Victoria - Well, welcome to segment two of week eight. You're going to hear  some more from Barb, and then I just want to share a couple of other things that have come up, that I've learned about that I want to pass on to you. And so have a look at what Barb has to share as we talk about strategies to use with persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Listen to Barb and then I will  share some more. 

Barb - I'm excited to think now about some strategies we might be able to use  again. These will vary very much with the individual that you're thinking about,  but I think I can hand to you some overall strategies that I often think about  when I'm interacting with a person with an intellectual disability. So first of all, I  would really encourage you to ask the right question. Do you know at this point  what that right question might be? Here, I'll give you a choice, what can't this  person do, or what can this person do? Do you remember how I talked about  that? How you can ask, what can't this person do? But it will lead you to zero  strategies to try. If you ask, What can this person do? You now have some tools  that you can use. And so again, we're talking about those things that allow this  person to interact with with life in a significant way. So we're looking for, can this  person point to something? Can this person have meaningful eye gaze? Can  this person delight in a particular movie? Can this person enjoy a smile every  time music is played? You know? What is it unique to this person that can be  pulled out and be applied to where you are? So that you can engage with this  person more easily, I think so often. Again, a reminder and a strategy, you need  to find out how you can use that individual's gift. So what does that person love  to do? What is that person good at? How can we employ that? And again, there  are many different choices with this. I would say you may have a person who  they're going to be a bulletin distributor. That person might have a lot of joy and  energy by the by the door, and that would be a great fit for that person, very  social, engaged, and would do that well. You might have somebody who's an  offering collector. You might have somebody an offering collector. I just have to  tell the story. There was an individual who had no words to speak. But as an  adult, church was her favorite place to go because she was so good at sorting  money. And I know that giving now is often done by texting it in, but at this point,  it was still all going through these offering plates, right? She was part of the  deacon team. She'd go to their Deacon parties because she cut so much time  off their counting. She would go back with them and would sort all the money  that they would count, because she was so good at that, and she loved to sort  money. So church was this great place to go, because it's like way more money  than it was in most of our piggy banks each week. And it was this, this joy filled  time, sometimes again a person that I know was called up to be part of a story  that the pastor was telling as part of their message, but this person didn't have  words to say. So this individual was part of the story as the tree, and the tree 

was a pivotal part of the story. And so there were different props that were put in  this person's hand, but this person was very much, very engaging part of this  drama and could be could do well. They again factored in that holding this pose  was something this person could do, whereas speaking apart was not going to  be successful for this individual, another individual, one of this person's gifts was being very tall. They had a habit of holding this red cloth over a door. Now go  with with the blessing of Jesus Christ in your life, into the world, and they would  drape this cloth between two people over an exit, and people could choose to  walk out that exit. And interesting. He was so tall that they made him a  permanent spot on one side, whereas his partner would change throughout the  throughout the months. But it was a wonderful chance. Again, what can this  person do? You know what it might be this, but this person was giving that  blessing through that red cloth to people as they were leaving. I have so many  impossible stories to tell about this. One of them is very personal, and then one  that I have heard of happening at a congregation when we remember to use the  gifts find those places of service for an individual. So one is very personal. And I  often say, I think sometimes we have in our mind that there's this Holy Spirit  Junior, that there are some people, like children, perhaps, or a person with an  intellectual disability that might have less of a Holy Spirit or a Holy Spirit Junior  that that concept just isn't there in Scripture, right? So I don't know why I was so  surprised by this, but I directed a drama team, and it was an inclusive set of  students. We went from church to church, and it acted out the salvation  message the person. And played the role of Jesus. Happened to have Down  syndrome, and he did this in a powerful way. He was a very good actor, but we  went out often, and to be honest, it had been a really bad day at my home.  Things were not going as planned, but I had to show up, like I'm sure many of  you have to do from time to time, and put on that smile and stand up in front of  the group and pretend that it was okay. And you know what? I faked out every  single person there, except for Jonathan. Why God chose to show Jonathan  what was going on? I don't know. But as I was just breathing, because we were  almost ready to start the service, and I managed to get everybody in line, we  practiced and we were ready to do this. There he was with his arm around me,  and he said, You sad? I pray. And he did. I didn't understand all of the words that he said, but it was a powerful prayer. It was a prayer spoken at the at the pull of  the Holy Spirit on his heart for me. God told Jonathan that I was sad, and I faked out every other person in that place, but God busted me through Jonathan and  what healing God brought to my life in the form of that relationship and in that  person who cared enough about me to sit beside me and pray for me and was  obedient to the Spirit's call to do that I will never forget that day as just this  powerful reminder. Use the gifts another story, just because sometimes I think  stories are so helpful and instructive. There was a church, and I wrote about this in a book I wrote called bodybuilding, which is a series of devotions. So if you 

