November is Caregiver Awareness Month. As someone who became one of my dad’s caregivers before I started school, I grew up thinking everyone in the world was aware of caregivers and caregiving. As a young adult my husband and I cared for a son born with a life-threatening medical condition, and his typical sibling. As members of the sandwich generation, my brother, sister, and I cared for our mother for 15 years after she was diagnosed with dementia. This explains why, when I first heard that November is Caregiver Awareness Month, I was incredulous, and I still am.
In this episode, Lauren Hickman shares her personal journey and calling to disability ministry, describing how God has guided her every step of the way to serve families impacted by disability.
In today’s episode, Sandra talks about the challenges small to normative-sized churches face in disability ministry and shares how the churches she’s been a part of have overcome these challenges.
This week Elaina, from Key Ministry, sits down with Sergei Marchenko, Lead Pastor of Chatham Bible Church, and Special Needs Parent. They discuss preparing for the holiday season, church inclusion, special needs parenting and more!
Parents go through five phases as they raise their children with disabilities. It’s helpful for ministry leaders to understand these phases so we know better how to support families in these different seasons. In this episode, Sandra Peoples shares characteristics of the phases, the needs parents have in each one, and how the church can support them along the way.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a complex developmental disability that affects a child exposed to alcohol prenatally. In the US, the prevalence is as high as 1 in 20 children who have this condition. With a lack of awareness and understanding, many misconceptions and myths persist, including its impact on mental health. Joel Sheagren shatters these myths and shed light on FASD realities and the layers to the challenges they face.
One of the biggest challenges in inclusive ministry is meeting the needs of diverse learners. Today on the podcast, Sandra interviews Cortney Jenkins from Awe & Wonder and Laura Deeken from The Adapted Word about easy ways to make our lessons more accessible and about the resources they provide to help support every student in your ministry.
Dr. Steve Grcevich sits down and interviews Dr. Lamar Hardwick on his new book How Ableism Fuels Racism. This is the final part of a 3-part series.
