into the school,

她用輪椅把我推到 走路就可以到的學校裡。

and we were greeted by the principal.

她把輪椅拉上階梯，進入學校，

Not really greeted.

校長在那裡歡迎我們。

But the principal said, no, I couldn't come to that school

其實不算是歡迎。

because it wasn't accessible.

校長說，不行，我不能上那間學校，

But he told us not to worry,

因為學校不方便讓輪椅進出。

because the Board of Education in fact would send a teacher to my house.

但他叫我們不要擔心，

And they did

因為教育局會派一位老師到我家。

for a total of two and a half hours

結果的確派了，

a week.

老師來的時數總共兩個半小時，

(Audience murmurs)

每週一次。

But for good behavior,

（觀眾私語）

they threw in an occupational therapist

但因為我行為表現良好，

who taught me that very essential skill

他們也派了一位職業治療師來我家

of cross-stitching.

教我非常重要的技能：

(Laughter)

十字繡。

I don't cross-stitch today.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

我今天不會做十字繡給大家看。

I didn't actually get to go to school in a real building

（笑聲）

until I was nine years old,

我一直沒在校舍裡上過學，

and then I was in classes only with disabled children

直到我九歲，

in a school that had mainly nondisabled children.

我才進到只有身心障礙學生的班級，

And in my classes,

而那間學校大多數的學生 是沒有身心障礙的孩子。

there were students up to the age of 21.

在我班上，

And then, after 21,

學生的年齡在 21 歲以下。

they went to something called sheltered workshops

21 歲以後，

with menial work

他們會去所謂的庇護工廠

and earning either nothing or below minimum wage.

做卑賤的工作，

So I understood discrimination.

薪水低於最低薪資，甚至無薪。

My parents understood discrimination.

所以，我那時就了解到歧視。

My parents came from Germany.

我父母了解到歧視。

They were German Jews who left in the 1930s,

我父母來自德國。

escaping the Holocaust.

他們是猶太裔德國人， 在 30 年代離開德國，

My parents lost family and they lost parents.

為了逃離種族大屠殺。

Both my parents lost their parents in the Holocaust.

我父母失去了家，失去了雙親。

And so they realized

我的父親及母親 各自的雙親都死於大屠殺。

that they could not be silent

所以他們了解到，

as things were going wrong for me in my life.

當我的人生中遇到不對的事情時，

Not me personally,

他們不能沉默。

but what was going on around me.

不是我個人犯錯，

They learned that because I used a wheelchair,

而是我周圍發生的事情出錯。

none of the high schools in New York City, in the entire city,

他們被告知，因為我坐輪椅，

were wheelchair accessible,

而紐約市整個城市裡，

so what was supposed to happen

沒有一間高中能讓輪椅進出。

is I was supposed to go back onto home instruction

所以，應該要做的是

along with many other students.

讓我在家裡接受居家輔導，

So my parents banded together with other parents.

許多其他身心障礙學生也一樣。

They went to the Board of Education

所以，我父母和其他父母團結起來。

and they demanded that the Board of Ed make some of the high schools accessible.

他們去教育部，

And they did.

要求教育部讓一些高中 具備無障礙設施。

And so I and many others

他們也照做了。

were finally able to go to high school, a regular high school,

所以我和許多其他人

and take regular classes.

終於能夠去進入高中，一般的高中，

So what happened next?

上一般的課。

I was learning more and more about what discrimination was,

接下來發生了什麼事？

and equally important, I was learning that I needed to become my own advocate.

我學到了越來越多的歧視，

I was entering college, Long Island University,

同樣重要的是，我學到 我必須爲我自己抗爭。

and I had always wanted to be a teacher,

我上了大學，長島大學，

and so I minored in education and I took all the appropriate courses,

我一直都想要當老師，

and then when it was time for me to go for my license,

所以我副修教育， 能選的課我都選了，

I had to take a written exam,

接著，到了我考教師證照的時候，

an oral exam

我需要參加一場筆試、

and a medical exam.

一場口試，

At that time, all three of those exams

還有體檢。

were given in completely inaccessible buildings,

那時 ，所有三項考試

so I had friends who carried me up and down the steps

都在我完全無法 進入的建築物中進行，

for these exams,

所以我請朋友扛著我上下樓梯，

not in a motorized wheelchair.

以參加那些考試，

(Laughter)

而不是坐電動輪椅。

In a manual wheelchair.

（笑聲）

But I passed my oral exam.

我坐的是人工輪椅。

I passed my written exam.

我通過了口試。

My medical exam was something completely different.

我通過了筆試。

One of the first questions the doctor asked me

我的體檢就完全不同。

was, could I please show her how I went to the bathroom.

醫生問我的第一個問題是，

I was 22 years old

我能不能示範給她看， 我如何上廁所。

and you know when you go for any kind of an interview,

我那時 22 歲，

you think about all the kinds of questions that people could ask you?

