Welcome back segment three of this week, and we are just starting to get  moving on things. It's getting really exciting. As the momentum builds down,  we're going to talk about that third part of the plan, this individualized planning,  and I really just want to kind of welcome you into this topic and think about it,  because universal design means helping kind of en masse, right? It's helping so  that, so that everybody can participate more fully, building in those options,  right? But this personalization happens through really getting to know  individuals, and it's more responsive. So I'm actually just going to call it that  responsive design in worship, it means responding to individuals needs,  whereas maybe Universal Design is proactive in thinking you're going to put  some things in place, just expecting that people with varied abilities will be there. And responsive design is responding, in particular to an individual or a family  who is a part of your congregation who wants to be and you're going to put  some things in place knowing what they need, so you're responding to the  needs that they bring. So what does it look like to personalize some ministry  opportunities and to plan on this? So let's talk about that now. So individualized  planning, or we can call it responsive design in worship, because we're getting  to know individuals, and it takes more time. It takes more intentionality than  implementing universal design, and it seemingly benefits only a few people. So  you might have those who are arguing that, you know, it's too cost prohibitive.  It's simply too expensive, takes too much effort to do, and it's only going to  benefit this one or two people, and we're just not willing to do that. Now, my  theology is telling me that we serve the God who would leave the 99 to go after  the one sheep. But I also want to just encourage that. Sometimes we put things  in place to, yes, benefit one person, because they are worth it, but also we could be unaware of what benefits this could have for a lot of others, and maybe we  put some things in place that we think are responsive design, but turns out, it  actually helps a little bit of everybody, and it becomes universal design. But I  also just don't want to underestimate that we do this because it matters and it  speaks to everyone when we put the intentional effort into doing what it takes for one person to fully participate, because they value, they are valuable to our  community, and they matter. That does speak to every one of us, and is a huge  part of how we build the culture of our communities so responsive design and  worship now a person might have a feeding tube so they can't eat with everyone else, no matter how many options you provide, right? A person might be an  eloper or a runner, you need to put in place some protocols for safety for this  person, or have some other people nearby who can catch the person when  she's running away. Have somebody who is also a fast runner can keep close,  you know, can keep up with them and and this person who loves them so that  you can redirect them, and knows what's going to what it's going to take to  redirect that individual. You might have all kinds of sound options, but this  person is still going to wear their headphones to block out a lot of the noise 

because of the loudness of even the most common interaction can be  bothersome to them. So you might need to rethink what's too loud just because  this person finds it too loud and it doesn't seem to bother everybody else. So  what works for this individual? You might need to rethink how a person is  baptized while in their power wheelchair. You might just need to slow down and  notice that this person is showing off his muscles to you. So what it looks like to  do this responsive design planning is unique as the individuals and the families  involved. That's the idea here, is that you're going to try some things. They might not all work the first time, and that's okay. And it takes communication, and it  takes interaction, and it's a work together kind of process. So you get started by  getting to know me, the individual, the person that this is going to be all about,  right? So they're kind of the heart of this operation. Who is this person? And let's get to know them because this person maybe their name is Grace, right? But  this person fills a specific spot in God's kingdom. They're made for a purpose,  made in God's image. They're a member of the Body of Christ. They're uniquely  gifted. They're important and indispensable. And they may also happen to have  Down syndrome or cerebral palsy or a hearing difference, or whatever the  difference might be. That is not the sole definer of who they are. This is a person you need to get to know whole lot about this person, because they're a whole  person, and you need to plan with the person. It's all about meeting this  individual's needs. So that they can worship with others, so they can learn best,  more about God and just the practices of following the Christian life, their needs  for fellowship and socializing and interacting appropriately with other believers  and being a model for those who are not yet believers and a plan for them to  serve, right? So this person needs to be part of the planning of what works for  them, what are their goals for learning and serving and social interaction and  worship. Let's think about these things with the individual, and then also, as you  plan with the person, think about others. Needs to know about how this is going  to impact the corporate worship, the learning, alongside with the relationships in  these social interactions and receiving from and serving with this person. So you need the plan for the individual, as my mentor used to say, but the other side of  the page is the others who need to know this. So when you have a plan that's  going to work great for the individual, and it includes maybe a flashing light or a  noise, right, or a timer going off, well, that's helpful for them, but you might need  to inform everyone else that that timer is going to go off and what it's for, so that  they're not afraid that you know a fire alarm is going off in your church building  or something. So it's about informing everyone appropriately. And if you're going  to share anything about this individual with the rest of the congregation, you  need their permission, or their guardian's permission to do that. So be careful  about sharing any kind of sensitive information, but using the plan and sharing it  with those who need to know is extremely, extremely helpful. So here's a few  examples from churches that I've worked with, as well as from, again, some 

