LDS Disability News

The good news about the new disability site is spreading, it has recently shown up in a number of places:

The homepage of LDS.org:

Disabilities.lds.org has recently been launched to help members with disabilities and their families participate more fully in Church meetings and activities. In addition to providing information on various disabilities, this new section includes suggestions and resources for leaders, teachers, caregivers, and Church members.

The LDS Newsroom:

“The major accomplisment of this new Web site,” according to Hind, “is that we now have all these aids and helps in one place. We’ve had pieces of this information scattered in handbooks, lesson manuals and on other Web sites, but now it is in one spot and much more accessible.”

LDS Web Guy's Blog:

To help members with disabilities and their families participate more fully in Church meetings and activities, a new Disability Resources section has recently been launched at Disabilities.lds.org.

Exciting News! There is a new section on LDS.org dedicated to disability information. This is a great resource for individuals, families, teachers and leaders. From the site:

This Web section on disabilities has been created to offer support, comfort, and an increased level of acceptance toward those with disabilities.

LDS Disability Resources

An excellent article by Sharisa Lewis in Meridian Magazine titled Helping Autism Families Survive Church. She discusses the struggles that her own family had in Church and how one family made a difference. From the article:

Despite five years of struggling at church to attend with our son, I felt that the challenges changed each week and the answers became more and more elusive. With a disability like autism, you never know what's going to happen. My husband and I woke up each Sunday and held on for dear life, uncertain of what the day held for our son — and us.

Also this:

Once my autistic child felt loved and accepted at church, a new desire to be there started to emerge. He smiled when we entered the church building.

Read the rest of the article at Helping Autism Families Survive Church.

Teaching the Gospel to Children With Disabilities is a short article from the LDS Newsroom that discusses adapting classes for children with disabilities.

In an article in Meridian Magazine, Sharisa Lewis writes abouts experiences at Church with her 4-year old son who has autism.

Why is church so hard for autistic children? The answers can vary as widely as the children. Initially, I thought our child was just being difficult, but autism specialists have advised me that church is hard for most autistic kids.

Taking Autism to Church

David Dollahite is a professor in the School of Family Life at BYU's School of Family Life. He has written extensively on the involvement of fathers with their children with disabilities, in addition to providing many other resources for fathers. A few months ago he was interviewed by Krista Tippett of the excellent public radio program Speaking of Faith on the spirituality of parenting and he specifically addressed the spirituality of children with disabilities.

Spirituality of Parenting Interview Be sure to listen to this audio segment titled The Spirituality of Special Needs Children (mp3)

Here are links to some of his other writings on fathering children with disabilities:

• Fathering Special Needs Children
• A Narrative Approach to Exploring Responsible Involvement of Fathers with Their Special-Needs Children (2004) (pdf)
• Fathering for Eternity: Generative Spirituality in Latter-day Saint Fathers of Children with Special Needs (2003) (pdf)
• Involved Fathering of Children with Special Needs: Relationships and Religion as Resources (2002) (pdf)
• Religion, Relationships, and Responsible Fathering in Latter-day Saint Families of Children with Special Needs (2001) (pdf)
• Faithful Fathering in Trying Times: Religious Beliefs and Practices of Latter-day Saint Fathers of Children with Special Needs (1998) (pdf)
• Generative Ingenuity in Fatherwork with Young Children with Special Needs (1997) (pdf)

Kim Sevier from Our Thoughts writes about his experience in discovering that he has a learning disability and the impact it has had on his life in the area of his religion. He also offers some methods that have helped him to concentrate during his prayers and scripture reading...

This limitation in my ability to concentrate or focus also affects how I interact in church meetings and other religious activities. I find it difficult to focus on most speakers in Sacrament. I have a hard time simply reading the scriptures. I can easily fall asleep saying silent prayers at night.

Religion and a learning disability

Kage from Tales from the Crib writes about a couple of bouts with depression...

For a while there I was blaming a lot on my two challenging children. I was only seeing them 1-dimensionally: Kids with Needs that I cannot fulfill. Now the light is shining again, the merkiness is clearing, and I can see them in all their dimensional glory: 32 flavors, and then some. The other day I found myself saying their names over and over again in my head, and quipping about what great names those are, and what great girls they are to go with those names. I am so glad to be back and fully present with them again, and I am so grateful that they loved me all the while.

Cure for the Common Depression- be sure to read through the comments as well.

There haven't been any updates to the site for quite awhile, but we have been working on a few projects behind the scenes...

First of all, there is now a user registration that you can sign up for.

Q: Why would you want to sign up?

A: So that you can go to the new message board to introduce yourself and meet lots of other great visitors.

Registering is of course optional and right now all that is allows you do to is leave comments and post to the message board- all of the content is available to everyone regardless of whether you are registered or not.

There is also a new Education section with some new resources and a profile of Elder Reed Hahne who serves as a part-time service missionary. The listings for the Special Needs Mutual and Special Needs Primary programs has also been updated.

Lastly, you'll notice a new search box in the upper right hand corner of every page that should help you to find what you are looking for a little easier. Take a look around and please let us know if you have any problems!

There is a new page in the Young Woman section of LDS.org titled Young Women Who Have Disabilities. The page includes this statement:

Young women who have disabilities are normally included in their regular classes. Exceptions may be made with the approval of the parents and the priesthood leaders. Flexibility may be needed in utilizing the approved programs to meet the needs of these young women.

There is also a reference to more information in the Church Handbook of Instructions.

