Religion and Spirituality Division of the AAIDD

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.

At last year's conference, Jeff McNair ran into Jim Mullin with the AAIDD Humanist Action Group and invited him to submit a post to share with all of you. Please take a moment to read what Jim has to say and feel free to leave a comment!

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.

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:

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?

Like the people of River City, IA in the O. Meredith Wilson musical “The Music Man” the modern day version of the Wells Fargo wagon dropped off a package at my home just before Chanukah. The package was from my dear friend, Sandy Block, a lay leader and co-chair of the Celebration Company, a program of the Alexander Institute which was created to serve people with disabilities in the Houston Jewish Community. The Alexander Institute is part of a growing disability services department at Jewish Family Service of Houston TX.