Church-related resourcesToday I ran across some church-related resources, so I thought I'd gather them in one place. If a link is broken, it's usually because a blank space got added to the address. Articles: http://www.disabilitysolutions.org/newsletters/files/one/1-4 .pdf - Disability Solutions issue on religious inclusion. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/national/19religion.html?% 3Cbr%20/%20target= - "Dealing with autism, lesson by lesson, in a quest for first communion" http://www.oregonlive.com/kiddo/index.ssf/2008/08/portland_h ouses_of_worship_try.html - article from Oregon, mentioned greeters and acoloytes on the spectrum. http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--disable dfaithful0419apr19,0,7259842.story - "Making Faith Inclusive" about a girl with autism, in the Virginian-Pilot. http://www.clubmom.com/display/239652 - "Find the right house of worship for you and your developmentally disabled child." http://www.nathhan.com/church.htm - "How Churches Can Support Families Living with the Autism Spectrum." http://www.caller.com/news/2007/jul/13/women-organize-vbs-fo r-children-with-autism - About a vacation bible school program specifically for kids with autism. "It'll be nice to have a place to go where you don't feel judged," D'Elicio said. "We welcome everyone -- headbangers, screamers and total meltdowns. We will not stare." http://susansenator.com/natsblessing.html - about how Susan Senator prepared her severely affected son for his Bar Mitzvah. Inspiring. http://autism.about.com/od/sharedcelebrations/a/AutismChurch .htm - touching success story about a 10 year old boy with Aspergers who did a reading at church. http://autism.about.com/od/copingwithautism/p/spirituality.h tm?nl=1 - Lots of links for inclusive ministry, see separate post under this topic (edited to add: the one on the next post is an old version, click on this link for the newest revised version). http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071 119/NEWS/711190320 - article on a synagogue that is accommodating special-needs people of all sorts. Efforts include a shorter worship service for special-needs families, and religious education classes for special-needs kids. http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=life_ fam_religion http://specialchildren.about.com/od/inthecommunity/a/worship .htm - "Worshiping with a special needs child." http://www.uccdm.org/2008/03/29/there-is-something-really-sp ecial-going-on-in-our-midst/ - story of preparing an almost nonverbal teen for his confirmation, with individual learning goals and tasks, and data collection (Discrete Trial method). http://blog.firstreformedchurch.net/first-reformed-church-ce lebrates-confirmation-of-walter-boyles/ - story of celebrating an almost nonverbal teen's confirmation, with him having a speaking role in the confirmation class play, and the sermon focusing on what they have learned from him. http://www.uccnebraska.org/news/anybody.pdf - Any Body, Everybody, Christ's Body" from the United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/01/faith_i n_a_nonverbal_world/ - "Faith in a nonverbal world", Bar Mitzvah story. Resource collections: http://www.uccdm.org/ - United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries (UCC-DM, "Accessible to All" is their motto). http://www.aamr.org/Groups/div/RG/conference/2004exhibitlist ing.pdf - 2004 list of a broad range of materials related to ministries, services, and community supports with people with mental retardation and other disabilities, and their families. The list was compiled by the Religion and Spirituality Division of the American Association on Mental Retardation. I'm sure these resources can be order or borrowed through other sources. http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com/623/special-needs-min istry-a-resource-post/ - list of links for special needs ministry. Sample social stories: http://www.autism-india.org/dec98.html - social story about going to church (the story is kind of buried on a long webpage. Search for the word church to find the story text) http://www.ceo.woll.catholic.edu.au/home/jdavies/autism/soci al/assets/mass.pdf - social story about going to mass. http://www.ccsd.edu/files/filesystem/Going%20to%20Mass.pdf - another going to mass story, with clipart illustrations and a visual schedule of the various parts of the mass. http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/category/social-story/ - Church and Sunday School social story, no illustrations. Misc. http://www.prayingwithlior.com/index.htm# - Website for the documentary film Praying with Lior, about a boy with Down syndrome preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. http://www.twcsocalnews.com/index.php?option=com_seyret& Itemid=26&task=videodirectlink&id=766 - Wyatt from "Autism the Musical" celebrates his Bar Mitzvah. http://www.thebricktestament.com/ - Tons of Bible passages, richly illustrated with Lego figures. http://www.faithaliveresources.org/Autism-and-Your-Church?sc =13&category=8370- sample pages from the book "Autism and your church." Looks good. Any resources to add? Attending Religious ServicesAbout.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Steven Gans, M.D.
