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
Beyond Words: The Hidden Language of Inclusion
Communication barriers often prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in church, despite making up 25% of the population. We must transform our perceptions and practices to ensure the gospel is accessible to everyone through effective, respectful communication.
• Communication requires more from the listener than the speaker
• Poor speaking can be overcome by good listening but inattentive listeners miss even great speakers
• People with disabilities face barriers in education, healthcare, employment and churches
• Communication barriers often lead to incorrect assumptions about intelligence
• Assuming competence is critical when interacting with people with different communication methods
• Being patient and willing to slow down enables meaningful two-way communication
• Practical tools like visual schedules, communication boards and basic ASL training make church more accessible
• Clear, direct communication with the individual (not their companions) shows respect
• Easy-to-implement communication tools benefit everyone in church settings
For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensablepeople.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books the Indispensable Kid and Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
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. Thank you for joining me and I hope today is a day that communication is a two-way street and that we can lay some groundwork for effective communication, not pitiful communication, and also acceptance of different ways to communicate so that barriers can be broken down, that the gospel can be accessible, so that people can be full participants and co-laborers in Christ as we minister to them in our churches. Ryan Falk said communication is a two-way street, but communication ironically requires more of the listener than the speaker. Poor speaking can be overcome by good listening, but this best speaker in the world won't be heard if their audience is inattentive. But this best speaker in the world won't be heard if their audience is inattentive and for too long and in too many places, people that are marginalized, including those affected by disability, haven't had a voice In areas of education, health care and employment. People with disabilities often encounter resistance and barriers to their participation and presence, and I want to make sure that those types of things are not going to happen in our church. I know that it is naive of me to believe that it's not happening, and I know that it is, that we are discounting people on their intelligence, on their ability to participate in our churches and their value and worth to the kingdom because of their lack of communication, or lack of communication in the way that we readily accept it, and so the issue is not always on the person with a disability. The issue is often on the receiver, or it is. Maybe the right communication tools are not available, or we're just not aware, or we have some stereotypical perceptions that are impacting the way that we choose to listen to someone. So I really want to dive into the topic of communication today, and I'll tell you.
Speaker 1:It really came from a discussion that I had with another coworker today while I was at school and we were talking about different movies, and there's a new movie out called the Unbreakable Boy, and we were kind of discussing, you know, the good and the bad about that movie, and sometimes I love the awareness that it can bring, but I also struggle with the romanticism that sometimes the movies can put a misunderstanding on families with disabilities, and so we had a conversation about that movie, which then led into the conversation about another movie that's available now I believe it's called Out of my Mind and this particular movie is about a girl who is in high school and she has CP and she is nonverbal. And so what happens? I have not seen the movie so this is only my take on what I have heard about it is that she has no communication devices at first, or very minimal meets the eye, and the school had been downplaying her intelligence and all the other kind of stuff. And then a support person came into her life and started noticing and there were all kinds of layers to this individual that really was very much discounted, and so it led into all kinds of conversations about those individuals and the it brought tears to my eyes. There was one point in the trailer of that movie where the dad walked in to the house and she used her communication device and said hello, how was your day? And it brought tears to my eyes because I'm a mom of a kiddo who, until he was four, didn't have a lot of words to share and because of those lack of words and inability to effectively communicate, we had a lot of really, really hard days and we had to learn how to read his body language and all kinds of other gestures and things like that and the satisfaction of being able to hear the thoughts that are in their minds, them being able to share. That brought tears to my eyes. But it also reminded me of a struggle COVID and I believe I have shared about my loss of communication skills when I was in the hospital and even when I came home I would get partway through the day.
Speaker 1:So to kind of recap really quickly, I had COVID, I was in the ER, I had COVID for almost a week, ended up in the ER, was in the ER for two days and then I was put on a ventilator. I was on a ventilator for nine days and then, when I woke up from the coma that was induced and taken off the ventilator, I would lose my speech partway through the day, whether it was because of, you know, lack of muscle uses or whatever it was. And I struggled in the hospital because obviously it was part COVID and so there were only limited visiting hours and limited visited people, and my husband could only be with me so much because he also had to be with our kids, and so I was on my own to try to communicate to the nursing staff and the aides and whoever else you know came in to communicate with me and I would try to use my phone, but I also struggled at that point really badly with my fine motor. So to type out what I wanted to say took a while and they were very frustrated. Now we're going to give the hospital some credit in the fact that, you know, we're tail end of the massive amount of COVID. They were, you know, well overstretched, well overworked, understaffed, all of those things, and I say that to say that I don't think that the hospital's full of a bunch of terrible people who didn't care. I think the hospital was full of a bunch of people trying to do their absolute best in some of the worst circumstances. So I say that all to say, please don't take this as a kickdown on the hospital or anything like that but there was my husband had told me one particular day before he left.
Speaker 1:He said listen, if you need to use the restroom, make sure you don't wait too long, make sure you let them know ahead of time. I was considered a fall risk so I wasn't allowed out of the bed by myself and so I had to ring for someone to come help me and then be able to use the restroom. So I had pushed the button, pushed the button, pushed the button, pushed the button, but because I had a loss of language at that point I couldn't respond. So I wanted to say I need help to use the restroom or I need to use the restroom or all of those things, but I couldn't. And I'm assuming that at the nurse's station they're thinking I'm just hitting the button by accident, you know, thinking I'm just hitting the button by accident, you know, and probably 45 minutes to an hour later no one has come and I have to use the bathroom and I could not hold it anymore. Also know that I was cathed for that extended period of time while on the ventilator and all other kind of stuff. So using the restroom feels all kinds of urgent and all of that to say because of my inability to communicate and the understanding of those on the other side of the receiving end of the communication. I had a very embarrassing moment while I was in the hospital because what I needed to say couldn't be said and what they needed to hear couldn't be heard.
