Overcoming childhood illness inspired special educator

Bernice Lewiton and her grandson Dan Jackson. (Tom Herde/Globe Staff/File 1998)

Special educator Bernice Lewiton, who died last month at age 82, defied expectations that she would never walk again after a childhood bout with polio. She used that same determination later to help Massachusetts children overcome their learning disabilities even before special-education laws were enacted. The Boston Globe