你們知道， 當你要去任何一種面談前，

(Laughter)

你會先設想對方可能會 問你的各種問題，對嗎？

That was not one of them.

（笑聲）

And I was freaked out in the first place

我沒想到那個問題。

because I had heard

我一聽到就呆住了，

that there were actually no disabled people using wheelchairs

因為我早已聽說

who were teachers in New York,

沒有任何坐輪椅的身障人士

so each step along the way I was expecting something bad.

在紐約市裡的學校教書，

So I said to her,

所以在一路上的每一步， 我都預想了不好的結果。

is it a requirement that teachers show their students

所以我對她說，

how to go to the bathroom?

老師一定要向他們的學生展示

If it is, I can do that.

如何去上廁所嗎？

So no surprise,

如果有這種要求，我可以做。

I was failed

不意外地，

because I didn't pass the medical.

我沒拿到教師證照，

The official reason that I was denied my job

因為我的體檢沒有通過。

was paralysis of poliomyelitis sequelae of -- I'm sorry.

他們拒絕給我這份 證照的官方理由是，

Paralysis of both lower limbs, sequelae of poliomyelitis.

小兒麻痺癱瘓，源於——抱歉是

Honestly, I didn't know what the word "sequelae" meant,

雙下肢癱瘓，源於小兒麻痺。

so I went to the dictionary, and it meant "because of."

老實說，我不知道「源於」 這個詞是什麼意思。

So I'd been denied my license because I couldn't walk.

所以，我去查字典， 它的意思是「因...所造成」。

So what was I going to do?

因為我無法走路， 所以他們拒絕給我證照。

This is a really important time in my life,

那時我該做什麼呢？

because it would be the first time

這是我人生中非常重要的時點，

that I really would be challenging the system, me,

因為那會是我第一次

and although I was working with a lot of other friends who had disabilities

真的去挑戰體制，我自己。

who were encouraging me to move forward with this,

雖然許多和我一起奮鬥 也有身心障礙的朋友

it was nonetheless quite frightening.

都鼓勵我去做，

But I was really very lucky.

但我還是挺害怕。

I had a friend who was a disabled student at Long Island University

不過我非常幸運。

and was also a stringer at the "New York Times,"

我有位朋友， 他曾是長島大學的身心障礙學生，

and he was able to get a reporter

也是《紐約時報》的特約記者，

to write a really good piece about what had happened

他找了一位記者

and why he thought what had happened was wrong.

針對發生在我身上的事情， 寫了一篇很棒的報導，

The next day there was an editorial in the "New York Times"

包括為什麼他認為這種事是錯的。

with the title of "Heumann v. The Board of Education"

隔天，《紐約時報》刊出了一篇社論，

and the "New York Times" came out in support

標題是「霍伊曼對教育部」，

of my getting my teaching license.

《紐約時報》公開支持我

(Applause)

取得我的教師證照。

And then the same day,

（掌聲）

I got a call from an attorney who was writing a book about civil rights.

接著，同一天，

And he was calling me to interview me,

一位律師打電話給我， 他在寫一本關於公民人權的書。

and I was interviewing him.

他打電話來要訪問我，

He didn't know that.

而我也同時訪問他。

And at the end of our discussion, I said,

但他並不知情。

"Would you be willing to represent me? I want to sue the Board of Education."

在我們討論的尾聲，我說：

And he said yes.

「你願不願意代表我？ 我想要告教育部。」

Now, sometimes I say that the stars were aligned around this court case,

他答應了。

because we had an amazing judge:

有時我會說，這件法庭 案件真是有老天眷顧，

the first African American female federal judge --

因為我們有位很棒的法官：

(Laughter)

第一位非裔美國女性聯邦法官——

Constance Baker Motley.

（笑聲）

(Applause)

康斯坦斯·貝克·莫特利。

And she knew discrimination when she saw it.

（掌聲）

(Laughter)

當有歧視時，她馬上看得出來。

So she strongly encouraged the Board of Ed

（笑聲）

to give me another medical exam,

所以她強烈鼓勵教育部

which they did.

再讓我做一次體檢，

And then I got my license,

他們照做了。

and while it took a number of months

然後我就拿到了證照。

for me to actually get a principal to offer me a job,

雖然花了好幾個月

I finally did get a job and I started teaching that fall

才有一位校長願意給我一份工作，

in the same school that I had gone to,

但我終於得到了一份工作。

second grade.

那年秋天我開始在 那間我曾就讀的學校教書，

So --

我教的是二年級。

(Applause)

所以——

That's a whole other TED Talk.

