S10E7 Russ Ewell | Inclusive Leadership (Audio Transcript)

Tim Villegas40min

Tim Villegas

00:01

When Russ Ewell's son was born with Down syndrome, he didn't know what that meant at first. But after talking to the doctor, he realized that it didn't really change anything about what he wanted for his son. He just wanted his son to be included in everything he did. And so when his son was old enough, they joined a local sports group. But they were surprised to see all the kids with disabilities separated into their own group.

Tim Villegas

00:27

And as they walked to their first activity,

Russ Ewell

00:30

we're seeing his friends who are typical. Now, he's not going to be with them. And I was like, this isn't how I did it. So we did it. We went through it. And I remember after about six weeks, I was driving my van. And my son was in the back and I looked at his face, he wasn't smiling. I looked at my face, I was smiling. And I was like, this is not we can't do this. So I said, I gotta figure something out.

Tim Villegas

00:57

Bottom line, Russ didn't want his son to grow up without typically developing friends. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are still segregated in many spaces, including sports and school.

Tim Villegas

01:12

That's why we need inclusive leaders to make change. And Russ Ewell is going to tell you about what he did to make a change in his community.

Tim Villegas

01:24

My name is Tim Villegas from the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education, and you are listening to Think Inclusive, our show where with every conversation, we try to build bridges between families, educators, and disability rights advocates to create a shared understanding of inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world.

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