Additionally, on the Young Woman site are a number of pictures of young women with disabilities participating in young woman activities. You can see the pictures at:

• Youth Leadership at Young Woman Camp
• Responsibilities of Class Presidencies under Preparing Youth to Lead,
• and in the Modify Goals to Individual Needs section in the Interactive Lessons.

Good work to the Young Woman's organization!

Last month on page 79 of the Ensign this call for articles was issued:

Are you a Church member with a physical disability? Or are you a caretaker, teacher, or leader of someone with such a disability? We invite you to submit personal accounts of how you or others have adapted Church programs or materials to fit the needs of those with physical disabilities.

Please send your submission (500 words or less) by August 21, 2006, to ensign@ldschurch.org or to Ensign Editorial, 50 E. North Temple St. Rm. 2420, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-3220, USA. Clearly mark your submission “Adapting,” and at the top of your submission, write your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and ward and stake (or branch and district).

While we cannot acknowledge receipt of individual responses, authors whose submissions are selected for publication will be notified. If you would like your manuscript returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and allow up to a year.

If you have an experience to share, please do so- this is a great opportunity to reach a large number of people. Also, if you submit a story that isn't selected, we are always looking for good content here!

A few weeks ago, we posted some information on two disability presentations from the 2006 Womens Conference.

The first presentation is titled Dealing with Disabilities from Sandra Ruconich, Mary Ann Prater, Roselyn Baird is a PDF document of 28 slides from their presentation divided up into three categories:

1. Parents and Schools: Fostering Child-Centered Partnerships
2. Tips for Church Members and Teachers
3. How to Serve Those with Disabilities and Their Families

The second presentation is titled When Someone You Love Is Depressed By Neli A. Rogers, MS, LMFT. The presentation begins with some misconceptions about depression, then provides some helpful information, including a list of symptoms. The presentation ends with two helpful lists, one that provides some advice for persons with depression and the second a list of what to do if you have a loved one who has depression.

If anyone attenaded either of these two sessions, please drop a note in the comments.

Over at the LDS blog, Times and Seasons there was recently a post that stated, "It is wicked to kill an unborn baby because the baby has Down’s Syndrome". The more than 200 replies to that statement that follow provide an interesting discussion on the value of a life of a person with a disability.

In case you don't want to wade through all of the discussion, I have highlighted a few of the comments below:

From Allison

My brother changed our family for the better. Before he was born, our family consisted solely of high-IQ superachievers. My brother, who has an IQ of 30-60, showed us that worth is not based on accomplishments. Before my brother was born, I was uncomfortable around handicapped people because I was not familiar with their challenges and “abnormal” behavior. After my brother was born, I learned that handicapped people (just like most of us) are to be loved, not feared. And best of all, my brother brought pure, celestial love to our home. He’s the only person in our family whose place in heaven is guaranteed.

From Lisa

Sometimes I have looked at my daughter’s face and examined those marks that are common to people with trisomy 21 — the almond-shaped eyes, the flat bridge across the nose, and the “stars in her eyes” that we later discovered were called Brushfield Spots — and I wonder. I try to imagine a scenario where children born with those markings were considered prophets or geniuses. How would we respond to each of these births then? How would we celebrate? And what if, in times to come, we find that these births were essential to saving the rest of us — getting us to pay attention to the things that really matter?

And from Kathy S.:

I am sympathetic to the difficulty of facing this diagnosis. It is perfectly understandable why many people are reluctant to parent a child with medical problems or cognitive limitations. We’ve been socially trained desire healthy, “normal” children. Many of us secretly want above-average children. Plus we have children with the expectation that they will grow up someday. The potential ramifications–social, physical, emotional–for the family of a child with Down syndrome are not to be taken lightly. But the worth of a human life carries even more weight than these significant considerations.

Kathy S has written more about Down syndrome at her blog, also check out another project she is working on related to children with Down syndrome at gifts.

Lastly, I also just came across this story from the Deseret Book Web site titled, The Choice to Love

While serving a full-time proselyting mission may not be an option for some members, there are many other opportunities to serve as a part-time service mission assignments. However, finding a good opportunity and going through the process of receiving a call can be a difficult process. To help in the process, LDS Ability has set up a new page with some tips, ideas and links to helpful resources.

Part-time Service Missionary Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.

From the Mormon Mommy Wars Blog come 4 posts on the author Heather's experience as a personal care attendant (PCA) for Rick Hoyt. Heather provides a frank and insightful recounting of her experiences with Rick. I have provided a few excerpts below, but the posts are worth reading in their entirety, along with the comments:

Taking Care of Rick, Part 1

Some of the most powerful moments of my life have come from taking care of Rick. And, to be honest, some of the most horrible moments have come from taking care of him too, mostly because in some way or another, I failed him, and failed him terribly.

Taking Care of Rick, Part 2

That's another thing Rick does. He pushes people beyond what they think their limits are, forcing them to find the parts of themselves that will give a little more, even when they think that surely they are empty.

Taking Care of Rick, Part 3

I have seen the moment a thousand times replayed in my head and in my nightmares. Brakes unlocked, Rick rolled forward, pitched over the edge of the lift, where I had, per previous habit, not locked the tiny fence, and he landed face first onto the concrete sidewalk below, falling about 3 feet.

Taking Care of Rick, Part 4

Rick's a Mormon. He was baptized in September 1997. A golden investigator if there ever was one... Rick also has a firm faith in his own mission, that God has put him here for a purpose. He is to be the voice for people with disabilities.

Thank you Heather, for sharing your experiences with Rick. If you would like to learn more about Rick and his family, visit the Team Hoyt Web site.