have that and read it, you'll recognize this, but it's it was a story that that came  from a church. There was a family, there a couple, they were going to have a  baby, and through testing, they had found out that this baby was going to have  Down syndrome. And they were really asking, God, a lot of questions, what  does this mean? Would this baby ever talk? Would this baby eat pizza with this  baby? Ever say, I love you, Mom, what would this baby be like? Would this baby ever know God? They didn't know they had all these questions and were given  the option, of course, to terminate the pregnancy. In fact, it was being sort of  pushed on them. So as they were praying about this, they opened up a flyer that they had gotten, and it had several churches in the area, and they picked one at  random. Well, they thought it was at random, right? They just picked one. It  seemed close to their house. They thought they'd show up. They didn't go very  often, but they thought today they should. Well, since we don't have a God that  does much at random, you won't be surprised that this church that they chose  happened to really value making sure everybody could use their gifts in that  place. So sure enough, they walk in the door and who greets them but a young  man with Down syndrome, who is friendly, engaging, welcoming to that place  and the person and then found out they were visiting. And as he was bringing  them to the visitor station, which is how they handled it in this church, this  couple just burst into tears, and by the time they got mopped up, and, you know, back together, they just expressed God answered every one of our questions in  the form of the man who greeted us today by the tour at random. No, that's why  God uses his kingdom players when, when we're put into play, when we're given the chance to be in action. God doesn't do things at random, but carefully  selected. This church that valued the gifts of each person who was there, put  that young man who had gifts for greeting, gifts for welcoming, gifts for  enthusiasm at that door. So God could send that couple who gave birth to that  little child with Down Syndrome who grew up in that family and in that family of  God, what a powerful story we need to make sure all of our kingdom players are at bat, that we all are in there, doing our jobs. And I just think those are two  examples, one very personal, one very powerful. Two from an other church  community. And I would dare guess, if we opened it up for stories, they would  come pouring in, the things that we have learned, the ways that we have grown,  the gifts that persons with intellectual disabilities or whatever have poured into  our lives, those people who had been routinely separated into institutions, cut off from society, put down in another room, whatever it might be. Boy, when we do  life together, that's where we can really learn and grow with one another. So use the gifts there enough enthusiasm about that. 

Victoria - So glad you can hear from Barb again. I just want to share a little bit of  some things that I've experienced since Barb's passing, because I want to pass  them on to you. So a couple of experiences that I think can be really helpful as 

we think about individuals. Individuals with intellectual disabilities, are some  adaptations that have worked well. So some things like using bells to be a part  of the bell choir during singing, if using their words and voices is not an option  for them, participating in drama and acting out Bible stories is a favorite of many  people with intellectual disabilities, and I got the joy of being a part of actually a  basketball trivia game at one Bible study, specifically with people with intellectual disabilities, they may love shouting out the trivia answers, and that meant that  they could go then and shoot hoops until they made the basket. And so there's  just a lot of fun ways to adapt what it means to be a part of our Bible study time,  our learning time, our worship time and our fellowship times and our service  time. So one thing that I thought was a brilliant option from someone was to light a candle for a prayer concern or a joy. So again, an option when words are not  our specific avenue of choice to be offering a prayer. But here's what one  student in the USA says from a previous version of this course. So the student  says, I have many examples to choose from, but I want to talk about my  daughter. She's so loving and kind. She cares about all people and animals.  She'll do anything you ask of her, even if she doesn't know how sometimes  these are her pinks, as well as some of the areas of struggle, but, but she has  difficulty communicating how to do things, and struggles to understand them. So things like the dishes may not be put away in the right or even a decent spot, or  may not have been washed with soap. She might get upset when she can't  understand or She misunderstands something that was said to her, and in these moments, she has a harder time calming herself down. So she's she's been put  to work using her gifts, though. So listen to this. She makes cards, she helps to  clean up after potlucks and so much more. She brings a smile to everyone's  face at church. And she truly is a gift from God. Another student, this person in  Latvia, says, Sometimes my friend, finds it difficult to understand what's being  said during the message, placing the main points of the message on a screen  and adding pictures to assist him in understanding what is being said. He can  retain the points of the message and finally, this person in the US shares that in  our congregation, many people happen to have disabilities, and there are  children and adults who have Down syndrome. And in our Sunday school,  someone who cannot walk, talk or feed herself and uses a wheelchair to get  around. And so in our Sunday school, we have so many children and people in  our Sunday school that have a variety of disabilities and diagnoses, and since  our church has hundreds of people with vast differences in abilities, we have  tools that allow everyone to join our congregation. My Church has a program  called buddy up where children who need extra attention, can worship and learn about Jesus in an environment where they feel comfortable while their  guardians get to participate in church without distraction. And so I want to share  these stories and examples from students. I know there's some of the concepts  that we've already talked about throughout this course, but I just want you to 

