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
When access becomes discipleship: communication
We explore how communication barriers keep many disabled people outside church life and lay out practical tools that welcome them in. From captioning and ALDs to AAC, ASL, and visual schedules, we share strategies any church can adopt to turn access into discipleship.
• scale and impact of disability on church participation
• hearing impairments and practical fixes
• speech and language disorders supported by AAC and visuals
• intellectual disabilities using simple, concrete, repeat
• visual impairments with Braille, large print, and description
• mobility barriers that limit interaction and how to remove them
• baseline practices every church can implement now
• training interpreters and launching ASL pathways
• partnering with professionals and forming an accessibility committee
• building a culture of feedback, iteration, and belonging
For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books The Indispensable Kid and Gospel Accessibility and Indispensable People
Hi, my name is Tracy Coral 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 is 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, season three, episode one of Indispensable People. I am ready to talk about communication. Communication is a big topic across any board. It is incredibly important, but it does not look the same for every single person. So we're going to talk about the challenges, um, who and what type of disabilities that they're connected to, and some strategies on how we can support those individuals within our churches and our events and outreaches to make sure that communication is not a barrier and that we have considered all areas. If you can only imagine uh if you were not able to either hear or speak or both, how that would impact your interactions with people across the board. Consider the intense amount of isolation, feeling left out, not sure what people are asking of you. You want to comply or you want to follow through on directions and instructions, but you aren't sure what someone is saying. And it's not only can I speak or can I hear, but communication is also language that is processed. And so there can be some challenges with processing that impact the way that we communicate. So we need to think and understand that there are unique challenges that you may never have uh understood or heard about. And um, so let's really first take a picture of um the different types of disabilities and how that impacts communication. So the first and really um kind of probably easier to think of is hearing impairments. And um, let's consider the impact first. Individuals with hearing impairments may struggle with verbal communication and understanding spoken language in noisy environments. Now, here's what you need to remember hearing impairments doesn't mean that you are completely deaf, that you cannot hear at all. It may be that you struggle in certain atmospheres. So um, again, if it's uh understanding spoken language in noisy environments, um, that could be a challenge as well. So it's you can hear, but it's harder to decipher in certain environments or at certain pitches and tones and things like that. Um, these individuals may rely heavily on lip reading, sign language, or assistive uh listening uh devices. So, what are some strategies that we can employ in the church specifically with this? Um, we can use sign language interpreters, um, closed captioning, visual aids can significantly enhance communication. Um, all of those different types of strategies. And the great thing is creating visual aids is simple, it's not costly. Closed captioning, a lot of our video creating um tools that we utilize already include the option to do closed captioning at no extra cost. Sign language interpreters, you can um potentially find an individual within your congregation that has that capability and then maybe has a community of people that could come together in helping that. Um, you also may want to offer some sign language classes through your church that could then fuel that group of people, fuel and equip that group of people to serve within the church. Another um area of disability that we need to consider are speech and language disorders. Speech and language disorders can range from difficulties in just articulating words to challenges and actually understanding, taking in what has been said. These affect an individual's ability to participate in conversations, um, express needs, follow directions, um, just regular interactions. Um, so what are some strategies that we can use? Um, you may have heard of an AAC device or an augmented alternative communication devices. Um, these are individuals who may be using um an iPad where they can touch buttons and the iPad puts together um sentences and phrases or you know, simple yes, no answers, those kinds of things. Um picture boards are a great option, and those are actually really easy to create. Um, you can find free options just with a Google search. Um, Canva also has some that are already created and made for you. Um, you can even um individualize them for that particular person and their need. You can also utilize those communication boards and um tie them to your um, especially kids' church Bible lessons and youth, um, your sermons, those kind of things, so that they can interact with the specific things that you spoke about. Um, those are really great um options for those individuals. Again, visual aids are going to be incredibly um valuable at this point as well. Next, we're gonna consider some intellectual disabilities and how that impacts um language communication. Um, we need to consider that um some of these individuals have challenges that might include um memory, problem solving, and processing information. And this might make it difficult for those individuals to follow a complex discussion and remember key information that you spoke about. So um here is the formula that we tell strategy-wise for a lot of things simple, concrete, repeat. So those individuals who have struggles with processing information, um problem solving, memory issues, um, and remembering that key information. If you keep it simple, make it concrete and repeat it. That's going to be your highest probability of being able to uh grow and help and disciple and make sure what you have communicated has been received. Um simplifying that language using visual aids. Again, visual aids are going to help across the board no matter who you are and what your disability is. Um, provide written materials that are clear, have large fonts, and can help individuals with cognitive disabilities. Um, it will help them to better understand and engage with what you are sharing. Um, and this goes even for um friendships and building relationships and that kind of thing. Um, some of these strategies will apply with visual communication aids and uh, you know, the AAC device, um, utilizing simple language whenever you are communicating, all of those kinds of things. Another individual that you need to consider when it comes to communication is an individual who may experience visual impairments. And again, this is the same thing with a hearing impairment. Uh, visual impairment does not mean that you are fully blind, it could mean you have limited vision or um in certain environments and different things. All it visual impairment can be across the board. So partial blindness to complete blindness, impacting the ability to read printed materials or see visual cues during interactions. So I said earlier, visual cues across the board is going to be very, very helpful. This is one area that it's going to be a struggle. Um, but here are the things that you can provide, some