Welcoming Children of All Abilities

How Your Children’s Ministry Can Adapt to Fit the Diversity of God’s Family

We are grateful for the contributions of Barbara Newman on this resource.
Printable PDF of Welcoming Children of All Abilities.

How do we who work in children’s ministry best prepare to receive each child? When one child has an IQ of 140 and another an IQ of 40, one child is a social butterfly and another seems to avoid social contact, one child delights in loud noises and another covers her ears from the pain, how do we ensure a place of belonging for each child in the mix? How do we equip our volunteers?

In some ways, it may be easier to recruit volunteers, choose materials, and set up meeting spaces when the children in church ministries are thought of like the contents of a can of Pringles. Neatly stacked, easily contained, all shaped and formed exactly alike—one size could fit all within this paradigm. 

Our creative God, however, clearly has a different vision. Children are wonderfully diverse. They differ in size, personality, interests, strengths, and challenges. God’s children combine to make a group that looks far more like the contents of a bag of trail mix than a tube of Pringles. 

With that in mind, this resource will offer two sets of suggestions. The first will follow the example of architects and educators in thinking about the concept of Universal Design for children’s ministry. The second set of ideas may be helpful as you think about specific individuals in your group who may have differing abilities and need additional supports to be successful in your setting. 

Universal Design for Children’s Ministry

Today’s architects design buildings with the expectation that people of all abilities will need to access the building. They know the elevator will be used by the person who is a wheelchair user as well as people who choose the elevator instead of climbing the steps. This idea of universal design for the physical building includes many features such as braille plaques, curb cutouts, sounds associated with each passing floor on the elevator, and bathrooms built for all kinds of building visitors. In general, 100% of the people who visit will benefit from these built-in options. 

Many educators have also picked up on the idea of universal design, focusing on the area of learning. They build lessons with many options, recognizing that some students will write a report while others will give a speech or make a visual presentation. 

​Architects and educators expect from the beginning of the project that people of all abilities will be part of the environment. It’s far easier to make this type of plan from the beginning of the project or lesson than to retrofit a building with an elevator or add in an idea for students of differing abilities later in the session. 

With universal design as our model, what preparation steps and options can we plant within our children’s ministries, recognizing that God creates children with great variation? Here are some ideas to get you started. 

Continue Reading: Universal Design for Children’s Ministry.

​Supports for Specific Children

Congregations that pour energy and effort into universal design options will find that many children who have an area of diagnosed disability can easily attend children’s ministry offerings with no additional support. In addition, children’s leaders know that there are many times when you may suspect a child has some sort of disability, but parents have not shared that information or the child has yet to be evaluated. Once again, universal design features allow you to provide for children of all abilities without singling out any specific child or knowing the specifics of their diagnosis.  

From time to time, however, you will want to learn more about a child and perhaps about an area of challenge. These pages will give you some general guidelines to complement what you already have put in place with the universal design features. 
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• General Tips
• Attention Disorders
• Hearing Loss
• Intellectual Disability
• Learning Disability
• Physical Challenges

Resources

In addition to the ideas expressed above, these resources may provide helpful ideas for your Sunday school program:  

• Accessibility Audit from DisAbility Ministries of the United Methodist Church.
• Autism and Your Church by Barbara Newman is very helpful for teachers who have kids with autism or other disabilities in their class. Though the book’s main focus is on autism, the basic template for inclusion (talking with parents, learning as much as one can about the child, using forms provided to gather helpful information, etc.) is appropriate for welcoming any child with differing abilities.   
• Every Child Welcome by Jolene Philo and Katie Weatherbee supplies many ideas to add to the suggestions for universal design in children’s ministry settings. 
• Helping Kids Include Kids with Disabilities by Barbara Newman is a wonderful how-to manual for teachers of children in church programs. It offers practical suggestions and short session plans for helping groups of elementary-age children understand and welcome into their group a child with differing abilities.  
• 10 Simple Ways to Create a Sense of Belonging for Children and Adults with Disabilities by Marianne Holman Prescott from Church News.
• Leading a Special Needs Ministry: A Practical Guide to Including Children and Loving Families by Amy Fenton Lee.