March
is Disability Awareness Month. The intent is to bring awareness
to the many disabilities thatr exist, to educate the public about
disabilities, diversities, and to honor the contributions that
individuals with disabilties bring to society. There are many
misconceptions in addition to a lack of acknowledgment or awareness
regarding disabilities. The Immaculate Conception Respect Life
Ministry will have bulletin articles throughout March to bring
awarenbess to disabilities and to celebrate individual lives. Our
resources will be drawn from the Catholic Social teac hings, practical
suggestions and web link resources. Resources and links can be
found on our church website at ic-church.com.
Beatitudes of
Acceptance
- Blessed
are you who take time to
listen to speech that may be slow, for you help me to know that if I
persevere, I can be understood.
- Blessed are you who walk
kindly by
my side, for in your friendship I feel good to be myself.
- Blessed are you who never
bid me to
hurry up, and more blessed, you who do not snatch a task from my hands
and do it for me, for often I need time rather than help.
- Blessed are you who ask
for my help
and realize my gifts and abilities, for you help me to believe in
myself.
- Blessed are you, who help
me with
the graciousness of Christ, because I sometimes need help for which I
cannot ask.
- Blessed are you who, in all ways, assure me that what
makes me an individual is not my particular differences, but my
God-given strengths and virtues which nothing can confine.
Rejoice
and be glad, for you affirm my value as a gifted person, and your
understanding and love have opened the doors of love for me.
The 10 Etiquette Tips For
Communicating with People with
Disabilities:
- Speak
directly rather than through a companion or sign language interpreter
who may be present.
- Offer
to shake hands when introduced. People with limited hand use or an
artificial limb can usually shake hands and offering the left hand is
an acceptable greeting.
- Always
identify yourself and others who may be with you when meeting someone
with a visual disability. When conversing in a group, remember to
identify the person to whom you are speaking. When dining with a friend
who has a visual disability, ask if you can describe what is on his or
her plate.
- If
you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen or
ask for instructions.
- Treat
adults as adults. Address people with disabilities by their first names
only when extending that same familiarity to all others. Never
patronize people in wheelchairs by patting them on the head or shoulder.
- Do
not lean against or hang on someone’s wheelchair. Bear in mind that
people with disabilities treat their chairs as extensions of their
bodies. And so do people with guide dogs and helper dogs. Never
distract a work animal from their job without the owner’s permission.
- Listen
attentively when talking with people who have difficulty speaking and
wait for them to finish. If necessary, ask short questions that require
short answers, or a nod of the head. Never pretend to understand;
instead repeat what you have understood and allow the person to respond.
- Place
yourself at eye level when speaking with someone in a wheelchair or on
crutches.
- Tap
a person who has a hearing disability on the shoulder or wave your hand
to get his or her attention. Look directly at the person and speak
clearly, slowly, and expressively to establish if the person can read
your lips. If so, try to face the light source and keep hands,
cigarettes and food away from your mouth when speaking. If a person is
wearing a hearing aid, don’t assume that they have the ability to
discriminate your speaking voice. Never shout to a person. Just speak
in a normal tone of voice.
- Relax.
Don’t be embarrassed if you happen to use common expressions such as
“See you later” or “Did you hear about this?” that seems to relate to a
person’s disability.
Welcome
and Justice for Persons with Disabilities
A
Statement of the United States Catholic Bishops
Website: USCCB
- Pro-Life Activities - Disabilities
- <> We are a single flock under
the
care of a single shepherd. There can be no separate Church for
persons with disabilities.
- Each person is created in God’s image,
yet there are variations in individual abilities. Positive
recognition of these differences discourages discrimination and
enhances the unity of the Body of Christ.
- Our defense of life and rejection of
the culture of death requires that we acknowledge the dignity and
positive contributions of our brothers and sisters with
disabilities.
We unequivocally oppose negative attitudes toward disability which
often lead to abortion, medical rationing, and euthanasia.
- Defense of the right to life implies
the defense of all other rights that enable the individual with the
disability to achieve the fullest measure of personal development of
which he or she is capable. These include the right to equal
opportunity in education, in employment, in housing, and in health
care, as well as the right to free access to public accommodations,
facilities, and services.
- Parish liturgical celebrations and
catechetical programs should be accessible to persons with disabilities
and open to their full, active and conscious participation, according
to their capacity.
- Since the parish is the door to
participation in the Christian experience, it is the responsibility of
both pastors and laity to assure that those doors are always
open.
Costs must never be the controlling consideration limiting the welcome
offered to those among us with disabilities, since provision of access
to religious functions is a pastoral duty.
- We must recognize and appreciate the
contribution persons with disabilities can make to the Church’s
spiritual life, and encourage them to do the Lord’s work in the world
according to their God-given talents and capacity.
- We welcome qualified individuals with
disabilities to ordination, to consecrated life, and to full-time,
professional service in the Church.
- Often families are not prepared for
the birth of a child with a disability or the development of
impairments. Our pastoral response is to become informed about
disabilities and to offer ongoing support to the family and welcome to
the child.
- Evangelization efforts are most
effective when promoted by diocesan staff and parish committees that
include persons with disabilities. Where no such evangelization efforts
exist, we urge that they be developed.
Additional Disability-Related Resources
