Universal Design: It's for Everybody!
Rather than creating special accommodations/requirements for a minority population, universal design reflects spaces and programs that can be accessed by everybody.
Everybody belongs. Everybody serves.
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Rather than creating special accommodations/requirements for a minority population, universal design reflects spaces and programs that can be accessed by everybody.
We sometimes hear the phrases “the poorest of the poor” or “the least of these.” Interested in knowing who they are?
Compassion for suffering, protection of vulnerable people and celebration and affirmation of life are three reasons why I am pro-life and oppose assisted suicide.
"In 1883, laws were taken up to prevent people with disabilities from moving to this country, marrying, or having children. In many instances, it led to the institutionalization and forced sterilization of disabled people."
A social scientist, Erik Carter started his keynote address at the 2014 Summer Institute on Disability and Theology by saying he would be "preaching from Numbers." With data, he established the opportunity congregations and other communities of faith have to "welcome, receive, and be hospitable" every day of the week.
We would never say “It’s your kid, do the appendectomy at home.” Or “Your parents will have to deal with that gunshot wound.” But this is the system of care we have in place for people with severe disabilities. Why?
In Christ's disability, we recognize him as true God and find in him a compassionate companion who dwells with us in our limitations.
I know a bare minimum of sign language so I sat, unable to understand the near silent conversations around me. I could have asked for a translator or requested that people go a little slower. But I was reluctant to do this. Why should I impose my single handicap on an entire group of people? Is this how a deaf person feels?
A moving tribute to the people who helped to bring about the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act 20 years ago written by a woman who uses a wheelchair and who has a son who has intellectual disabilities.
The late Prof. Nancy Eiesland wrote a thought-provoking reflection on Luke 24:36-39, the passage which describes Jesus' revelation of himself to the frightened disciples after he rose from the dead.
The Christian Reformed Church made an express commitment at the 1985 meeting of the Synod to break down barriers and work for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of the congregation. The following is the wording of that commitment.