Children with Disabilities in the Church School: An Overview

Sep 5, 2011
Celia Javadi

mobility impaired and loved - Google images

Children with disabilities often look and act differently than other children, with reactions ranging from fear to rejection. We should love them instead.

Adult Reactions to Children with Disabilities

A couple of years ago I was helping in the church school, and spent a good deal of my time caring for a little guy with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It is true that he was needy, developmentally delayed, and not very verbal. At the end of the evening, the main teacher thanked me for helping with him and confided that he frightened her. I thought how sad it was that a grown woman was afraid of a 3-year-old with a disability.

It is reported in the Gospel of Matthew 19:13-15: "Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there."

Children with disabilities have existed in all societies, and have been managed differently by time and place. On the whole, the world has not been kind to them, often keeping them isolated and out of sight. In week-end church schools and vacation Bible schools children with disabilities tend to be mainstreamed. Most churches and other religious organizations are not equipped, nor should they be, to offer separate care for them. On the other hand, church school teachers, often volunteers from many walks of life, do need training on inclusion of children with disabilities into their classes.

Common Childhood Disabilities

Common disabilities encountered in church schools include:

learning disabilities including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
cognitive disabilities including mild-to-moderate intellectual development disorder (MR),
neurological disabilities including autism spectrum disorders,
neuromuscular disorders including cerebral palsy (CP) and muscular dystrophy (MD),
genetic disorders including Down syndrome and phenylketonuria (PKU),
birth defects including cleft lip and palate, FAS, spina bifida,
disabilities that impact health including cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and sickle cell disease,
perceptual differences such as hearing and visual impairments.

This list is by no means comprehensive. Each of the preceding links provides information pertinent to including children with those conditions in the classroom.

Church Response

With disabling conditions in children increasing for known and unknown reasons, it is important for churches and other religious organization to their ensure their safe inclusion in church school programs, and to provide positive learning and social experiences for them. It is important to see them for the persons they are, and to love them for being who they are.

While it is beyond the scope of this article to provide specific training, excellent training programs are available, some free, some at cost. Educators and counselors within churches and other religious organizations may be excellent resources for providing training to church school teacher volunteers. Some of the best trainings give teachers opportunities to experience disabling conditions through simulation or use facilitators with disabilities to provide the training.