Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy
Public Policy
Eric Buehlmann has been with NDRN since March of 2007, first as a Senior Public Policy Analyst, now as the Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy. In these roles, he has worked to increase appropriations and enact legislation helpful to the P&A network.
In January 1993, Eric joined the disability community when he had a stroke in his last semester of law school. One month in the hospital and two months in a rehabilitation hospital were followed by a year and a half recovery, during which he was gradually able to return to his work and legal education. Today, Eric identifies as someone with a disability, as his stroke left him with no vision from his nose left, left-sided weakness and attention issues that have a daily impact on his activities.
Eric’s interest in disability rights extends to family members’ experiences, particularly his aunt, uncle and four cousins who are Deaf. His son and daughter also have disabilities, giving Eric a firsthand look at the issues many students encounter throughout elementary, middle and high school. He recalls a particularly profound night, when the potential impact of low expectations came home with his son, who as a student with an IEP was recommended a different math curricula than his daughter, who had a 504 plan. While his daughter’s high school education was to conclude with calculus, his son’s offered path ended with algebra. Eric and his wife, working together, were able to correct that prescribed trajectory, and their son is now attending Arlington’s math science magnet program. Because of this experience, Eric is particularly passionate about fighting the assumptions that so often place unnecessary and unfair limits on children with disabilities.
Prior to joining NDRN, Eric worked for United States Sen. James Jeffords in a variety of positions from 1995 through 2007, ultimately serving as Legislative Counsel. While with Sen. Jeffords, he focused on campaign and election law, labor policy, banking and housing and judiciary matters, in addition to other policy areas. Eric graduated from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1995 with a J.D., and from Lehigh University in 1990 with a B.S. in Accounting.
