{"id":339,"date":"2017-08-18T20:47:42","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T20:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/tpi\/2017\/08\/18\/interview-on-accessibility-with-the-mcelwees\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T23:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:20:08","slug":"interview-on-accessibility-with-the-mcelwees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/2017\/08\/18\/interview-on-accessibility-with-the-mcelwees\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview on Accessibility with the McElwee's"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sean McElwee is 23 years old and happens to have Down syndrome. Sean thrived in inclusion in primary school and survived exclusion in secondary school. He is an entrepreneur, creating t-shirts with his funny sayings that can be seen at seanese.com. He also works at a trampoline park and enjoys public speaking, encouraging his audiences to never give up on their dreams. Living in his own apartment with supported living staff facilitating his independence, Sean loves making his own decisions and eating bean and cheese burritos every single day. Sean is a self-professed ladies man, a gifted athlete, and has dance moves that own the floor. Sean is a cast member for the Emmy Winning A&E Television show, \u201cBorn This Way.”<\/p>\n

Sandra Assimotos McElwee is an advocate for unborn babies with Down syndrome and created one of the first websites for parents with a prenatal diagnosis. Author of three books, McElwee also contributed to the books, \u201cGifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Our Lives,\u201d and \u201cYou Will Dream New Dreams, Inspiring Personal Stories by Parents of Children with Disabilities.\u201d Married over twenty-five years to Sean\u2019s father, Rick, they enjoy traveling and participating in Sean\u2019s activities. She supports Sean\u2019s new business with the title, \u201cChief Dream Facilitator.” A medical sales professional, McElwee\u2019s most important job is being Sean\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

The Thompson Policy Institute (TPI) on Disability and Autism thought, what better way to learn about accessibility than to ask individuals who have worked through accessibility challenges, and paved the way for others. In this interview, Sean and Sandra McElwee share their thoughts on accessibility in education.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a student who had both general and special education experiences, what stands out in your mind about the most important thing you learned in school?<\/strong>
\nMy friends and listening and not arguing too much. I loved the sports the most and being the assistant to the varsity baseball team (in high school).
\nWhat would you like educators to know about teaching students who have disabilities?<\/strong>
\nThat we learn but sometimes need more help and that If they act like they like us we feel better in class.
\nWhat advice would you give students with disabilities about friendship? Any tips on how to make friends?<\/strong>
\nBe nice to everyone even if you don\u2019t like them you can be polite. And invite friends over to do things and go to football games with you and get ice cream together.
\nWhen a subject was hard (whether that be math, reading, writing, etc.) what was the most helpful thing a teacher could do to help you better understand the material?<\/strong>
\nHave another kid teach it to me because they know how to explain it and ask me questions when I raise my hand.
\nWas there something in your school career you wished would have happened differently? If so, what was it and how would you have liked it to go?<\/strong>
\nI wanted to be on tv since I was little and the drama teacher wouldn\u2019t let me go to the next drama classes after drama 1. I wish I could have been in plays.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nHow were your experiences with the educational system as a mother who dealt with special and general education?<\/strong>
\nElementary school was a collaborative success. Sean was the first student with any disability fully included in his neighborhood school. The teachers, school psychologist, and principal were open to trying new things and were so supportive of everything I suggested…they went with me to Inclusion conferences and by the time Sean was in 4th grade the whole school was transformed to an inclusive school. And then Intermediate school took it all and threw it in the trash. I ended up writing a book about the good and bad, \u201cWho\u2019s the Slow Learner? A Chronicle of Inclusion and Exclusion.\u201d Because of the principal\u2019s attitude, the teachers set Sean up for failure\u2014and by the beginning of October they ended up with an 18 page IEP Compliance Complaint.
\nSadly most of the special educators we worked with were predictive of Sean\u2019s potential and always trying to tell me \u2018why not\u2019 and why he \u2018couldn\u2019t\u2019 do things\u2014sadly their expectations were so low.
\nHow receptive was the educational system in listening to your wants, needs, fears, and desires for Sean\u2019s educational programming?<\/strong>
\nElementary school\u2014amazing. Intermediate school\u2014completely dismissed everything \u2013 Sean skipped 8th grade and high school was a tiny bit better but the teachers in the electives had never included students with disabilities before and while some were amazing, others had zero expectations of Sean. Some were so negative and limiting they couldn\u2019t\/wouldn\u2019t hear any ideas and suggestions.
\nWhat can educators do to establish an effective partnership with parents of a child with a disability?<\/strong>
\nBegin by assuring the parents that you want what\u2019s best for their child and acknowledge that nobody is a better expert about a child than their parents. When you start there, and build trust, then the rest should be easy.
\nAre there any types of programs\/services would you like to see more often in today\u2019s schools?<\/strong>
\nPrograms and services are the problem. \u2018Special\u2019 education is the problem. There should just be \u2018education\u2019 and every student\u2026no matter a diagnosis or not\u2026should receive the supports and accommodations that they need to succeed. Differentiated instruction\/universal design for learning (UDL) is critical for all students to succeed together. Districts should be in-servicing their seasoned teachers on how to teach in UDL \u2013 and every school should have special education supports and POSITIVE behavior management supports in place for ALL students.
\nLooking back, would you have done anything differently in relation to your advocacy for Sean\u2019s schooling?<\/strong>
\nIn high school, after Sean\u2019s civil rights were violated over and over again, instead of filing a Civil Rights complaint I should have moved him to the high school down the road who had previously housed all of the segregated special day classes…because the elective teachers HAD included students with disabilities and were welcoming students with disabilities\u2026but I felt this obligation to the 40 students coming behind Sean from his elementary school\u2026and he was paving the way\u2014I sacrificed his opportunity for those kids and really shouldn\u2019t have.
\nIs there a piece of advice that you can provide to prospective educators?<\/strong>
\nAlways realize Behavior Equals Communication<\/em> and kids will do things that seem \u2018bad,\u2019 but if they look deeper there\u2019s something being communicated\u2026and punishment usually isn\u2019t the answer. Take any courses in behavior management and attend conferences throughout your career\u2014never stop learning.
\nPlease share with us anything else you would like us to know.<\/strong>
\nUse evidence based practices\u2014separate isn\u2019t better for any students\u2014not for students with special educational needs, not for typical students, not for gifted and talented students. We are all better together. Not one study ever done has shown that a student in a segregated environment performed better than students fully included.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stay tuned for an upcoming interview in September where Sean McElwee shares his thoughts on his transition to work.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sean McElwee from \\”Born This Way,\\” and his mom Sandra McElwee, share what they have learned about accessibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1839,"featured_media":368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1839"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/tpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}