Please join me in welcoming Alex Campbell as a contributor to the Alliance Against Restraint and Seclusion. We are very excited to have Alex join our team and look forward to working with him to impact change.
Alex Campbell is an advocate for students with disabilities and the Executive Director of Campbell Advocacy. He is proud to work as the Director of Social Media for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. Alex is also proud to be a part of the education team at the Human Projects. He has one younger brother who is currently in 7th grade. Alex’s parents are both public school educators in the state of Virginia. He attends high school in a public school setting in rural Virginia. Alex is enrolled in Powhatan High School’s Advanced College Academy program. This means that he will graduate high school and earn his Associate’s Degree through Reynolds Community College concurrently.
Alex was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 3 years old. When he was in elementary school, he was subjected to multiple counts of restraint and seclusion for disciplinary reasons. In 2014, Alex began advocating for the need to regulate the use of restraint and seclusion. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others. He has been invited to provide testimony to the Commission on Youth, the Virginia House of Delegates Subcommittee #1 under the House Committee on Education, the Virginia Senate Subcommittee on Public Education, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, and the Virginia Department of Education In 2018, Alex was invited to a Congressional briefing and asked to re-introduce the Keeping All Students Safe Act to the United States House of Representatives.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Alex was a 2016 recipient of the Yes I Can Award from the Council for Exceptional Children. He was also named as the Spring Champion by the United Methodist Family Services in 2016 and received the Catalyst for Change Award by the Arc of Virginia. Alex has been featured in the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Powhatan Today, NBC 12, ABC 3, NBC 23, ABC 8, The Story with Martha MacCallum on Fox News, The Hill, Boy’s Life, aclu.org (National), nbcnews.com (National), newswire.com, ideastations.org, and he has been interviewed by NBC’s Dateline. He has an Op Ed published in the Richmond Times in celebration of Autism Awareness month. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others.
Alex is a Life Scout and serves as the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and Scribe for his troop. At school, Alex is the Past President of the Powhatan Middle School Future Business Leaders of America and is the Secretary of Powhatan High School Diverse Hands at Work. In addition, he is also involved with Powhatan High School’s’ Turning Point USA chapter. Alex enjoys watching horror movies. Professionally, Alex is a member of the Arc of Virginia and the Autism Society of Central Virginia. He has done advocacy work with the Arc of Virginia, the Autism Society of Central Virginia, the disABILITY Law Center of Virginia, and Just Children. In addition, Alex also has a passion for political campaigning. He is a volunteer for Tina Ramirez for Congress and previously worked for Glen Sturtevant for Virginia State Senate. In the future, Alex hopes to major in Political Science at the University of Virginia and become a law school professor. In addition, Alex is hoping to run for Congress.
Alex’s favorite quotes are, “When I see something messed up, I’m going to challenge it,” (US Senator Martha McSally), and, “Difficult things aren’t easy, but they’re worth it,” (Congresswoman Mia Love).
Alex will be working as our Social Media Director and we are excited to have him join the team.
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