disability

Including people with disabilities at church

EqUUal Access, the volunteer group charged with encouraging UU congregations to become more accessible and inclusive, recently posted a list of ways that religious communities can support people with special needs. The list was excerpted from a Huffington Post article entitled 7 Ways Congregations Can Embrace People with Disabilities.

The seven ways are:

  • Communication – Provide a resource person to listen to the needs of the person with a disability and their family to learn how they can work together toward full inclusion.
  • Accessiblity – To the extent possible, meet the physical needs of the individual.
  • Support – Provide an aide or peer assistant to enable participation in religious education, small group ministry, etc.
  • Leadership – If leaders of faith communities are committed to inclusivity then it is more likely to happen.
  • Participation – Invite people with disabilities to be on boards and committees and to take visible roles in congregational life.
  • Education – Congregations that educate their members on disability issues are more welcoming and better able to integrate people with special needs.
  • Love – Parents of children with special needs who experienced love and acceptance reported their congregations were sources of great strength and support.

In addition, UU World had an article on books to help UU congregations welcome people with disabilities in its Summer 2014 issue.

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Growth, Resources

‘Welcoming Children with Special Needs’ available as PDF

Welcoming Children with Special Needs, the 2004 book by Sally Patton, is out of print but is now available as a PDF on UUA.org.

The book is a resource about accepting special needs children into congregations. It includes information on common physical, mental, and emotional disabilities and disorders. It also has teacher training guidelines and strategies and techniques for inclusion. It is designed for religious educators, ministers, lay leaders, and parents.

Patton has advocated and worked with children labeled as disabled for more than 35 years. More information about Patton and her work is on her website, “Embrace the Spirit of the Child.” Her latest book is Don’t Fix Me, I’m Not Broken: Changing Our Minds About Ourselves and Our Children. She also has a post, “Teaching All of Our Children,” on the Call and Response blog of the UUA Lifespan Faith Development staff group.

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Resources

Test of accessibility certification program underway

A two-year field test is underway to create a program that will help congregations become more welcoming to people with disabilities.

EqUUal Access, in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Association, has developed a program that will allow congregations to work toward certification in the area of accessibility and inclusion.

EqUUal Access is a UU group that advocates for increased inclusion and access in congregations and throughout the UUA. A pilot test of the certification process is underway in ten congregations. The certification program is expected to be available to all congregations by 2015, said the Rev. Barbara F. Meyers, chair of the EqUUal Access Policy Committee, and coordinator of the certification effort.

The program, with the working title Disability/Ability Action Program, leads congregations through a process that begins with an assessment of how accessible it is. The program helps congregations learn about accessibility issues through worship, workshops, and other means. When the certification program has been completed a congregation can vote to be recognized by EqUUal Access.

The program is modeled after the UUA’s Welcoming Congregation and Green Sanctuary programs. Said Meyers, “We are highlighting the religious and spiritual dimensions of becoming certified. Our certification program addresses changing hearts and living our faith, not just building ramps and installing hearing loops, as important as those actions are.” For information about the program, contact Meyers at com_minister@mpuuc.org.

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Resources