Helping to Facilitate the Participation of Children with Disabilities in Community Settings
The Community Connections Communicator -- March 2003
In this Issue:
The theme of this month's issue is Spiritual Community.
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Tip
Sheet: Tips for Including Children with Disabilities
in Your Spiritual Community Share this tip sheet with the leaders and educators in your spiritual community to show them how they can successfully include your child in religious services and education activities. |
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Article:
Welcoming Spiritual Communities |
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Spotlight
of the Month:Henson Valley Christian Church This church, located in Fort Washington, Maryland, opens its arms to welcome people of all abilities into its congregation. Check out this spotlight to read the story of one very special little boy who doesn't let anything stand in his way! Also, don't forget to visit our website at www.communityconnections.umd.edu to recommend your own congregation or business that is welcoming to children with disabilities. |
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Recommended Websites: |
| http://www.congregationalresources.org/ShowCat.asp?CN=35&SCN=185 This website contains resources for congregations and families on how to make spiritual communities more welcoming to people with disabilities. |
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| http://gbgm-umc.org/disc/rel-orgs.stm This website contains a list of religious resource organizations that offer assistance related to persons with disabilities. |
Tips for Including Children with Disabilities in Your Spiritual Community
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Develop an attitude with your entire congregation that you are including all children. | |
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Remember that children with disabilities are more like other children than they are different from them. |
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Use appropriate language.Teach and model People First language. For example, Joey is a child with autism, not Joey is an autistic child. |
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Be a positive role model. The children will watch you closely and will be strongly influenced by your attitudes and behaviors | |
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Prepare all children, those with disabilities and typically developing children, for inclusion in the classroom. | |
| Deal directly with other children's reactions to the disability. | ||
| Explain to the children that they can not catch the disability. | ||
| Encourage all children to be sensitive. | ||
| Enhance positive attitudes and positive experiences. | ||
| Allow the child with the disability to visit the classroom. Explain who will be there and the typical routine. | ||
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Seek training and support for the staff . | |
| Locate community resources for available training and information. | ||
| Research what other spiritual communities are doing to include children with disabilities in their programs. This is a way of gaining new ideas and strategies. | ||
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Use parents and caregivers as resources. | |
| Ask them what works best for their child. | ||
| Find out what strategies are used in other environments (school, home). | ||
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Create a classroom notebook for each child. Include in the notebook: | |
| Registration Form. | ||
| Child Profile Form. | ||
| Emergency/Medical Information. | ||
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Train children without disabilities to become classroom buddies and peer tutors to enhance the learning for all children in the classroom. | |
| Provide opportunities to develop compassion and sensitivity. | ||
| Teach acceptance and tolerance that can be passed along. | ||
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Take notice of the progress that each child is making. Make sure that children are benefiting in some way from your efforts. | |
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Plan activities that will open the community for the child. Try to choose those places that are accessible to children with disabilities and will allow them to participate fully with the group. | |
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Be creative. | |
| Instead of trying to figure out how to get a child who uses a wheelchair into the second floor classroom, think about moving the classroom into another area of the building that is accessible. | ||
| Children with disabilities can participate in most activities with small adaptations. For example, a child in wheelchair can help with passing out classroom materials by simply having the children come to them, instead of the other way around! | ||
Article:
Welcoming Spiritual Communities
People with disabilities can make great contributions, particularly when religious communities actively reach out to make it possible. As one pastor told us, "We began using a volunteer interpreter to help a new member who was deaf and within two months there were three new members with hearing impairments. This inspired some older members to ask for hearing devices so they could come back to church." Too often families must change congregations to find a spiritual home that gives them a sense of belonging.
How welcoming is your spiritual community to people with disabilities and their families? This question is critical for all of us, because, in the United States, one in every five people has a disability. Since everyone faces the prospect of disability, if not at birth, through aging, accident or illness, this is a major challenge that needs attention. Unfortunately, people with disabilities often find barriers to participating in religious communities.
Welcoming begins with an attitude of inclusion - approaching every situation with the attitude that everyone belongs and brings gifts to the community - regardless of individual differences in their abilities. Even when lacking resources to make a building physically accessible, a congregation can make children and families feel at home. Ideas that some congregations have used include:
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Printing some copies of their church bulletins in large type |
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Inviting children with disabilities in to participate their dance programs |
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Asking children with disabilities to serve as acolytes, ushers or greeters |
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Providing interpreters for persons who are deaf |
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Arranging transportation for members who cannot drive |
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Providing special training to Sunday School teachers, greeters, and members so they know how to respond comfortably and appropriately to members with disabilities |
(see spotlight on Henson Valley for a description of how they have included TJ)
One goal of the Community Connections project is to help religious communities become more welcoming for individuals with disabilities and their families. Here is what you can do to participate.
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Fill out our spotlight form to tell us about what your spiritual community does to encourage the participation of children or adults with disabilities (available on our website at www.communityconnections.umd.edu). |
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Ask about our 10 ramp program to create a more welcoming community (For more information, e-mail us at communityconnections@wam.umd.edu) |
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Reach out to other families and get new members by listing your church on our website and letting others know about the accommodations you make for people with disabilities. |
Our staff can help your spiritual community become more welcoming. We have numerous resources to support you, including a Community Connections staff liaison to work with your community, tip sheets, innovative ideas to include people with disabilities in community life, training opportunities, sample sermons, and information about sources of money to make your building physically accessible. Working together, we can help to ensure that people with disabilities can find a spiritual home that meets their needs.
Spotlight of the Month!
Henson Valley Christian Church
1900 Tucker Road
Fort Washington, MD 20744
(301) 248-1430
Church Email - hvcc2@juno.com
Henson Valley Christian Church is located in Fort Washington, Maryland. It is a small congregation of about 40 members but has a growing ministry and desire to serve children with disabilities. Tyrone Brooks is just one of the children with disabilities who are a vital part of our ministry. He is a charming six-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, but his wheelchair is never a barrier to participation! He serves as acolyte, collects offering, sings in the children's choir, is a member of the Performing Arts Ministry, and yes, even dances with the Liturgical Dance Ministry! Can you image seeing a child in a wheelchair "dancing" for GOD?!
Tyrone Jr. also participates in all of the children's services and Christian Education classes. Henson Valley does not offer separate classes for children with disabilities, but works diligently to include TJ as well as other children with disabilities, in all aspects of their worship and ministry. The Disability Ministry Coordinator, Mrs. Yolanda Brooks, makes sure that ALL children are able to participate and share their gifts.
Henson Valley has recently adopted a new mission statement that includes a call for the congregation to serve people with disabilities and their families. The pastors Rev. Ruth Harvey and Rev. Martha Brown are both committed to Henson Valley truly being a place where GOD can be seen and found in people of all races, colors and abilities!
We currently offer training
and technical consultation to businesses, churches, and other community
organizations to help make them more welcoming to families and children
with special needs. If you know of a business or other organization
that would like to take advantage of these services, please e-mail us
at: communityconnections@umd.edu
OR
If you know of a business that is already welcoming to children with
special needs and their families and you would like to share this information
with other families and professionals, please send us your name as well
as the name and contact information for the business with a brief description
of why you believe they are welcoming to families. If appropriate, we
will post the business on our website and we may even feature it as
a 'Spotlight if the Month'. E-mail your submissions to: communityconnections@umd.edu
*Questions or Suggestions about our newsletter? Have an idea you would like to submit? Please feel free to contact us at communityconnections@umd.edu
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© 2004 University of Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
Last updated on
September 26, 2005
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