Recreational therapy students — as part of Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Ellmer College of Health Sciences at — stepped outside for something you can’t get from a textbook: a lesson in belonging delivered at running speed. Ainsley’s Angels recently joined the Health Equity and Disability Culture class to show how adapted recreation creates space for joy, identity and community connection, especially for people who are too often left out of movement-based activities. Ainsley’s Angels of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring people with disabilities can experience endurance events through community involvement and adapted running.
Program Director Shelly Beaver, M.S., CTRS, invited the Ainsley’s Angels of America to speak with the class and take students outside for an adapted run, because “their mission aligns perfectly with the heart of this course.” The course examines disability culture and health equity, and Beaver wanted students to see those concepts applied in real time. “Having this group share their story allowed students to see disability not as an abstract concept, but as a lived experience shaped by identity, joy and belonging.”
For many students, hearing Major Kim Rossiter, founder and president of Ainsley’s Angels of America, describe his daughter’s story — and how her smile during an assisted run became the spark for a nationwide movement — reframed what engagement and involvement can look like. As Beaver watched the students, she saw how “something as simple as running together could become a profound opportunity.”
Rossiter saw the shift, as well: “real life and course concepts collided in a most beautiful way for many of them.”
After class, students reflected on how the Ainsley’s Angels of America visit pushed their understanding of disability culture, environmental and social barriers and the importance of supporting independence and autonomy. Beaver said those reflections showed a move “from intellectual understanding to a professional and personal commitment to advocacy.”
That’s exactly why Ainsley’s Angels of America makes space for conversations with future healthcare professionals. Rossiter hopes students walk away with “a newfound appreciation for why they entered a healthcare profession” and an awareness of “why the disability community needs allies in them.”
Beaver hopes students carry this forward into every setting where they’ll work and lead. “I want them to look for and create spaces where active participation, dignity and joy are possible for everyone.”
For students considering recreational therapy, this moment shows the heart of the field: access, community partnership and the belief that movement — shared and celebrated — can change what feels possible.