strategies that you can go with using braille materials, audio descriptions, large print resources. Um, all of those things can enhance uh the communication experience with an individual with a visual impairment. And we want to really consider those verbal descriptions of visual content during services and sharing videos. All of that is incredibly helpful. Um, another individual we want to consider is someone with mobility impairments. While you may think, okay, how does a physical disability impact communication? Um, primarily affecting the physical accessibility, mobility impairments can impact communication if individuals are unable to physically engage in activities that facilitate interaction. Also, I mean, this this is a silly representation, but it's a very true realistic representation. Um, an individual using a wheelchair in a group of all individuals who are standing, that communication is going to be impacted because the interaction becomes somewhat limited. So we want to consider and make sure that we remove physical barriers and that we have, you know, adequate seating, ways to participate in all of those kinds of things. So the physical disability can have physical barriers that keep from natural communication and interaction. So we want to make sure within our churches that we are creating environments that include and consider all individuals with their potential needs. Now, can you meet every need off the bat? You've got it all lined up at your church. You don't have any of these individuals in your church, but you're gonna do it all. Not necessarily. There are some basic things that you can have in order, which considering um, again, closed captioning on your videos, that is an easy, easy start that will impact and benefit all people that you're serving. You can have those visuals that are available, especially in um your uh more scheduled type events, outreaches, and um kids' church youth that follow a pretty distinct um schedule. Um, visuals can be very, very helpful in those um settings. You want to make sure that that you understand that um you're gonna meet people and they're gonna come in with needs and they're not all gonna match, they're not all gonna be the same, and that's okay. But the key will be getting to know that individual, asking those questions of how we can best serve them, and um trying our best to meet their needs with what we have access and availability to. So, um, how can we defeat the communication challenges across the board? Now we have a little bit of understanding of some disabilities and and their needs, but we want to um not just keep this information to ourselves, right? We want to help our congregation understand. We want to build um awareness and then also um equip and resource them, right? If we have these availabilities and in the church, we want to make sure that if we have a communication aid, such as a communication board or or device that um our congregation knows that that's available and how it can be used and where it can be used. So we want to make sure that we're again resourcing and equipping. Um, again, we're gonna go, let's go over some of those um communication aids again, more specifically. Um, one thing I didn't mention earlier was an assistive listening listening device, an ALD. Um, it's designed to help individuals with hearing impairments amplify sound and reduce background noise. Um, in a church setting, these devices can really be useful during sermons, choir performances, and group discussions. That's a real big one. Um, the again, I'm gonna mention the closed captioning and subtitles. Um, this is fantastic for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. Um, they can be recorded sermons um that can be made available. They could be your announcement videos on Sunday morning. Um, it allows those individuals to participate and fully understand and hear what's going on because they have had an alternative um communication aid. The AAC devices are augmented and alternative communication. Um these help immensely those with um speech or language impairments and they they can really range. I mentioned earlier um the iPad, um, they can be just a picture board. Um they um, you know, so it can go from, you know, I just printed this off of my computer to thousands of dollar communication boards, and you're gonna see them differently and people are gonna interact with them differently. And some of it is it is specifically because this is what has worked, this is what the family could afford, this is what um the individual can use more independently in comparison. So they won't all look the same, but they're are similar in um in usage and goal. Um again, I mentioned earlier sign language interpretation communication um is heavily impacted when you can't hear what's going on. And you think from worship to um the sermon to having conversations with others and friends, um, how just incredibly difficult that would be to navigate if you um had no way to hear. And so um having a sign language interpreter is very, very valuable. We have recently um within the last year begun that at my home church, and um it has just had a ripple effect and um has really helped us reach a group of people that we would not have otherwise. And the interaction and the communication and the um relationship building that's happening because of that availability. And we started a Sunday school class that is growing and teaching others so that um, you know, the weight just isn't on just a small few. But also, not only is it so that they can interpret, but so that we can more easily build relationships and disciple through it whenever you have more people that have that ability to do it. And so um, here are some things that I want to remind you. Um, don't be afraid to collaborate with professionals. There are people out there that have access to information and um tools that um you may not uh fully understand or know how to access. And so they could come in and they could teach you and they could show you. Um, also, those professionals might very well be right in your church, and so you have a bigger access that you didn't even realize. Um, we want to continue to encourage um a continuous open dialogue about the needs of the individuals in your church, how you can grow and include them, and um consider creating um an accessibility commute committee that assesses because um the world of disability changes grows. There's so much that's being developed and available that it's difficult to keep up with. So having a group of people that could kind of bind together to be purposeful in that would be a huge benefit. Creating a ministry that truly embraces accessibility and inclusivity requires dedication and creativity and collaboration. We want to make sure that we're understanding the communication challenges that are faced by individuals with disabilities, and we want to utilize and offer appropriate accommodations so that the church is making sure that people feel welcomed, they feel valued, they feel included, and communication is absolutely key to making sure that that happens. Thank you for join joining me today and remembering that open doors of open communication makes the gospel accessible, builds relationships in incredible ways, and leads to disciples who will then disciple who make disciples and keep on growing because that is what we are as the church. Those who know Jesus, grow in him, and serve him so others can come to know him too. Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not. But we are gonna 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. So join us on our next episode, episode four, where we're gonna talk about putting people in boxes. 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.
