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I thought I had outgrown that keen sense of yearning, but then I became a mother of a child on the autism spectrum. I found a whole different level of yearning for all of the answers to be revealed as I contemplated an unknown future.
We are happy to welcome Nicole Reinders as a guest author for this post. Nicole is a PhD student in Kinesiology at Wilfred Laurier University. We encourage you to check out [Read More]
It seems that when we see rich abilities in a person we are quick to label those things gifts – rightly so – and we easily see how those gifts are called into service. But what about the Jeremiahs among us?
Does disability ministry require its own staff person or volunteers? Does it require its own room and time to meet? As a parent of two children with autism, I would just assume that any church that we attended would provide ministry even if there were no other children with special needs. It would never enter my mind that ministry would have to wait until “critical mass.” I am not criticizing churches that have organized disability ministries that have specific events for large groups of people with special needs. I am just saying that is not the only form of disability ministry.
These parents all have stories of dropping off or picking up their daughter or son from a ministry environment only to be told that the church is not set up to handle their child. These families have all experienced what Mary and Joseph felt when they were trying to find a place for their child to be born.
Guest Post by Matthew Arguin, Assistant Curate-Coordinator of Outreach and Evangelism at Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church, Diocese of Huron, Anglican Church of Canada. This post was originally the content of a sermon Matthew delivered on [Read More]
Written by Dr Rod Thompson, Principal of Laidlaw College, NZ Originally posted at the Laidlaw College site here. Thank you to the college for permission to re-post. You can find more information [Read More]
We allow Michael to have baths at certain times, and then we wrestle him out of the bathroom at other times – compliance is an issue which he can’t understand! Sometimes we give in because, well, it's just easier. When he’s in the water he's happy and we're happy.
Our son caught on to touch screens immediately and can now stay engaged at school on the iPad for up to 40 minutes. The majority of his instruction comes in the form of these technologies because the information is visual, interactive, tactile and rewarding.
Our church has done many things right in creating a safe and accommodating place for children, including a Plan to Protect® policy, offering to provide workers and they have even offered seminars on children with disabilities. Outside of the children’s programming, though, I know of nothing specifically in place for adults with disabilities except general acceptance.
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