When we first decided to send Sebastian to a non-degree integrated college program, some of our friends asked, “Why spend all that money on college tuition when he won’t get a degree?” Believe me, we asked ourselves the same question. We considered using that money for other things, like buying Sebastian an apartment, but ultimately, we wanted to give our son the ability to work on his own goals.

Sebastian wanted to: 

• Work as a paraprofessional
• Be a collegiate runner
• Be independent
• Find a sense of belonging outside of his home community

As parents, John and I had our own goals for Sebastian:

• To have more autonomy
• To rely on us less
• To increase self-advocacy skills
• To generalize and build on the skills he acquired in high school
• To do laundry and clean on his own
• To manage and shop for necessities

We felt that an integrated college program was the best option for getting Sebastian closer to realizing these collective goals.

The truth is we didn’t know what to expect, but we were hoping for the best. Sure, we were confident that Sebastian would get to class on time, would work hard, enjoy running, and would be respectful of teachers, advisors, students, and campus staff. There were some benefits we never could have predicted.

Earlier this week, Sebastian was a featured speaker at the PA Inclusive Higher Education Consortium at State College. Two years ago, when Sebastian secured an NCAA waiver to participate in college sports, we sincerely believed he was opening up a door for other students with intellectual disabilities, but we had no way of knowing whether or not other students would actually take advantage of this opportunity. During Sebastian’s presentation, several college representatives acknowledged that they now have disabled student athletes in their inclusive programs as a direct result of Sebastian’s waiver.

What incredible news!

Sebastian did indeed pave the way, and now he’s honing his ability to educate others about the importance of inclusive college practices in sports.

You go, Sebastian!