Special needs in Children's Ministry

This area of the site covers a whole range of special needs that children may have - some permanent and others temporary:

• Physical disabilties that are permanent eg cerebral palsy, visual impairment or hearing loss; or only temporary eg a broken leg.
• Learning difficulties that include behavioural problems, dyslexia, autism or down syndrome.
• Needs arising from self-inflicted problems including self-harm, anorexia, bulimia, drug and alcohol abuse.

In the UK we all have a legal requirement to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act but often we wait for children with specific needs to join our groups before we think about addressing those needs. Shouldn't we be making more effort to show that we are ready to welcome any child into our groups by having clear strategies in place before the need arises?

Every church won't be able to achieve everything on the following list, but we ought to review our provision regularly and aspire to achieve:

• Wheelchair access, ramps, hearing loops and toilet access for all forms of disability - not just for the main church but for all halls and rooms where children meet.
• Training for all children's workers in disability issues (including some trained in sign language) so they can encourage and enable children with disability to integrate into children's groups and activities.
• Respite care - people trained to be buddies to children with special needs, sitting with them in church or spending time with them in a sensory room set up for safe play or exploration.
• Trained children's councellors.

CCPAS produce a Special Children, Special Needs training DVD for churches.

Through the Roof is a UK Christian charity working with disabled people and has useful information for churches on its web site www.throughtheroof.org.

Parents will always be your best source of information about the specific needs of individual children but there are leaftlets and web sites which provide basic information about particular disabilities.

One child in twenty has some form of learning disability and most of them benefit from the use of visual symbols as a method of communication. 

We invite you to share stories of best practice where children with special needs are integrated into your children's ministry.

What are the particular issues integrating children with special needs into your groups?

How have you successfully modified activities to engage all children?

Join in the forums or share your experiences.