Mom Says it Best... 5 Easy Steps to Reaching Out to Youth with Special Needs and their Families

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a Pastoral In-Service for Youth Ministers and PAREs in the New Albany deanery.  The focus of this in-service was reaching out to youth with special needs and their families.

In the first part of the in-service I talked about autism, some of the gifts and challenges a youth minister or PARE might encounter, as well as some tips to help make it easier for these individuals to participate.  Lots of info, and truly, I hope it helped!

But then in the second half of the in-service, Anne stood up and began to share about her family's experience in the Church with her 25 year old son, who has Down Syndrome.  And she blew it all away.  It wasn't that we weren't saying essentially the same things... it was just that marvelous case of experience managing to cut through all the extra words and just expressing what is real.  And these are the five things she recommended to any parish to support these individuals and their families.

 

1. Invitation:
Many families are rather isolated, some have had bad experiences, others may not even imagine that active parish life is possible.  This is why the personal invitation is so so crucial- and it may take several invitations before they are ready!
Also, model welcoming and belonging!  She spoke of an experience when her son was an infant, at Christmas Mass when her pastor came, picked up her son and gave his homily with him happily sitting on his lap.    

2. Communication:
Open two way communication with parents or caregivers will ensure continuity and support for one another!

3. Collaboration:
Simply put, being open to possibilities and trying different things.  Even if the answer is "You know, I'm not sure.  Lets put our heads together and see what we can figure out to make this work."

4. Education:
Learn about different disabilities.  This will remove some of the mystery, and give tools to better support to those individuals.  

5. Flexibility:
Try and try again, and just know that it's OK if it's just a bad day, and that lesson is not going to get done.  And, she mentioned, that this is most definitely a two way street :-)