Raúl Aguayo-Krauthausen (born July 15, 1980, in Lima, Peru) is a German disability rights

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. He was awarded the

Order of Merit of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellec ...

and is an

Ashoka Fellow Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Their stated mission is "the creation of a ...

Early life and education

Krauthausen grew up in Berlin and attended one of the first inclusive schools as a child. He claims that going to this school is what laid the foundation stone for his career. After he finished school, Krauthausen decided to study social and business communication, which he says gave him a new perspective on life as a person with a disability. Krauthausen has said that throughout his life, he never wanted to think much about his disability. His parents always tried to make him play with other kids who were disabled, but he thought this was weird. However, when he entered college and was the only person with a disability, he changed his view. He missed the contact he had with other disabled persons. This is when he decided to start his nonprofit organisation. He studied Social and Economic Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and Design Thinking at the HPI School of Design Thinking.

Career

Together with his cousin, Jan, he founded the nonprofit organisation

Sozialhelden Sozialhelden e.V. is a registered nonprofit organisation based in Berlin, Germany. Its projects engage people in activities promoting social justice. The organisation is funded primarily through donations and grants and has been awarded multiple ...

, which translates to social heroes, in 2004. He works alongside his colleague, Svenja Heinecke, on projects to make Germany and the rest of the world accessible. The organisation develops projects which address social issues and offer practical solutions in a spirit of diversity and inclusion. Their

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

project , which raises funds for other nonprofit organisations through donated bottle recycling receipts, received the prize from Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008. In 2010,

Wheelmap.org Wheelmap.org is an online, worldwide map for finding and marking wheelchair accessible places, developed by the German nonprofit organisation Sozialhelden e.V. Anyone can find and add public places to the map and rate them according to a simple ...

, a crowdsourced online map for finding and marking wheelchair accessible places was launched by Sozialhelden. The map, which is available in 22 languages, is based on

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

and operates under a Creative-Commons license. Wheelmap has worked with German phonebook provider, "Gelbe Seiten" to offer accessibility information about places that were already in the book. Krauthausen and his colleagues also invented Accessibility Cloud, a cloud that allows data on accessibility to be easily transferred to international organizations with the same goal. The overall goal of Krauthausen's nonprofit is "Disability Mainstreaming". In addition to his work for Sozialhelden Raúl Krauthausen co-founded ''Selfpedia.de'' in 2013, an online

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

community for questions and advice pertaining to life with a disability. Raúl Krauthausen is a frequent guest on talk shows and a popular interview partner for journalists regarding topics related to disability rights, accessibility and inclusion. In October 2016 Krauthausen went undercover in a German home for people with disabilities. He shaved his beard, cut his hair and even got rid of his signature hat. For five days he lived in the home and uncovered some harsh truths about the complete loss of independence that comes with being a disabled person in a care home. Krauthausen's undercover investigation was discussed by German politicians and decision-makers but did not lead to a change in legislation. One of the newest Sozialhelden projects is ''Leidmedien.de'', an online platform for journalists and others whose work involves the portrayal of people with disabilities. Through

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

, articles, workshops and informational materials Leidmedien.de offers perspectives on life with a disability which steer away from

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s and

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

s. In 2014 Raúl Krauthausen developed a printable 3D mini ramp which can be used to overcome sidewalk curbs in a wheelchair. Raúl Krauthausen has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, and uses a wheelchair. Krauthausen sees the

Americans with Disability Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Disability in the United States, Americans with disabilities ...

as a role model that he thinks Germany should follow. He believes that Germany doesn't score high in terms of accessibility in relation to other European countries.

Personal life

Krauthausen's partner is also disabled. Krauthausen says that he is fine with children being curious and asking him questions about his disability, but he is much stricter when it comes to adults and parents.

Awards

* 2009: Deutscher Engagementpreis (German Prize for Engagement) * 2010: Deutscher Bürgerpreis (German citizen Price) * 2010: Appointment as ''Ashoka Fellow'' * 2010: ''Inca-Award'' (Sozialhelden) * 2011: ''Vodafone Smart Accessibility Award''Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards 2011 winners announced
Retrieved 2 September 2014 * 2013:

(Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande) for his Engagement of ''Sozialhelden''. * 2018: Grimme Online Award

References

External links