Gunnar Dybwad was an American professor and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly developmental disabilities.
20 Facts About Gunnar Dybwad
1.
2.
Gunnar Dybwad is best known for his support for the social model of disability, reframing disability accommodations as a matter of civil rights, not medical treatment.
3.
Gunnar Dybwad was born in Leipzig, Germany, and lived in Germany until 1934.
4.
Gunnar Dybwad moved to the United Kingdom, then to the United States where he settled in Wellesley, Massachusetts with his wife, Rosemary, and their two children.
5.
Gunnar Dybwad converted the downstairs of his two-story home to function as a "self-contained unit" should they find it difficult to maneuver the stairs.
6.
Gunnar Dybwad died of natural causes at the Wingate Rehabilitation Center in Needham, Massachusetts.
7.
Gunnar Dybwad studied law and political science at University of Halle in Germany, where he earned a Doctorate in Law in 1934.
8.
Gunnar Dybwad graduated from the New York School of Social Work in 1939.
9.
At the start of his career, Gunnar Dybwad focused his attention on the humane treatment for people in the criminal justice and child welfare systems.
10.
Gunnar Dybwad served as director of several organizations: Child Welfare Program, Michigan, National Association for Retarded Children, Child Study Association of America.
11.
Gunnar Dybwad is well known for his international leadership in the field of rehabilitation and medicine, advocating for disability rights and for ethical and legal protections.
12.
In 1967, Gunnar Dybwad became the founding director of the Starr Center for Mental Retardation at the Heller School for Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
13.
In 1973, Gunnar Dybwad was a founding member of the American Bar Association's commission on the Mentally Disabled.
14.
Gunnar Dybwad served as president of Inclusion International from 1978 to 1982.
15.
Gunnar Dybwad is known for is support of families of children with disabilities and with the development of young professionals in the fields.
16.
Gunnar Dybwad retired from Brandeis in 1974 due to mandatory age limitations.
17.
In 1988 Gunnar Dybwad appeared on an episode of This Old House showcasing the modifications he had made to his house to make it wheelchair accessible.
18.
Gunnar Dybwad believed that people with developmental and intellectual disabilities best responded to integration into the community.
19.
Gunnar Dybwad supported volunteer groups and citizen advocacy, whose purpose was to "demand and obtain" services for people with disabilities.
20.
Gunnar Dybwad played a major role in encouraging the 1972 Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children to file disability rights litigation with the federal court.