"Often as a child you see someone with a learning disability or Down's Syndrome and my mum and dad were always very quick to explain exactly what was going on and to be in their own way inclusive and welcoming"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet rebuke to the British tradition of polite avoidance. Families often manage disability through euphemism or averted eyes, which teaches kids that difference is shameful or unmentionable. Eccleston’s parents do the opposite: they translate difference into language. That’s a moral act. It suggests that inclusion starts earlier than policy, earlier than casting decisions or school accommodations; it starts at the point where a child is learning what kinds of people are allowed to be part of “us.”
His phrasing, “in their own way,” is doing extra work. It admits imperfection, class texture, and the reality that most people don’t have a formal vocabulary for disability. You can hear the actor’s instinct for scene-setting: the parents aren’t saints, they’re quick, practical, present. The line “inclusive and welcoming” reads less like branding and more like inherited muscle memory, a portrait of decency built out of explanation, not performance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Parenting |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Eccleston, Christopher. (2026, January 17). Often as a child you see someone with a learning disability or Down's Syndrome and my mum and dad were always very quick to explain exactly what was going on and to be in their own way inclusive and welcoming. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/often-as-a-child-you-see-someone-with-a-learning-77423/
Chicago Style
Eccleston, Christopher. "Often as a child you see someone with a learning disability or Down's Syndrome and my mum and dad were always very quick to explain exactly what was going on and to be in their own way inclusive and welcoming." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/often-as-a-child-you-see-someone-with-a-learning-77423/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Often as a child you see someone with a learning disability or Down's Syndrome and my mum and dad were always very quick to explain exactly what was going on and to be in their own way inclusive and welcoming." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/often-as-a-child-you-see-someone-with-a-learning-77423/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