know that students are trying them. Churches are doing these things, and it's  helping. I do want to note that this person was talking about that buddy up and  allowing their families to worship separately, and just reiterate that we don't want to separate or segregate people, but sometimes it is more appropriate to do  things at an individual level, while their families might be doing something a little  bit different. So if we can do things all together, like light a candle that doesn't  require words, that's going to be a very inclusive practice. And if we might have  someone who goes to be a part of the bell choir for a time that might be  separate from their other family members who are worshiping using their words  at that time, and that could be done together, but it might be, we need to go and  practice that at separate times, right? So just want to think about that. I want you to hear from Barb now for a few more minutes, as she talks about some other  strategies, and as she talks more specifically about that kind of buddy up idea,  and what that can be pictured like, and some of the beautiful things that come  from those stories. So have a listen to Barb 

Barb - many times, whether you call them buddies, friends, whether you call  them sidekicks. I don't know what word friendships. You're pairing people up  discussion partners. I don't know whatever word you you think includes the fact  that we are two puzzle pieces that are choosing to link together, share our gifts  with each other and compensate for one of one another's areas of need that  would be buddies, right? So together, you can do the class together. You can be  part of youth group together. You're part of an Adult Bible study, whatever that  might be. And just in case you were wondering, that's my son, John, that's his  friend, Ryan. They've. Been together a lot of years, and they're both significantly older now, but just a fun thing. They were in that inclusive drama together, so  they formed this bond that I know doesn't break. They go out to movies together. They just they prefer each other, and that's just a beautiful story of friendship as  well. So buddies can be helpful. And I think, you know, think about how we pair  up. Please don't train people to take care of somebody with an intellectual  disability. Train up people to be part of one another's lives in that puzzle piece.  Match up, multi sensory approach. How many times have we said this in how  many areas? But it's really important again, bring in those extra pieces you can  be part of a worship service. But what if this person, if the pastor knows that this  person, would do well with a couple of pictures or a couple of objects to really  make it meaningful? Could you arrange for that? Would somebody be  responsible for pulling those together? Should it be the pastor or somebody that  the pastor designates to say, Hey, would you make sure that you get Hank these three items before the worship service today, I have a copy too. I'm going to hold up, but let's bring them close to Hank. What would make that meaningful for  Hank? So a multi sensory approach is important. I love this phrase, and maybe  this can help guide especially as we think about inclusive settings, the same 

