My mother-in-law, Mary John, who has died aged 85, was a developmental psychologist and an instrumental figure in the movements for equal rights for people with disabilities and for the rights of children.
Mary found her vocation in the 1970s and 80s, as an academic specialising in disability in the social sciences faculty of the Open University, where she worked closely with Vic Finkelstein. During this time she also served on the US Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped under the Jimmy Carter administration, and helped to set up the European Commission’s Bureau for Action in Favour of Disabled People.
