Disability Concerns

To include someone is to intentionally pursue ways to make them feel welcomed, heard, and valued. We show the love of Jesus most when we actively include those who are marginalized and different.

This letter is for “the others”: for my two kids who are not special needs, who are considered typical, and for everyone who has a sibling with any special need(s).

Like so many people who have disabilities, Melissa Blake writes that people often sell her short. She is concerned that this marginalization will grow worse under the new president’s leadership.

I looked across the noisy tent and boldly used the word “disability” in my mind. I tried “developmental difference” and while it felt less offending a term to describe my daughter, it still fell woefully short. 

I was not born disabled, nor have I been disfigured in any way. But the insidious invasion of my Parkinson’s Disease continues to dismantle one aspect or another of my otherwise ordinary daily life.

Do you get a day off if you are unemployed? No, until you're hired, there's no taking off from unemployment. 

Last week I asked why we tend to limit our idea of diversity in church to ethnic diversity. Like one reader responded to the question last week, diversity of ability falls outside of most people's thinking because most people don't want people with disabilities included in their activities.