Weekly round-up! {7/25/11}
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Families increasingly shoulder caregiving burden. This describes a study about those caring for individuals with life-long disabilities, "caregivers reported feeling stretched financially and emotionally, with 1 in 5 indicating that a family member quit their job due to caregiving responsibilities and the majority saying that they felt tired or stressed some or most of the time." Can the church help them?
A friend of a friend will be releasing an e-book this fall about their son's autism diagnosis and the first year following it. The title is Speechless: Finding God's Grace in my Son's Autism, and I am looking forward to reading it! Here's a little more about it.
When I taught in Texas, "mental retardation" was the category in which a few of my students were classified for special education purposes. Last week Arizona joined the list of states changing the term to the less emotionally-charged and negatively-connotated "intellectual disability."
Here's a news blurb about exposure to secondhand smoke as a possible contributing factor to developing ADHD and other disabilities. I think it's important for those of us in disability ministry to pay attention to news bits like this (and, along these lines, the multiple reports I've seen lately about possible genetic and environmental links to autism), primarily because these issues matter to parents and family members and people with disabilities.I haven't linked to these sort of news blurbs and articles in the past, but I'll start doing so. One warning, though: I don't share these blurbs with parents, and I think you should be sensitive not to bring up any information like this is such a way that it could communicate "you could have done something to cause this disability." Trust me, that doesn't help. I've been on the receiving end of well-intentioned but hurtful suggestions that a change to my diet or habits might have prevented or could now reverse my rheumatoid arthritis. Even if it were true that I could have done something to avoid the disease, what good does that knowledge do me now that I already have it?
My friend Mike of Making Room and Special Needs Ministry shared these ideas of things that can "feed" a child's sensory needs.
The Coffee Klatch shared Temple Grandin's top five tips for parenting a child with autism. Items 1, 2, 4, and 5 are all useful for ministry leaders as well, though I would advise against #3 in most church settings.
I found out about Cassi through Amy at The Inclusive Church, and I am so thankful for that online introduction via her blog. This week Cassi shared some sample forms from her church's special needs ministry. So useful!
It warms my heart when friends read something related to disability and theology, think of me, and email, Facebook, or tweet me with the link. That's what happens with this one: 4 Things I've Learned about God through my Baby who was Born Blind
On a less encouraging note...
And one of our families at our church will be attending a Joni & Friends family retreat next week, and I'm looking forward to sharing their experiences with y'all once they return. I'm so excited for them!
A friend of a friend will be releasing an e-book this fall about their son's autism diagnosis and the first year following it. The title is Speechless: Finding God's Grace in my Son's Autism, and I am looking forward to reading it! Here's a little more about it.
When I taught in Texas, "mental retardation" was the category in which a few of my students were classified for special education purposes. Last week Arizona joined the list of states changing the term to the less emotionally-charged and negatively-connotated "intellectual disability."
Here's a news blurb about exposure to secondhand smoke as a possible contributing factor to developing ADHD and other disabilities. I think it's important for those of us in disability ministry to pay attention to news bits like this (and, along these lines, the multiple reports I've seen lately about possible genetic and environmental links to autism), primarily because these issues matter to parents and family members and people with disabilities.I haven't linked to these sort of news blurbs and articles in the past, but I'll start doing so. One warning, though: I don't share these blurbs with parents, and I think you should be sensitive not to bring up any information like this is such a way that it could communicate "you could have done something to cause this disability." Trust me, that doesn't help. I've been on the receiving end of well-intentioned but hurtful suggestions that a change to my diet or habits might have prevented or could now reverse my rheumatoid arthritis. Even if it were true that I could have done something to avoid the disease, what good does that knowledge do me now that I already have it?
My friend Mike of Making Room and Special Needs Ministry shared these ideas of things that can "feed" a child's sensory needs.
The Coffee Klatch shared Temple Grandin's top five tips for parenting a child with autism. Items 1, 2, 4, and 5 are all useful for ministry leaders as well, though I would advise against #3 in most church settings.
I found out about Cassi through Amy at The Inclusive Church, and I am so thankful for that online introduction via her blog. This week Cassi shared some sample forms from her church's special needs ministry. So useful!
It warms my heart when friends read something related to disability and theology, think of me, and email, Facebook, or tweet me with the link. That's what happens with this one: 4 Things I've Learned about God through my Baby who was Born Blind
On a less encouraging note...
- The behavior of a man with autism at church was misinterpreted, and he was handcuffed and detained by a police officer. And neither the church leader quoted nor the police spokesman seem to think that they should have handled it differently or proactively learned about autism to be able to differentiate between suspicious behavior and the manifestation of a disability. Sigh. Read about it here.
- Read this thought-provoking opinion piece: Ignoring the disabled is the new racism
And one of our families at our church will be attending a Joni & Friends family retreat next week, and I'm looking forward to sharing their experiences with y'all once they return. I'm so excited for them!