Worship geared to special-needs kids

[Guest guest]

The last sentence really sums it up well.

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS/806090317

Worship geared to special-needs kids

Churches find ways to include kids who don't always fit in

Special-needs faith programs

Local programs in the faith community for children or adults with

disabilities include but are not limited to:

♦ABLE

Ministries, Emmanuel Community Church - 672-3377

♦Avalon

Missionary Church, Breakaway, respite evening for parents of children with

disabilities - 747-1531

♦Friendship

Ministries for adults with developmental disabilities - 483-3171

♦Harlan

Christian Youth Center - 657-5877

♦First Assembly

of God, One Heart Ministries - 490-8585

♦Our Lady of

Good Hope Catholic Church, Amazing Apostles for school-age children -

485-9615

Note: Check with your church, synagogue or mosque in your

neighborhood for others.

Other resources:

♦For curriculum

suggestions, books and educational materials on autism, call the Indiana

Resource Center on Autism at 1-, or visit www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/.

♦For resources

on Down syndrome, call the Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Indiana

(DSANI) at 491-9964, or visit www.dsani.org.

By

L. Boen

of The News-Sentinel

One of the first things and Gottfried did when they moved to

Fort Wayne from the Detroit area last summer was look for a church - but not

just any church.

“We were looking for a special-needs ministry for Noah,â€

Gottfried said. Their son, Noah, 7, has autism and taking him to church was

often a huge hassle. “My husband and I were going at separate times so

someone could be with Noah.†They had found a church in Michigan that

embraced their family, which also includes Sophia, 5. But just as they settled

in, 's job transferred him to Fort Wayne.

According to the Indiana Department of Education, one in 113 Hoosier children

has autism.

“It's so important for families to have someplace to go where they are

accepted,†said Pratt, director of the Indiana Resource Center on

Autism at Indiana University Bloomington. “The church community should be

an obvious place of understanding and acceptance.†A case that drew

headlines in Minnesota, where a 13-year-old boy with autism was banned from

attending a Catholic church, saddened Pratt.

“Families are already made to feel different because they have these

challenges,†Pratt said. “Autism is very isolating for these

parents. People will misinterpret behaviors. I have a lot of friends who are

parents of children with autism who haven't been out to eat with friends for

years. They've lost those friendships, become isolated. Some say, ‘If you

would just parent your child better. …'â€

According to The Associated Press, a priest at the Church of St. ph in

Bertha, Minn., where Adam Race, 13, and his family have attended for years,

filed a restraining order May 9 to keep Adam away because of what he called

inappropriate and troublesome behavior, which included hitting another child,

running through the church, spitting and urinating in church. Court documents,

the AP reported, state the boy, who is big for his age, once grabbed another

child and pulled her onto his lap; he also jumped into another family's car and

started the engine.

The family has begun attending a different church. Meanwhile, the Diocese of

St. Cloud has enlisted a lay mediator in hopes of resolving the issue.

A special-needs ministry

When Gottfried read the accounts of Race's story, “It brought

tears to my eyes,†she said. Fortunately for the Gottfrieds, a friend

told them about ABLE Ministries at Emmanuel Community Church, 12222 U.S. 24 W.

ABLE is the acronym for A Blessed Life Embraced. The ministry was started two

years ago by the Rev. Bob Bruce and Emmanuel member Marilyn , whose

12-year-old son, , has Down syndrome. More than 1,300 people attend the

church.

“The purpose of ABLE Ministries is to partner with (Emmanuel's) existing

ministries to include those with special needs, support their families and

provide awareness and education to the body,†said.

Her vision for the program began to take shape when was just 3 and, like the

Gottfrieds, the s were searching for a church that would accept and

involve the whole family. Emmanuel had no formal program then, and went

everywhere in church with , who has underdeveloped verbal skills. When he

was 5, asked for a one-on-one assistant to replace her, and Ellen

Kinzer, a physical therapist, stepped forward. The arrangement worked so well

that took her vision to Bruce.

“He's now at the point he doesn't need me all the time,†Kinzer

said. On Sunday, after prompting that it was his turn to do a group skit,

he joined the group, then told Kinzer to sit down, which she graciously did.

During music time, Kinzer stood in the back, but looked periodically to

see if she was there.

Understanding each child's individual needs lies at the core of the ministry,

powered by volunteers who meet with families from the beginning to learn about

their child's disability and needs. This summer, a special education teacher

will begin providing consultation to the ministry.

Kristy Meeks, 15, has found her niche at Emmanuel. Although she has Down

syndrome, she is welcomed and embraced by other teens in her Sunday school

class and Sunday night youth activities, thanks to volunteer Tracey Best.

“Tracey helps get her plugged into activities on Sunday night,â€

said Meeks' mom, Kathy. “She breaks down game instructions. Kristy now

takes a friend from school with her, and Tracey makes sure the girls are where

they need to be. … When Tracey's there, she becomes an active participant.

She's more outgoing, volunteers to do skits. She and Tracey have become good

friends.â€

When big group activities become over-stimulating for Noah, his assistants -

Kline during the school year and Lyons for the summer - find a

calming atmosphere for him in the children's library.

For Bob Bruce, such accounts reaffirm that ABLE Ministries is not only the

moral thing to do, it is fulfilling Christ's commandment to the church, citing

Scripture: “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must

clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and

patience (Colossians 3:12 New Living Translation).

In recalling a family who some years back visited Emmanuel in hopes of looking

for a church that could provide care and ministry for their son with severe

autism, he said, “People were uncertain how to care for him. The family

left. We just really didn't have anything in place at that time. It's something

that's always bothered me.â€

Educating parishioners, even those not directly involved with the children, is

crucial, said. ABLE Ministries has prayer partners, provides brochures

and special presentations, and meets with church leaders, teachers and other

staff.

“It's the accommodations that are really important,†Pratt said.

“It doesn't mean the child sits and kicks and screams and torments other

children. But when kids are given the supports, they can do really well in

these settings.â€

Concept spreads locally

Others in the faith community also are stepping up to provide planned

programs for children and adults with disabilities, said the Rev. Pratt

(no relation to Pratt), director of Lutheran Disability Outreach for

northeast Indiana, which runs Friendship Ministries for adults with developmental

disabilities.

“If you have a 52-year-old guy with Down or autism, do you put him in

with the 3-year-olds? No. But you're not going to put him in the pastor's Bible

class either,†Pratt said. Working with the more severely

developmentally disabled, he said, is not for the person who is “looking

for a pat on the back, a thank you for telling him about Jesus.â€

Rewards come in the form of smiles. With one young man who routinely attended

Friendship Ministries for years, staring blankly out the window, a rich

blessing for Pratt was hearing him recently try to say the Lord's Prayer.

According to census figures, about 40 million people, or 16 percent of the

population, have a disability. “There shouldn't be shame associated with

it, shouldn't be blame,†Pratt said.

Pratt puts it this way: “Accessibility is not a wheelchair ramp.

Accessibility is in your heart.â€