（掌聲）

(Laughter)

那是另一場 TED 演講了。

But I was learning as my friends were,

（笑聲）

and people I didn't know around the country,

我和我的朋友們，

that we had to be our own advocates,

以及全國各地我不認識的 身心障礙人士學習到

that we needed to fight back people's view

我們必須爲自己抗爭，

that if you had a disability, you needed to be cured,

我們必須反擊大眾的想法：

that equality was not part of the equation.

如果你有身心障礙， 你就需要被治療，

And we were learning from the Civil Rights Movement

以及身心障礙人士 和大眾是不平等的觀點。

and from the Women's Rights Movement.

我們借鏡於民權運動

We were learning from them about their activism

和女權運動。

and their ability to come together,

我們學習他們的主動精神，

not only to discuss problems

以及他們如何團結在一起，

but to discuss solutions.

不只是討論問題，

And what was born is what we call today the Disability Rights Movement.

還要討論解決方案。

So I'd like to tell you a couple of riddles.

這些行動產生了現今我們所知的 「身心障礙者權利運動」。

How many people do you think it takes

我想要問各位幾個謎題。

to stop traffic on Madison Avenue

你們認為，需要多少人

during rush hour in New York City?

才能阻斷麥迪遜大道上的交通，

Do you have a guess? How many?

而且是在紐約市的尖峰時刻？

(Audience members shout out answers)

你猜得到嗎？幾個人？

Fifty.

（觀眾喊出答案）

One would be too little.

不對！需要 50 個人。

Fifty people.

1 個就太少了。

And there were no accessible paddy wagons,

需要 50 個人。

so they had to just kind of deal with us.

因為沒有無障礙囚車，

(Laughter)

所以他們必須與我們協商。

(Applause)

（笑聲）

But let me tell you another riddle.

（掌聲）

How many people does it take to stop a bus in New York City

我再說個謎題。

when they refuse to let you on because you're in a wheelchair?

需要多少人才能阻擋 紐約市的一台巴士，

One. That is the right answer.

如果他們因為你坐輪椅 而拒絕讓你上車？

So what you have to do though

1 個人。那是正確的答案。

is take your wheelchair --

不過，你要做的是

(Laughter)

將你的輪椅——

Sidle in the right place right in front of the steps

（笑聲）

and give it a little push underneath,

推到巴士的階梯前的某一個地方，

and then their bus can't move.

向巴士底下稍稍一推，

(Laughter)

那時巴士就動不了了。

Any of you who want to learn how to do that,

（笑聲）

talk to me after this.

如果在座有人想學這個技巧，

(Laughter)

演講後來找我。

In 1972, President Nixon vetoed the Rehabilitation Act.

（笑聲）

We protested. He signed it.

在 1972 年，尼克森總統 否決了復健法案。

Then the regulations that needed to be promulgated to implement that law

我們抗爭後，他簽了這個法案。

had not in fact been signed.

接著，實施該法案所需要的相關規定

We demonstrated. They were signed.

其實並沒有被簽署。

And when the Americans With Disabilities Act, the ADA,

我們示威後，那些規定就被簽了。

our Emancipation Proclamation Act,

當美國身心障礙人士法案，即 ADA，

looked as though it might not in fact be passed in the House or Senate,

等同是我們的解放奴隸宣言法案，

disabled people from all across the United States came together

看起來好像無法被參議院通過時，

and they crawled up the Capitol steps.

美國各地的身心障礙人士集合在一起，

That was an amazing day,

他們爬上了美國國會大廈的階梯。

and the House and Senate passed the ADA.

那是很了不起的一天，

And then President Bush signed the ADA.

參議院通過了 ADA。

It's a great picture.

然後布希總統簽署了 ADA。

President Bush signed the ADA on the lawn of the White House.

這是張很棒的照片。

It was an amazing day,

布希總統在白宮的草坪上簽署 ADA。

and there are about 2,000 people there.

那是很了不起的一天，

It was July 26, 1990.

大約有 2000 人參加。

And one of the most famous statements he had in his speech

時間是 1990 年 7 月 26 日。

was, "Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down."

在他的演講中，最有名的聲明之一是

For any of you in the room

「讓排擠人的可恥牆壁倒下吧。」

who are 50 or older, or maybe or even 40 or older,

在座各位如果

you remember a time when there were no ramps on the streets,

你的年紀在 50 歲以上， 甚至是在 40 歲以上，

when buses were not accessible,

你們可能記得以前，街上沒有斜坡，

when trains were not accessible,

巴士不是無障礙的，

where there were no wheelchair-accessible bathrooms in shopping malls,

火車不是無障礙的，

where you certainly did not have a sign language interpreter,

購物中心沒有 供輪椅用的無障礙廁所，

or captioning, or braille or other kinds of supports.

當然，也沒有手語翻譯員、

These things have changed,

字幕、點字， 或任何其他類型的協助。

and they have inspired the world.