Henry Viscardi, 91; Advisor to Presidents on Disability Issues

Dr. Henry Viscardi, founder of the National Center for Disability Services and an advisor on disability issues to presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter, died Tuesday of natural causes at a hospital in Roslyn, N.Y. The longtime resident of nearby Kings Point on Long Island was 91.

Born with physical deformities that kept him hospitalized for the first six years of his life, Viscardi became a lifelong advocate for the disabled. In 1952, Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded him to start Abilities Inc., a manufacturing concern in the Long Island community of West Hempstead that employed injured World War II veterans.

In the introduction to one of his books, the former first lady wrote that Viscardi’s accomplishments reflected “a personal story of courage and determination, dignity and human rights.”

In the 1960s, Viscardi moved Abilities to nearby Albertson and expanded its services. Part of that effort included adding a school. The facility became one of the nation’s leading educational institutions for children with severe physical and medical disabilities.

The school was named in Viscardi’s honor after his retirement in 1981; the entire facility was renamed the National Center for Disability Services in 1991. President Bush honored the center last October as an exemplary public/private partnership to promote employment.