Religious Services: A Critical Family Experience: Autism should not stand in the way of experiencing religious life. Yet many families feel ostracized from their own religious communities because of an autistic child. The organizations listed below provide resources for with you and your congregation to ensure access to religious services and rites -- for your whole family.
Attending Catholic Mass: In the Catholic faith, young children are expected to attend Mass. This can be especially difficult for autistic children. The National Apostolate for Inclusion Ministry has created an entire website that offers tips and ideas for including developmentally disabled individuals at Mass and in Sunday School.
Attending Evangelical Services: The Christian Council on Persons with Disabilitiesoffers support, resources and ideas for evangelical churches interested in including persons with developmental disabilities.
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Attending Mainstream Christian Churches: The American Association for Mental Retardation offers a variety of resources to share with individual churches to promote inclusion. Its services include a certification program for pastors, a newsletter, annual conferences and more.
Attending Jewish Services: The National Jewish Council for the Disabled offers conferences, camps, programs, curricula, and classes. Children can prepare for Bar and Bat Mitzvah, take part in youth programs, and become fully included in Jewish life.
Interfaith Gathering: The National Organization on Disability runs an annual conference, That All May Worship, which includes individuals and institutions of all faiths in national events.
Inclusion and the Muslim Faith: This article on inclusion in the Muslim community, reprinted in the National Organization on Disablity website, describes efforts by Muslim communities in various American cities to provide greater access to individuals with disabilities.
Thanks for this information! We have certainly been through some very tough situations with church. The second link was very helpful--I might even try to start a PALS program. Thanks again! Revy Thank you again Norway Mom for all the great information. I will be reading all of this and sharing it with the childrens ministry at my church. So far they have done a great job dealing with the challenges of my son . They have really stepped up to the plate and then some. Autism Sunday - the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome falls on the SECOND SUNDAY in February every year. Find out more here: http://autismsunday.tripod.com/ thanks for all the information!!! Today I found out that some churches provide a one-on-one assistant to special needs children -- calling the set-up "Angel Buddies". Sometimes I think a catchy name can go a long way towards making things like that work! Sample church announcement about Angel Buddies: http://www.ogumc.org/templates/cusoakgroveumc/details.asp?id =35004&PID=376656#angel_buddies Family dealing with autism and their experiences with church, including an Angel Buddies program (successful for their family but unfortunately the program ended because of a personnel change): http://specialed.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/church-and-kids-wi th-autism/
Today I stumbled across a really exciting example of accommodating a teenager with autism in the church. This boy is low-functioning, almost non-verbal and has a number of autistic mannerisms. These are the resources I found while learning more about their program. I've also added them to my list above: http://www.uccdm.org/2008/03/29/there-is-something-really-sp ecial-going-on-in-our-midst/ - story of preparing an almost nonverbal teen for his confirmation, with individual learning goals and tasks, and data collection (Discrete Trial method). http://blog.firstreformedchurch.net/first-reformed-church-ce lebrates-confirmation-of-walter-boyles/ - story of celebrating an almost nonverbal teen's confirmation, with him having a speaking role in the confirmation class play, and the sermon focusing on what they have learned from him. http://www.uccdm.org/ - United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries (UCC-DM, "Accessible to All" is their motto). http://www.uccnebraska.org/news/anybody.pdf - Any Body, Everybody, Christ's Body" from the UCC-DM http://www.aamr.org/Groups/div/RG/conference/2004exhibitlist ing.pdf - 2004 list of a broad range of materials related to ministries, services, and community supports with people with mental retardation and other disabilities, and their families. The list was compiled by the Religion and Spirituality Division of the American Association on Mental Retardation. I'm sure these resources can be order or borrowed through other sources. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/01/faith_i n_a_nonverbal_world/ - "Faith in a nonverbal world", Bar Mitzvah story.
