College of Education Grad Authors Inspirational Children’s Book, “A Day with Jay” - February 8, 2011

The University of Texas at Austin has produced many impressive graduates, but Jay Armstrong stands out even among Longhorn elite.

Jay was born with cerebral palsy and has spent his life in a wheelchair, but his disability didn’t prevent him from graduating from The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sport management.

An avid sports enthusiast since he was a child, Jay was the sports writer for his high school newspaper even though he has dyslexia, and he was an “on the bench” participant in each of his high school sports teams. To honor his contributions, Jay received a 5A State Baseball Championship ring and medal in 2002 when the coach and team insisted that he be included on the roster at the beginning of the season. While he was at UT, Jay was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where he forged lasting friendships with many athletic greats who now are involved in professional sports.

To help others understand what it’s like to live with a disability, when he was nine years old Jay wrote a book titled “A Day with Jay,” in which he features a little boy with a disability. The book languished until Jay graduated from college, at which point he decided it was time to try to get it published.

Below is an interview with author Jay Armstrong, an amazing College of Education graduate who’s changing the world.

In your childhood, who or what inspired you to resist being defined by your disability?

Honestly, until I reached junior high school, I was barely aware that I had a “disability” or was very different. I knew that most kids could walk, but I wasn't aware that most people considered a disability a limitation – this viewpoint was primarily due to the upbringing my family provided. They challenged me not to use my disability as a crutch or excuse in any way. I had the opportunity as a young child to travel and do and see all sorts of things and places. I ventured from Florida to New York City, to Boston and all around Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Chicago. This kind of life allowed me to see so many different things, including people with disabilities who were achieving great things.

What compelled you to write the draft of your book when you were nine years old?

Writing the book when I was nine was a result of a rainy day and being bored. I thought it would be really fun to write a book. After it was done, I promptly put it in a drawer for the next 20 years because, to my way of thinking, no one would take a nine-year-old author seriously. My publisher quickly corrected me on this point, saying that they work with nine- and 10-year-old authors all the time.

When you were contemplating universities, what led you to choose UT-Austin? And to go into sport management?  

Truthfully, when I was an infant my nursery had an orange and white theme, so, as you can see, I was born to be a Horn!  

I started college at Texas Christian University (TCU) because I needed to stay close to home due to a recent scoliosis surgery from which I was recovering. TCU was convenient and provided me with an opportunity to work at the school newspaper, and that allowed me to get to know several people in the university’s media relations department. They advised me that I needed a degree in sport management if I wanted to work in sport-related media relations and TCU said, "The closest thing we offer to the sport management program is ranch management. "

As it turned out, the summer after my first year at TCU, I attended the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Texas Longhorns baseball team was there defending a national championship. When I got home, I had one major focus – to prepare to transfer to UT. I bleed orange!

While at The University of Texas at Austin and in the College of Education, who was most influential as you worked toward your degree? Who helped the most and how?

This question brings to mind the expression, “It takes a village.” That was definitely true of my time at UT. My family obviously was a great help, and, at the university there were two people who immediately pop to mind. Antoinette Hart, my academic advisor, took a clueless transfer student with special needs and patiently answered every single question from my freshman year through graduation. While this may seem like it should just be part of her job description, my many curve balls really kept her on her toes. You always hear horror stories from students about trying to meet with their academic advisors, but I never faced any of that. She was always available, thoroughly informed and happy to help. 

Also, my coaching theory professor Dr. Charlie Craven, who’s now retired, served as a mentor. Literally from my first day on campus as a student who was trying to piece together 12 hours of coursework for that semester, Coach Craven guided my academic career and internship experience. When you are a new student and only are entitled to late registration you’re sort of left to piece your schedule together like a jigsaw puzzle. Despite this fact, as a freshman I “marched” into his Coaching Theory class, confident that was I was going to get to add it based on my charm and good looks. There was one small problem, however - 20 other students had the same idea. So I was left to draw names out of a Minnesota Twins baseball hat to see who would get into the class. Unfortunately, it was no dice for me. Coach Craven, ever sympathetic, said to come back in the fall and he would assure me a spot. So I did and he did. He promptly became my sport management role model. His unflagging encouragement and constant willingness to include me as just “one of the guys,” another student like all of the others, allowed me to thrive in the classroom environment without being preoccupied with my disability.

I see that you speak to a wide variety of groups – what’s the first question most of them ask you? What is your aim in doing these presentations?

My goal for my presentations to the youngest students is simple - to help other young students with disabilities avoid what I felt in the very first moments of my year of kindergarten. While my teachers and classmates proved to be absolutely wonderful, initially they didn’t know what to make of the wheelchair and I didn't know how to handle their questions. Situations described in the book are what any special needs student and their classmates would have to deal with on the first day of school.

My hope is that if a group of students sees my presentation they will later be able to recall it and think "Hey, that Jay who came to our class was a really cool guy, so maybe I need to give this new kid in our class who has special needs a chance." 

Do you intend to write more children’s books?

Yes, the plan is to write a whole series of “A Day with Jay” books, structured around different but common life situations. The next book will probably be about Jay spending time at a children's hospital, as I was a patient numerous times when I was little. Friends keep asking me if I intend to write one about Jay being in college, but that will be … several books down the line! 

See an interview with Jay Armstrong on WFAA’s Good Morning Texas

Order “A Day with Jay,” online

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910