Speaker 1:So let's talk a little bit about communication, what it looks like and how that plays out in our churches, and the way that we interact with people in our churches and the way that we interact with people. First of all, we need to understand that when communicating with people in church or any situation right, it's crucial to be respectful and as inclusive as possible. We want to speak directly to the individual, we want to use clear language, we want to respect their preferred communication method and we want to offer assistance when needed. And we really, really, really want to avoid assumptions about their abilities, because a lot of times let's just put it this way someone who is in a wheelchair, it's like they're in a wheelchair, so they must not have any intelligence. That might sound really, really off-handed or extreme.
Speaker 1:However, I have a really great friend who has cerebral palsy, also had a spinal cord injury, uses a wheelchair, and I have watched his intelligence be questioned multiple times. I have seen. I've gone to restaurants with him and sitting with him and having a meal where the waitress or waiter refers to me to answer for him, to me to answer for him, and that is, and he has no communication barriers. So oftentimes we assume that certain barriers whether physical, intellectual or communication wise we diminish intelligence. And from what I can tell, that's really what the Out of my Mind movie was really about. It was saying she had so many great thoughts and was incredibly intelligent, but all of that was completely dismissed because of the method of communication that she needed.
Speaker 1:And we want to always assume competence I've said that many times on here before and we want to be sure that we are giving credit where credit is due and even when it's not, because that's just how we respect people and we know that their value and worth doesn't come from their abilities, doesn't come from their intelligence, it comes from their creator. And I said that. I used to say this to my first graders all the time If you wanna say something bad about somebody else or you wanna pick on them, then you're telling God he didn't do a good job and I'm not willing to do that. So I don't think anyone else is probably willing to do that, and I know that sounds extreme and maybe a little elementary. However, it boils it down to a really easy understanding. So what do we do? How do we communicate? How do we step into the understandings?
Speaker 1:First of all, we want to be a place that is welcoming, accepting and valuing. That's simple. That is simple. We want people to know that we can directly communicate with them. To people to know that we can directly communicate with them, I will always be sure that if I'm going to talk about someone or talk to someone, it's to them right? How are you doing? How's this going? Would you prefer this? Would you like that? Do you need? Can I provide you any assistance with that? Can I open the door? Whatever the questions might be, then I need to be open and willing and patient as I receive their communication. Some language barriers are simply processing, so it takes extra time. Some communication is let me use a device so I can share with you what I need. That might be a communication board, that might be a communication device. That might mean gestures, it might mean body language, it could be sign language, all kinds of different ways of communicating.
Speaker 1:And I would say the number one problem, aside from perception of the way that we treat people who communicate differently, is the assumption Assumption. I say this really strongly it's not, it is the patience factor. So it is I don't have time for you, I don't have, I can't wait, I can't slow down. So it is first the problem with the assumption of intelligence because of the way that they communicate differently. Then the second problem is can I slow down long enough to wait for you? Because if they have to communicate through a device, then it's not just as quickly as your thoughts coming out of your mouth and also again back to the processing. They may need time to think about what they're utilizing to deliver.
Speaker 1:So your number one well, two weapons are I am going to assume competence and your second is I am going to be patient and I am going to listen, and intently. And that goes back to this Ryan Falk, where he said you know that communication is the two-way street and poor speaking can be overcome by good listening. Whether that's when he's referring to poor speaking, he's talking about, you know, maybe someone who's addressing sharing a sermon and maybe they're not the most interesting speaker, but also that works for an individual who struggles to communicate or has barriers to communicate and we have ways that we can step outside of that. Again, assuming competence, being patient, but then in our communication to them, being clear, not jumbling things up. Sometimes I have a habit of having that awkward silence and wanting to step in and say something else, where I need to give that other person a moment to say and share what they need to.
Speaker 1:I think that those are our number one things, but we also need to be open to the types of communication. We also need to maybe have some options readily available, especially if you are a church and you're serving the kids, teens or adults in those spaces, whatever your leadership status is or your volunteer status, to have a few communication pieces available. For example, one of the things that I use is a cheaply made slap bracelet that has things like yes, no bathroom drink, like snack food, like I'm hungry kind of a thing on it, where it's just pictures and if there's a struggle with communication, those are our basic needs. That can be met Right. Another thing that I would suggest is a visual schedule. Having that visual schedule available is an easy way to communicate with someone. Also, pre-made communication boards Maybe they go along with the Bible lesson, maybe they are basic things in the church, availabilities like that, maybe even having a picture map of the church so that the individual can indicate to you where they would like to go in the building, all of those kinds of basic things. And also I would recommend that greeters, parking lot attendants and all of those individuals have some basic ASL signs available, ready to pull out. Again, simple things like the restroom or a drink or, you know, knowing where to sit, those kinds of things that they could easily have access for easy communication.
Speaker 1:Communication is a two-way street. Often we need to be really good listeners to no matter who is speaking to us. When we are good listeners, we break down barriers and we make the gospel accessible. It's as easy as changing our perceptions, opening up the access, being patient and having some tools in our tool 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. For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensablepeoplecom and visit Amazon to purchase the books the Indispensable Kid and Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
