Welcome to Embers and Wind!

Guest Ethan Crough states “Achondroplasia is the type of dwarfism I have. And so, in my TEDx Talk, I talk about achondrophobia, which is a made-up thing because occasionally I’ll meet people who are afraid of me because of what I am, not who I am. Just the dwarfism itself frightens people which is odd.” About Ethan’s passion to educate people about dwarfism “It really got lit 15 years ago when our first child was born because then I knew I was an agent of change and an agent of service to a broader, a bigger cause.”

I'm your host, Keith Weedman. In each podcast episode, you will hear stories. These stories will feel like a tender wind blowing on the embers of service that glow within you. In this weekly show, you will learn ideas, kindling for your embers. It will be your choice to utilize the gentle wind to ignite the kindling. 

In this episode, we talk about how Ethan discovered his passion for teaching. You will learn about dwarfism and achondroplasia and his passion to educate as many people as possible about dwarfism, diversity and inclusion. Ethan talks about his gift as a communicator that he attributes to achondroplasia. He shares that it is uncommon for two, normal height parents to bear a child who has achondroplasia. He shares how much the odds increase when a parent with achondroplasia has a child. Ethan shares about his experience with dwarfism as a minority group that often unintentionally gets excluded from dialogues about diversity and inclusion. He shares stories to make his point.  We talk about Ethan’s 5-year journey in Toastmasters and how Toastmasters prepared Ethan to deliver his TEDx Talk. We talk about his friendship with Toastmaster Ant Blair and how Ant and Ethan challenging one another resulted in both of them getting onto the TEDx stage. Ethan talks about his work at Cummins Inc. in corporate responsibility and the calling that he felt which led him to transition back into teaching as a full-time Tech Ed teacher for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.  We shares that his work experience at Cummins was helpful to Ethan in rewriting the tech ed curriculum to make it a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) lab.

You can contact Ethan through his LinkedIn profile which is listed as the website for this episode. He would be pleased to have a conversation with you if he can help you. You can reach him by email: [email protected].  And if you want to watch his TEDx Talk, then click on this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlr3T9uf7iY&t=8s.

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