Leechbabe -- Thank you so much for posting your blog entry on church. There's so much worthwhile there -- the tip sheet about how to calm your daughter with sensory activities, the tip sheet about how to speak to your daughter in phrases she's mastered, the social story, the blog link with the "fill in the blank" technique for getting a hyperlexic child to give feedback about what's hard about church. You also gave a link to the book Autism and Your Church" by Barbara J. Newman. Amazon readers gave it 4-1/2 out of 5 stars. If you read it before giving it to your church, it would be nice to hear what you thought of it. For convenience sake, here's a working link to your blog about church so others can read it too. http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/going-to-church/ I'm so glad you've joined our forum! I appreciate your contributions. The book "Autism and Your Church" is very good, it is directed more at Church members who have not had any experience with Autism. Some parts of it were a bit over the top for me. I'm from a traditional Lutheran Church background, we still mostly sing our liturgy. I think the author is from a more modern Church. But everything she said was really valid and there was some great resources in the book for Church Members to use to assist Autistic persons in their Church - visuals, question sheets - great communication techniques. Covered all age groups from autistic children in Sunday School through to adults attending Church and Bible Study groups. Thank you for the wonderful links they have helped me gather the courage to once again start attending Church. I wrote a letter to our Sunday School team explaining Heidi's special needs to hopefully make the transition easier. http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/going-to-church/ "Bible Teaching for Kids Special Buddies or “Special Buddies” is LifeWay’s Bible study curriculum designed for children in grades 1-6 who have intellectual and developmental special needs." Read more here: http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/special-b uddies-curriculum-by-lifeway/ Article about Sunday school curriculum and special needs http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/special-n eeds-focused-curriculum/
New book: "Autism’s Hidden Blessings: Discovering God’s Promises for Autistic Children and Their Families"
"Broken behavior - going to church with a challenging child." About one mother who both struggled with her son's behavior in church and her own feelings about it and about the reactions she got from other parishioners. Both problems are better now. http://www.faithandleadership.com/content/broken-behavior-go ing-church-challenging-child IEPs and the church. http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/ieps-and- the-church/ Making vacation bible school work for everyone: http://www.autisable.com/730654225/making-vacation-bible-sch ool-work-for-everyone/ Five ways to make your church more inclusive: Website dedicated to church and children with hidden disabilities: "Acceptance grows for autistic kids in church"
Free online conference: Blog "How Can Churches Minister to Autism Families"http://www.autisable.com/726861884/how-can-churches-minister -to-autism-families/ Tips on making religious concepts more visual/concrete: http://developmentallychallengedchildren.suite101.com/articl e.cfm/kids-with-developmental-delays-learn-about-god I recently read a tip about a Jewish special program called Koleinu. Here's an article where it's mentioned. http://www.jewishjournal.com/bar_and_bat_mitzvahs/article/ne s_gadol_calls_its_first_autistic_students_to_the_torah_20070 511/ Facebook group for parents interested in the intersection of special needs & faith. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/group.php?gid=44117735820 &ref=ts Autism Sunday is coming up in February. Here's a facebook page on it. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49990489146&ref=se arch&sid=901195857.856731378..1 “Reaching ALL God’s Children: How to make your church more friendly to people with disabilities”, newsletter, etc http://www.snappin.org/ Here's an article called "Special needs students study for bar and bat mitzvahs" http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-bar-mit zvah-city-zone-02-dec02,0,1153440.story Here's a link to a directory of churches/organizations with disability ministries. Other resources on the site, too: http://www.joniandfriends.org/disability_ministries.php Here's an article about a church near St. Louis which specializes in special needs children and their families: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/paren ting/story/963C7F2B0EA76E688625762D0062CFB8?OpenDocument The latest issue of the Positively Autism e-newsletter focuses on Autism and Spirituality. You can read the newsletter online here. Subscription is free. http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume4issue5/ Positively Autism tipped about a free web seminar on autism and children's ministry. The date is August 20th, 2009. More info here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/448355432 At the same time, Positively Autism tipped about the book "Autism and your church". I read a sample here, and it looks good: http://www.faithaliveresources.org/Autism-and-Your-Church?sc =13&category=8370 Today I added the following link to my list: http://necessaryroughness.org/2009/07/how-churches-should-ha ndle-autism/ - written by the father of a girl with autism. Norway Mom, this is a great piece written by a parent of an ASD child. I hope those in the future will learn from what he has shared.
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