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Ross W. Lilley grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. Later he received his Masteries in Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School. He moved to Massachusetts to accept the Senior minister role at South Acton Congregational Church for nearly 20 years. However, he was always feeling a different call. Ross grew up with an interest in persons with disabilities and always felt and saw around him the lack of understand and discrimination these people experienced. When he graduated high school in New Jersey he took up the sport of windsurfing. While serving in his ministerial role, Ross began think about and eventually forming AdccesSport America, a company to help teach windsurfing and other sports to persons with disability. When his son was born with a disability Ross felt that he was destoned to help his son and others through his dream. In 2001 Ross left the church and officially took on the full-time position of leading his company. Now, he works with thousands of persons with disability teaching them a number of sports and showing them that no matter their disability they can do more than they thought. He and his staff teaches soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball and, of course, windsurfing as well as other sports. Ross’ story is much more than an inspirational one. You will see how he is even developing new technologies that he hopes will greatly assist even more persons whose mobility skills are seemingly limited. You will, I think, love what Ross is doing. I hope what you hear on this episode will show you that all of us are more unstoppable than we think especially when we have a team to help. About the Guest: Rev. Ross W. Lilley grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, graduating from high school in 1975. That same year, he began windsurfing on the Jersey shore. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1978 and Masters in Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in 1983. He was the Senior Minister of South Acton Congregational Church for close to 20 years. In that time the seeds for founding AccesSportAmerica began to grow. In 1983, Ross began developing windsurf adaptations to make that sport more accessible. The endeavor to adapt the sport was part of a greater interest in creating places and activities to overcome disparity and discrimination in the disabled community. Since that time Ross has been adapting and teaching sports and training for people with disabilities. In 1986 the Lilley's son Joshua was born with cerebral palsy and resulting spastic quadriplegia. Although Joshua uses an electric wheelchair and can walk with assistance, Josh and Ross began windsurfing together when Josh was four years old. Eventually the two sailed in their own windsurf marathons. Because of their efforts, the Lilleys have appeared in over twenty publications and televised programs including Good Morning America, Inside Edition, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and American Windsurfer Ross and his family have received several awards including being a two time recipient of the Heroes Among Us Award from the Boston Celtics, honoring "people who have made an overwhelming impact on the lives of others…" and presented to individuals who, "…through their unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, have made exceptional and lasting contributions to our community". Ross is known for creating adaptations and game systems to truly include all people in sport and training. Most recently the TheraTrek, gait training system was patented after more than a decade of research and development. Rev. Ross Lilley lives in Acton, MA with his wife Jean and their son Joshua. Their daughter, Hanna, lives in Maui but still works camps and runs clinics with Ross and AccesSportAmerica.
Social Media Links: Our website is www.goaccess.org Instagram is AccesSport Facebook AccesSportAmerica About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes
