Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
Creating Calm Down Spaces for Inclusive Ministry
Imagine a world where every church has a quiet refuge designed to help individuals manage their emotions and sensory overload. In this dynamic episode of Indispensable People, I, Tracie Corll, recount a humorous tale from my preschool teaching days, where a strategic self-imposed timeout turned chaos into calm. This personal story sets the stage for a deeper conversation on the importance of creating calm-down corners in church settings, particularly for individuals with disabilities. By transforming chaos into clarity, these dedicated spaces ensure that everyone, regardless of their needs, can find peace and participate fully in their faith communities.
Calm down corners are more than just a space; they are a commitment to inclusivity and understanding. We explore how these areas serve as powerful tools for validation and self-regulation, enabling people to transition back into community activities with ease. Through practical strategies and heartfelt discussions, this episode provides valuable insights into fostering environments where emotions are acknowledged, making the gospel accessible to all. Whether you're a church leader, educator, or parent, you'll gain a renewed perspective on building a faith community that celebrates and supports the unique gifts of every individual. Join us as we continue our journey towards a more inclusive ministry.
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas. Hey, hey, and welcome to this episode of Indispensable People.
Speaker 1:Today we're talking about calm down corners, but first let me tell you about a funny story. A few years ago well, a lot of years ago I had a teaching job in a preschool. It was the one and only year that I taught in a preschool and I love those little humans, but there are lots of things that are not the same in preschool, that are in an elementary school, things like one of the students coming out of the bathroom on the first day of school saying, mrs Coral, can you come wipe my butt and let's talk about the copious amounts of snot, and there's just a lot of bodily fluids that come from little humans that deal with them in different ways. However, I loved that year in preschool for a lot of reasons, but I had experience working in the field of disability, which means, apparently, to people that I know everything. That's a complete and total lie and definitely not something that you should think of someone that has had experience working with people with disabilities. Just because you have that doesn't mean you have something special or amazing that will calm all the experiences of every room, of every group of people you'll ever be in. It doesn't work that way. However, because I have worked in the field, the preschool director at that time decided to place 14 students in my preschool room and 12 of those were boys and many of them had higher needs or lots of energy or whatever. But because I have worked with people with disabilities, apparently I was the right person for the job. So they decided, and during that time there are lots of crazy things that happened, lots of things that I had to figure out as I was learning how to teach these kiddos and keep up with their energy and all of that stuff, not to even mention that oh hey, by the way, I was pregnant the entire year that I was teaching preschool year that I was teaching preschool, so that gave its own experience.
Speaker 1:But let me get down to the experience of what happened on one particular day. They were just a little extra wild and things were all kinds of crazy and I needed a shock value experience to bring everybody back to whatever calm that I could find. And so we're in our morning meeting, all the kids are placed on the carpet, we are doing our songs, our calendar, the weather, all of that kind of stuff, and I'm having a hard time keeping the attention of my students. Now I strategically have planned out my day in the classroom where they have times of movement, sitting, still different activities, all of that kind of stuff, and so I really tried to work very strategically in making sure that this high energy class has what they need to be able to focus and to learn. And so one particular day they're just not having it and it was just not going. And so the shock value came.
Speaker 1:I don't know if this makes me a good teacher or a bad teacher or just a desperate teacher right in that moment, but I said, ok, everyone, mrs Coral is going to time out, and I took myself over and I placed myself and I sat down crisscross applesauce in the corner and the whole group of students turned their heads, eyes wide, open, mouths hanging out, thinking, oh my goodness, my teacher just went to time out, so what does that have to do with anything today that we're talking about? Well, we're talking about calm down corners, and what do those look like, how can they be used in a church, and what kind of resources do I need to do it? Well, this one resource that I came across asked this question, and this can be used with a multitude of ages. But the person that I came across asked this question, and this can be used with a multitude of ages, but the person that I'm going to refer to is speaking specifically to children. So she says do your kids need that space where they can go to calm down or take a break when they are frustrated, angry or overwhelmed? And this is what we have to consider when we think about people with special needs, for a bunch of different reasons. First, we can think about the social reasons, the difficulties that they may have interacting in spaces and people, and then the sensory issues that they may have in spaces that have a lot going on. They're new, they have maybe loud things, bright things, smelly things, all of that kind of stuff in a space. Or maybe it is an individual with an intellectual disability that maybe had a run-in with another person and because of their intellectual disability, they're having a hard time working through it, which means they're getting frustrated. Maybe it's someone's feelings have gotten hurt and they're not sure how to regulate through those feelings.
Speaker 1:There are all kinds of things that you can consider that you might run into. For example, I will tell you the story of a little guy who is incredibly intelligent. However, his emotional, social, emotional age is much, much younger than what he is. However, his intelligence when it comes to facts, information, reading abilities and all that kind of stuff are sky high, and so if he doesn't get chosen for a game or some piece of interaction during the service, he gets very, very upset, and usually the strategy of just kind of going hold on, stop for a second. Where are we at? Is this a big problem, a small problem? Is this a? You know what is age appropriate for your behavior? And I'll tell you for an example, when I said something to him the last time and he said their emotions and emotions are okay, and then he does this like really big, like fake cry type of thing, and so we had to work through that moment. But at the same time, he's pulling the attention of the other people towards him, he is causing a disruption in the space, and he needs to be able to work through what he's feeling and dealing with. However, in that particular environment, it was not conducive.
Speaker 1:So what does a calm down corner do? Well, a calm down corner is a space and listen, this can be a calm down basket that you take with you and you move to a different space, or a walk in the hallway. It doesn't have to be a fully designated space. You can use it however you prefer or in whatever space that allows for where you're at. So this basket or space that you're going to pull out is going to have some resources in it. It might have a timer, it might have a Play-Doh, it might have emotion cards, it could have a social story, it could have choices like calm down choices like I feel this, so I'm going to do this kind of like an if then type of statement.
Speaker 1:It has emotion identifiers so they can let you know how they're feeling in that moment, and then it could have the timer, which could play, because obviously you don't want them to spend their whole time in that calm down place. You want them to be able to regulate their emotions and then enter back into whatever's going on. So a timer is a great tool in that moment. So the goal is for them to be able to enter that space or utilize that basket that has an identifier. Then it goes into. The identifier is gonna talk about I feel this way. Then it's going to give choices on what you're going to do to help you in that moment and then it's going to allow you to enter back in. It's going to give you a nice transition.
Speaker 1:All of those things really help that individual who cannot regulate those emotions on their own work through what they're feeling. And the great thing about it because any of us, when we have emotions, the last thing that we want is for people to downplay it and pretend like it's not a thing. Right, we want our feelings to be validated. So this allows the feelings to be validated in a non-disruptive way. It allows the person to work through what they're feeling in a way that doesn't bring negative attention to them, and then it allows them to transition back into the space, which will give them the opportunity to go back in to learning and experiencing the gospel, which is the ultimate goal. So what a calm down corner is not. It is not for discipline, it is not a distraction, it is a place of self-regulation so that they can enter back in. And maybe let me explain a little bit about self-regulation. So when I feel a certain way about something, I can sort through those feelings and emotions and bring myself back to a baseline level that I can participate in life.
Speaker 1:For someone who struggles with regulation, their emotions might keep growing in one direction or another, overly excited and happy and all of that which doesn't sound bad.
Speaker 1:And or the swing to the negative, where I'm sad, I'm angry and I can't get myself out of it. I don't know what to do with the things that I'm feeling, which then typically lead to more frustration and anger, and it becomes a cycle and really, until you hit exhaustion, does that maybe change? So being able to regulate again, identify those emotions, then do something with that emotion, giving you an option of what is appropriate in the moment and next, being able to transition from that calm down space or experience back into what is going on with everyone else, all of those things are ways to make the gospel accessible. It opens the door for Jesus to be heard, but also for people to be validated in their feelings, understood and then have a positive reentry into everything that's going on, and then have a positive re-entry into everything that's going on. The gospel being accessible is most important, but we have to do it through validating feelings, self-regulation and entry back in.
Speaker 1:Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not have all the answers. Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. You.
