...until this Catholic mom had a child with a disability, she says, she was afraid of people with disabilities. Now, she says, she understands that we are all broken and disabled.
She writes of the lack of accessibility in churches, stating that very often, it is infinitely easier to live without taking the Eucharist than it is to try to attend a Mass with a handicapped person. She speaks about how the pews in churches make no allowances for wheelchair seating, how there are no changing areas for a child with a disability and there are no quiet areas for them to quiet down. She writes about the difficulty obtaining religious education for her child.
She says she understands the expense but that it keeps people away from Christ. She writes of the need for us to present a unified front against the culture of death. She says we need to provide a safe place for those with disabilities and to stand up and say we are not afraid of disability. She urges people to say Hello and let their love overflow toward others.
She says it much better than anyone could who has not lived with a child with a disability.
Please click above to read about her experience.
5 comments:
It is terrible that more churches are not more accomodating... We have a parish locally that just started a Mass with a sign language interpreter for the deaf. But I cannot understand how there wasn't one sooner.
Then again, we are terribly behind in accomodating the deaf where I live so it's not a surprise.
The Duh Department: It suddenly dawned on me as I read this post that the "culture of death" concept must include the ways we kill off Spirit and spirit.
Meredith
Isn't it indeed our own brokenness that stops us from including those with disabilities? This is a heartbreaking piece. I live in a very poor country and we may not have all of the physical accommodations but people are, I suspect, more tolerant and no one would have to be forced to take a child home. Why do people feel entitled to give nasty looks when such a child causes a slight disruption? They need to think about why they are in church and thank God it is not their child who needs that tolerance.
Yesterday when I was in church I dropped some of the bulletins I was giving out. This man got mad at me and called me a retard and said I shouldn't be doing it if I wasn't trained. He said I was too slow.
I am not retarded. I just have CP. The priest told me that everything is OK and he told the man to hand out some bulletins too instead of criticizing and gave him a big stack! I get treated like that alot but when it happens in a church it's harder. But the priest made me laugh.
I am a young wheelchair user. I recently visited America and was shocked at how badly I was treated compared to how it is in Europe. The attitude of some people was very poor toward my wheelchair and the more I tried to get around and sightsee, the more obvious it became that these were not isolated incidents. I was with a university group but if I was traveling alone I think I would not have seen everything I wanted to see. There were ramps in many places but people jostled me, blocked me and were rude. They even made ignorant remarks as if proud of their backward attitude. Shocking! There is a need for more awareness on this issue world wide.
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