Breaking Barriers Winter 2021
During the pandemic, people with disabilities found that some barriers to participation actually were removed. The articles in this issue tell a few of those stories of unexpected access.
Everybody belongs. Everybody serves.
During the pandemic, people with disabilities found that some barriers to participation actually were removed. The articles in this issue tell a few of those stories of unexpected access.
Pastor Dave shares his friendship with his parishioner, Carolyn, that has grown in the midst of the pandemic.
Out of adversity grew a larger sense of community.
While the rest of the world collectively mourned the loss of closeness and community, I suddenly found myself a new reason to smile.
Terry DeYoung, Coordinator for Disability Concerns, RCA, takes stock of all the ways that our society has changed for the better due to the pandemic.
Traveling with a disability can be challenging, if not difficult, and memories of such adventures can be instructive, hurtful, hilarious, and more. Read about some of these adventures!
Living with blindness means relying on the support of others to guide you through life at times. Traveling is one of those times.
For me, traveling mostly involves managing motion sickness. Still, I count my blessings, because traveling for many others living with disabilities is much more complicated than it is for me.
Traveling when you depend on a ventilator to breath requires a great deal of planning. Caregivers are also a part of the travel plans.
Mark shares about family trips and the planning involved in order to make sure that his daughter who lives with multiple disabilities was properly cared for and accommodated so that all family members could participate in the vacation.
Though many important accessibility issues have yet to be addressed, Syd, a paraplegic, encourages those in the disability community to consider traveling and experiencing new places if you can!
While the individual living with FASD may have a challenging time sustaining relationships, the family that surrounds this person could benefit from community support. How can we support each other?
While a family had the best of intentions welcoming an adopted child into their home, the information on how to support a child with FASD has been lacking.
The Summer 2020 issue features parents of loved ones living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder come to grips with the realities of this unexpected, difficult, lifelong disability.
This article offers encouragement, reassurance, and hope to caregivers and those who are supporting individuals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).
Tasked with raising her two grandchildren, a grandmother shares her heartbreaking journey of trying to support her eldest granddaughter who was diagnosed with an alcohol-related neurological disorder.
This article is part of our Summer 2020 Breaking Barriers. This installment focuses on parents of loved ones living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
People with visual impairments or blindness tell stories of welcome, rejection, and finding their way in life and in the church.
Kent became blind at age 13 when surgery to remove benign brain tumors severed the optic nerve. Here he shares how a church community can play a key role in supporting one another.
In this article, the concept of giving thanks in all circumstances is explored. How can one use their experiences to bring glory to God?
Weighing benefits, side-effects, and costs make decisions about medications challenging.
Finding the right medications has taken decades for Michèle Gyselinck.
I am grateful for medications and for health insurance, but I resent being treated like a criminal when I seek help.
God used my brain chemistry to draw me into a fuller reliance upon him. I may recoil at the idea of dependence, but it is God’s way.
Many people take medications for pain, for rheumatoid arthritis, for seizures, and for other reasons. In this issue, authors describe the role of medication in their lives and its impact on their faith in God.