other students in this course. So first of all, we have some churches who are  planning for individuals about how to conduct the Eucharist right the Lord's  Supper, doing communion with individuals who have limited fine motor stability  and even those who may have trouble swallowing, though they're prepared with  a plan to have someone hand the elements, one at a time, ensuring that the  individual ingests them at their own pace and of their own free will, but with  assistance so that the elements don't get spilled, or maybe it's by softening the  wafer or The bread with the liquid and placing it as far back in the mouth as  possible for that person to swallow without choking. Now, yes, this takes  knowing the person well, but again, right? These are real examples from real  churches who are doing these things so that a person can partake of the Lord's  Supper in a way that works for their physical body, and having the patience and  intentionality to do this with them at their pace. So another great one is churches who've learned to equip persons with epilepsy or seizure disorders with a  seizure emergency backpack. And if they don't have one already that they keep  with them all the time, the church keeps one right handy, so that there's  information and supplies and it's all there in the backpack, which follows this  individual wherever they go. In some cases, a person with medical training is  always in the building when that person is there. I used to work with an  individual who had a seizure disorder, and we always had to have either an EMT or a trained nurse or someone who was at least in the building so that if this  person had seizures and we knew what the emergency protocols were, but then we could also call on that individual who had actual emergency medical training  could help us through that episode. So these are just a few examples of some of those unique differences that people have planned for and been really  intentional about, and it's worked really well. So a couple more examples of  things. Is a student in the US in this course says that animal buddies are great  tools, and these are weighted stuffed animals. So you take the stuffing out of  them and fill it with either some plastic beads, or I've known rice to be used to fill them instead, just to create a heavy object out of this stuffed animals, and so  that individual can carry it with them, but the cost to get enough for everybody,  and the need to keep them clean and washed and sort of personal, would make  it better as an as needed solution for individuals, as opposed to something that  you would provide for everybody. So that's why it's a great responsive design  example. Students also commented, and this is from a student in Ghana, and  the student notes that while these tools can be helpful for this one individual,  they may not even be beneficial or necessary for others, so it may be best to  reserve the use of these kinds of tools for the individual who specifically requires them. So you might have some tools like this, like a weighted stuffed animal in  the room. And it really helps this one individual to participate well, because it's  meeting a need that they have. But if others picked it up, you know, it might be  so heavy that the wood would fall underneath it, for example. So it's not 

something that you would just have out there and say, Oh, this is for anybody to  use at any time. Because it could be detrimental to some Well, it's very helpful to that specific individual for whom it is designed. So that's a great example.  Personalizing the words a student in the country of Georgia, notes for those who struggle with understanding figurative language an interpreter could significantly  enhance their comprehension and overall engagement in church service. And  we're going to talk more about a lot of where these concepts come from and  why these particular strategies, other ones being mentioned, but I just think,  what a great example from this student in the country of Georgia who is saying,  Yep, sometimes it's hard to understand what is being said in our worship  services. And so having a kind of a personal dictionary or a personal interpreter  to help us understand what those words mean. Is a great example of responsive design for an individual. A student in Kenya says Braille Bibles and hymn books  and lesson manuals and church and other church materials have also been  produced allowing visually impaired members to connect more personally with  gospel materials. People with vision impairment are often excluded from taking  part in the church because the community won't wants to show God their quote,  unquote best people and impaired vision can still be seen as a curse. So you're  seeing some cultural connections here to the understanding of disability and  those attitudes in this we'll talk more about that here pretty soon. But again, just  this, this person from Kenya is noting that people with visual impairments, we do put those things in place specifically for them, right? Braille is not going to help  everyone read, but it's going to help those with visual impairments to read and  and so they say giving someone a Braille Bible helps them to be included in this  fellowship of believers in their church. So some great examples to get you  thinking about, what does this look like, this idea of responsive design, and how  you can plan for individuals and their their individual needs as it relates to  engaging in the rest of the congregation. So that is our three part plan, and we  are going to move on next time to like I hinted, at cultural context of attitudes. So have fun. Enjoy looking through the resources and finishing up some of the  readings. And again, those responses. Keep, keep that response assignment,  document or file going, and don't submit it to the very end of the course. I'm  eager to hear your responses to these things, but we're going to do it one step  at a time, one week at a time, and then we're going to, I want you to submit that  at the very end of the course. So hang in there. Week two. Let's move on to  week three. Next. Get started when you're ready.



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