Religion and Spirituality Division of the AAIDD

Coming from the Christian perspective, there are three Bible verses that I really resonate with regarding individuals with disabilities. I am confident similar sentiments are present in other faiths, and those of you who are from other faiths, I would invite to put together a similar progression.

Jewish Disability Awareness Month (JDAM) is a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to use common programs to raise awareness and foster inclusion of people with disabilities, their families, and those who love them. Established in 2009, JDAM is observed during February. In 2012, JDAM is launching a book club, with the New York Times bestselling novel, The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, as its first selection. Participants are encouraged to read and discuss the book during 2012.

Below is the first of what we hope will be many reviews from Don Healy. If you have an item that you would like Don to review, please read this page on how to contact Don.

Designed as a comprehensive, evangelical Christian approach to the area of disability ministry, this impressive array of course materials is remarkable in the breadth, depth, and quality of resources being made available for those wishing to develop or refine their skills. Course completion options include both certification as well as either undergraduate or graduate level college credit. A leader’s guide, student study guide, extensive outside readings, biblical references, Powerpoint presentations, video introductions and video case studies are well integrated into the four modules of the course: An Overview of Disability Ministry; The Theology of Suffering and Disability; The Church and Disability Ministry; and An Introduction to Bioethics. The underlying educational strategies, resources, and activities employed to guide course leaders and students through the 16 lessons are of consistently high quality. Many print-ready forms are provided.

For information, go to Beyond Suffering: A Christian View on Disability Ministry.

Currently there are two different roles for certification (which can be viewed on the division webpage at http://www.aaiddreligion.org/certification): Pastoral Care, intended for institutional setting and Lay Minister, intended for community-based outreach. Although the two roles acknowledge the transition to community based supports, they are still heavily influenced by the institutional model.

I just returned from a month of international travel that I would like to report on briefly here. It included time in Netherlands, Ukraine and Uganda.

For those of you not familiar with Quality Mall, if you would like to:

• Learn what others are doing in the area of sacred community inclusion.
• Explore curriculum, books and a variety of media from many faith traditions
• Gain access to best practices and the people who develop them.

The Quality Mall is the place to be!

The Annual conference was recently help in St. Paul, Minnesota where the Religion and Spirituality Division held their annual meeting. Notes taken at the meeting are included below:

In attendance:

This is a last minute reminder to everyone of the upcoming conference and some great activities form the Religion and Spirituality division that you won't want to miss.

Annual Conference

The conference will be held this year in St. Paul, Minnesota June 6-9, 2011. The conference is a great opportunity for learning, networking and recharging. Please don't miss this event- if you haven't registered yet, please do so today!

Annual Conference Website

In meeting with people from faith groups and denominations, I am often asked about model programs that might be closest to the “state of the art” in terms of including persons with various disabilities. Recent research has also caused me to ask that question, particularly from an interfaith perspective. What are best practices in the Muslim community, for example, and where might those best practices be observed? Where is the “state of the art” best evidenced among Mormons? Where can I go to view model programs within the Jewish community?

The Chaplain Certification process is under review. If you are interested in participating in this committee please contact any of the existing members: Dave Morstad at David.Morstad@mailblc.org, Sr. Gabrielle Kowalski at gkowalski@stritch.edu, or Anne Masters at masteran@rcan.org.