space, same time, same activity, possibly different goals. So again, we've got  the same materials, but the goal might be, instead of creating this beautiful  mask piece, it might be sniffing the paper into different pieces of snow that's  going to be glued on to something. So again, it might can happen in the same  place, in the same time, but there might be some different goals. Maybe we've  got some materials that allow us to enter in. So so we've got the same Bible  story, but we've got some different ways of introducing those. So I hope that  that's a helpful image in being together. I suppose it's possible to say, Barb, why  are you really pushing for that togetherness? And I think partly because I've  witnessed so many of those exclusion times, and not only did that lead to great  hardship and persecution, for lack of a better term in the US, but I often think our students, especially here, are used to going to school with people of all abilities.  They're part of classrooms together, and PE together, and art class together,  they go to the library, and people are together. People are together, and then we get to church, and what a second grader is seeing is they're seeing that people  with disabilities go to room seven. So instead of Rachel being part of this group,  Rachel is being sent away. Well, you've clearly communicated to those second  graders what happens to people with disabilities in a church setting? We can be  together in school, we can be together in the library, we can be together in  grocery store or the movie theater, but we can't be together in church because  it's room seven. But I would contend if they have had a chance to be together,  not only do you set the stage for some of those stories that I told you earlier  about friendships and about opportunities to know one another. Yep, we might  need to bring in some different people or activities, but we've created a  community where people value one another's puzzle pieces. We've given  people a chance to know what that's like, and when those second graders grow  up to be the Bible study leaders, the people who are in charge of writing the  Litany for Easter, how easy will it be for them to write a part for Rachel into the  litany? Because they've done that since second grade. She's just part of the  community. How do we build that kind of place where it's just normal, it's just  what we do. That's how we live life here at this church. So I would encourage  you to think about that. Think about the message that you're not just sending to  Rachel, but you're sending to Rachel's peers, and what happens in that setting.  So clearly, I think it's important that we consider that, and yet, I'll concede that  there are some times when a church has come to me and said, But Barbara,  this is not working. We cannot keep this child in the space. We've had one that  they can't be by any germs will cause significant issues. We've had another  where that setting just sets off so many behaviors that there are so many risks  for people who are part of that environment. And I said, Well, okay, but then  could we have some separate spaces, but figure out a way to keep people  together. And so this one church had a great plan. They sort of had a space, but  they also shared a prayer wall. So in the fourth grade, where this child was, 

would have been a fourth grader, they put up a picture of the child. They got  prayer requests from the child's parents. Every week they would pray for their  friend when they walked into church together, they would greet their friend, and  also that friend would sometimes make things for the other fourth graders in that separate space. So they were preserving the body as much as they could, while also acknowledging that in order to do life at this congregation, this particular  child needed to be in a different arena, and they kept, again, trying to make  forays into that area, and until it worked, they had some options built in for that  person in personalized planning. So again, that's my bias, only because we  learn from each other. We need one another. And had Jonathan not prayed for  me that day, I would have been left in a really difficult place. God could use  Jonathan in that setting. So I just think, be careful with that. When you build  separate room sevens, be careful with that. But part of that then is also  acknowledging that we need to equip our peers and leaders. And again, there  are so many different ways to do that. We're going to dive into that even more in the last session, but I just really wanted to highlight that again. Here is preparing people to see the gifts, handing out those eyeglasses, letting them understand  how this person communicates. What is that like? I was absolutely delighted. I  was at Zeeland Christian the other day, and there's some fourth graders who've  been together a long time. And the girl that's part of this group, it is this natural  belonging friendship that happens. And this little girl, she as a fourth grader, still  has a very few words to say her IQ, you know, I would guess is maybe in the  30s. Would be my guess that's considered in the fairly low range for a person  with an intellectual disability. But giant smile and they're making baskets  together and they're cheering for each other. This little girl has had invited all the girls to her birthday party. Everyone came, and now this other child who is in in a wheelchair and needs significant self care, they're inviting her over for  sleepovers. I have no clue how they're figuring out the arrangements, but they'll  figure it out. They just want to be together. And so again, I think in many  congregations, this child would have been in some kind of, perhaps another  space, but I watched what happens as these girls continue to be together, and  guys in the class too, but these bonds that have formed and they they love each other, and what a gift that they've had to be together. So again, sometimes we  have to use those times to equip our peers and leaders. We've spent a lot of  time so that they understand how to communicate, what makes her smile, what  doesn't make her smile, and they know, they know, and they prefer each other.  So that, again, is part of that we've given a lot of strategies in the autism section. So I will just say, as we think about this, that one of the other things that we'll  need to talk through is mix and match those strategies. Yep, maybe it's a timer.  Maybe it's not one with a clock face. Maybe you're going to use this time tracker  instead. Where it starts at Green goes to yellow, and when time's up, this red  lights up. So you're not distracted with a clock face. You know, a speech button. 

It's pictures, it's fabric, it's what do you need? I don't know. Might need sound  blockers. You have to get to know that individual and remember to ask the right  question, which is, yes. What can this person do?



पिछ्ला सुधार: गुरुवार, 30 अप्रैल 2026, 11:15 AM