Quotes in this article have been edited for clarity
There’s a recent Hollywood movie, The Boys In The Boat, that draws strong emotions for Alex Foos. When he was the coxswain on his rowing team at the University of the Pacific, he got a firsthand look at the dedication and work ethic required to command a crew of rowers across the finish line.
What makes Alex the right guy to lead such a group? At three-and-a-half feet tall, his small frame and stature makes him the perfect fit for coxswain. Make no mistake, Alex may be a little person, but he packs a mighty punch!
His time as coxswain is just a small part of who he is. As President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Little People of America Association (LPA), full-time employee in HR at Boeing, homeowner, husband, son, brother and pet parent, Alex has a full life. What does life for Alex look like day to day?
“When people first meet me,” Alex says, “the first thing that they'll see is that I'm a little person.”
That’s the common term for people who have the medical condition called “dwarfism.” Alex and his family all have dwarfism—there are several types, but theirs is medically known as achondroplasia, a genetic mutation causing changes in bone and cartilage growth, resulting in shorter arms and legs in proportion to body length. Achondroplasia affects one in 20,000 babies and is the most common type of dwarfism.
Alex notes that his parents helped him gain confidence in himself—“Growing up in a household with parents who have the same disability as I do, they just kind of got me more comfortable in my skin at a young age.”
He considers himself pretty lucky; more or less, he can do anything his average-height friends and peers can. The Fooses know that it’s definitely possible to “thrive as a disabled family” if you’re in the right communities. People are understanding, for the most part, even if there are some people who “say things or point or stare. Kids and young people will always be curious and they wanna know why? Why is that family so small?” He says with a laugh, “And so if I'm not in a hurry, I'll take time to go and talk to them. But if I am in a hurry, if I'm running somewhere, I'll just kind of smile and wave and I'll move on.”
Speaking of his family, Alex says, “All 5 of us, we all have dwarfism.” He says with a lighthearted tone and a laugh that “when we go out into the community, you won't miss us.”
About 14 years ago, TLC did a TV special on Alex and his family, called Meet the Fooses. “TLC came and they found us and wanted to do a 1-hour TV show about us.” Alex says, “I was about 11 years old, and I thought that was so cool that there were going to be film cameras in my house. They came to us and said they wanted to give us a full season but we declined. We said that we felt like we wanted to do it for educational purposes. We didn't want to become reality TV.”
When he and his family go out, he says, there are some people who stare or gawk; but overall, attitudes toward little people have vastly improved. “The culture of the world has shifted over the last 10 years and people [publicly, visibly] have different abilities, different backgrounds.” He says, “I think it's just become more and more mainstream.”
“I have a lot of gratitude for the family system that I was born into.” Alex says, “And my hope is that services like [INCIGHT] can help the [non-disabled parent of] a disabled child; they should find the confidence in them to treat their child like they would treat a non-disabled child—now, obviously, leaving some room for some accommodations in there.”
If you thought Alex and his siblings were going to get a free pass due to their disability, you’d be 100% wrong. Alex was born to parents Ginny and Joe and grew up in Pleasanton, California. He has a brother, Ben, and an adoptive sister, Dasha. He says that “My parents left no room for coddling or loose discipline. It was a very disciplined household, because they
walked through that path of dwarfism themselves before me.”
In some ways, he says, he feels lucky. “Many of my peers were born to average-height parents and received their dwarfism as a mutation, whereas I was born to parents who were also dwarfs and I received my dwarfism from them.” Thanks to this upbringing, Alex attended college in Sacramento for a business degree, and then started his work career in recruiting and talent acquisition. He has an important perspective he'd like to share with others facing similar barriers and obstacles:
“Education is, in my opinion, the fastest path to a level playing field. I don't think the disabled young person should be coddled, or told they are special, that they don't have to work or make income. If they're able to do well in school, I think that's the fastest pathway to a level playing field where you will meet colleagues who are accepting and welcoming.”
Alex is charismatic—when you are talking with him, he explains details and is willing to answer questions. He has taken on the role of president of the Puget Sound chapter of the Little People of America Association, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with dwarfism. The organization hosts approximately 10 events annually and also offers mentoring, career opportunities and medical information to their members. Through his leadership, the chapter is looking at ways to engage teenage members who tend to participate less around the age of 17-18 years old.
An aspect of Alex’s work, and his personal experiences living with a disability, seems to naturally gravitate toward the subject of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This subject goes by many permutations of acronyms—DEI, DIE, IED, D&I, ID&E— but the three values of “Diversity,” “Equity,” and “Inclusion” are present in all. How does Alex define it?
“For me, I think equity is creating a solution and environment that everyone feels welcomed in.”
Alex says that the work environment at Boeing is very inclusive. With respect to other employers, they might give him a stool so he could reach the bathroom sink, but he doesn’t need any accommodations at Boeing. When Alex isn’t at work or volunteering, he and his wife Sam are thinking about and planning their future, and the home of their future. When they envision their home, they see custom-built tables, countertops, beds and such—building a shorter table, rather than bringing a stool to an average-sized one. For now, they use a multitude of stools to access sinks, cooktops and high kitchen cabinets.
Sam and Alex met through the LPA and began dating in 2013. They were married in Hood River, OR in September 2019. Together, Alex and Sam are pet parents to their dog Lilo and two cats Binx and Max. While Alex was born to parents who also had dwarfism, Sam received her dwarfism via genetic mutation, as her parents are average-height. They each help people in their own ways—Sam is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington, and Alex, as mentioned before, works with Boeing in HR.
Speaking to his experience in talent acquisition, Alex says that it’s important for HR staff to ask themselves “how can we remove biases in the way that we attract and retain talent?” Let’s say you post on your company’s social media page about all the steps you’re taking to promote inclusion in the workplace; in Alex’s opinion, bragging about those efforts is okay, but you also need to “really understand what your message is around inclusion and practice those principles after the person is hired—actually walk the walk.”
In his view, inclusion happens when, rather than giving a little person a stool for an average-sized table, you design the table shorter. Does this mean that he thinks people with disabilities should be given special treatment? No! On the contrary, he says that, “I'm somewhat opposed to the idea of a disabled employee getting a free pass or a more
lenient grade. I don't want that to be the outcome. This is my opinion, but I think that the disabled employee should be held to the same standards; to the best of the company's ability, they should be treated equally.”
The Little People of America have a pamphlet that can be found here: https://lpa.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/LPA%20Dwarfism%20Awareness%20Outreach%20Brochures.pdf
More information on achondroplasia can be found here: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/achondroplasia/#causes
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