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
If-Then, Now-Next
We share simple tools—if-then and now-next—that lower anxiety, improve transitions, and open real access to worship and community for people with disabilities. The focus is practical, personal, and rooted in a vision of social and spiritual accessibility.
• the scale of disability and the church participation gap
• individual needs first, not one-size-fits-all
• social and spiritual accessibility beyond physical access
• who benefits from if-then and why
• visual supports, concise language, consistent use
• now-next for transitions and predictability
• choice within structure to build ownership
• measuring success by engagement and peace
• inclusion as a seat at the table in the church
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 of Indispensable People. Thank you for joining me, and I am super excited to talk about this topic, which is using some strategies such as if then and um some now next. And we're gonna talk about how that works, who that works with, um, and what ways you can use it in your ministries, events, and um just conversations to help those with different types of disabilities um interact, understand expectations, um, lower anxiety, and um just have the best, highest impact. And so um we'll discuss different types of various disabilities that can benefit from these strategies. And hopefully, I'm gonna share some practical tips for implementation. So before we dive into these strategies, it's really important to recognize there are diverse needs of individuals with disabilities. The best way, and I say this almost every podcast, the best way to know what those individual needs are is to get to know that person, to ask some key questions, to um speak to that that individual directly, and if needed, speak to their parent or their caregiver. Um, they can give you insights that um you may not know or learn in the limited time that we get to spend with the individuals at in a church setting. And so um make sure that you think about those things as you serve the individuals because not one size fits all, not every strategy works for every person. And so we want to make sure that we are um doing the best for the individual that we have in front of us, not just using a strategy for strategy's sake. So um let's take a look into these diverse needs, considering that needs are not just physical, right? Um they go, we know that accessibility in the church goes beyond the physical. And when we consider accessibility, we want to think about um the social accessibility and we want to think about um the spiritual accessibility and um make sure that we take that into consideration as we're thinking about the different individuals that we serve. And so um disabilities can be physical, they can be cognitive, they could be sensory, they could be emotional. Um, we can consider disabilities that we often talk about, which are autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, various learning disabilities. Um, and we can also think about um hearing impairment, um visual impairment, and some of those um disabilities are not going to apply to these strategies. Individuals who are blind um or deaf, visual visual impairments, um hearing impairments in general are not going to have a high probability of a need for if-then strategies unless their disability is coupled with another. Um, again, those with physical disabilities are going to be less likely to need these types of strategies unless it is um there can be someone who has a physical disability that also has an intellectual disability. Um, someone who is blind or deaf could also have um autism or ADHD or, you know, something else that would impact them. But the likelihood that those individuals would need these strategies are minimal unless their disability, again, is coupled by another diagnosis. So various learning disabilities can impact an individual's ability to process information, predict outcomes, and manage transitions. So the if-then is a visual strategy, and it is a behavioral management tool that helps individuals understand cause and effect relationships. It's simple, but very powerful, and it provides clear expectations and outcomes. So, who are the people who benefit from this if-then strategy that's gonna help again under help with understanding of cause and effect? So individuals with autism and ADHD often benefit most from this strategy as it helps them to focus on specific tasks and understand the consequences of their actions. It's useful for those um who also have intellectual impairments and um or intellectual disabilities and who may struggle with abstract thinking. So, how do we use it? What do we do with it? So, first of all, we have visual aids. We are gonna use pictures or symbols alongside of a text to illustrate if-then the if-then relationship. So, for instance, if you listen quietly during a sermon, then you can choose a story from the Bible to read afterwards. And we're gonna consistently apply the if-then strategy across different church activities, and this will help reinforce the strategy, reinforce the usage of it. Um, and here's the thing: you want to make sure that you keep the language simple because that is gonna help you to avoid confusion. So it's as simple as if this, then that. And it helps that person know what the expected behavior is and then what the outcome of that expected behavior is. Um, you want to keep it simple. Um, a lot of times, so for instance, I'm gonna give you an example from when I was teaching. Um the iPads were brand new to be used in school, and um, they were very exciting for kids. And um, this particular child was highly motivated by um time spent on the iPad. And so he would have expectations. So I only I taught first grade, so it's gonna sound like very small expectations, but um, it would, I would say if you complete five math problems, then you can have two minutes of iPad time. So those were um highly motivating things for him. It was a non-preferred activity sometimes to a preferred activity or a a non-preferred behavior, or maybe not a naturally um producing behavior um to a an expected behavior and then kind of um a preferred activity that would follow it. So that if-then strategy, again, cause and effect is is what's going to help. It's going to be concrete and you want to keep it simple. Another strategy is the now next strategy. And the now next strategy is a visual and verbal cue that helps individuals understand what they are currently doing and what they will do next. Okay, so this method is particularly useful for managing transitions and reducing anxiety. So who's gonna benefit from this? The strategy is beneficial for individuals with autism, Down syndrome, and anxiety disorders. It helps them predict what comes next, and that can be comforting and reduce a lot of stress. And so, how do we implement this? Well, first we want to create a visual schedule using symbols or pictures to depict now next activities. For example, now we're gonna sing, we'll do worship, and next we'll do the Bible study or the Bible lesson or memoryverse or whatever it is that you're working on in that moment. Um repetition is gonna be key. You're gonna use verbal cues repeatedly to reinforce understanding. For instance, now we are praying, next we will have snack. Okay, obviously that's kind of a kid's kidman kind of thing, but um now you want to keep using that those words. Now this, next, this. Um, and we want to encourage those individuals to participate in helping to create um those schedules. And here's the thing: you're thinking, well, I create the schedule, this is these are the activities that we do, and um providing an availability to have some control within the use of the strategy is going to only make the strategy more successful. So um, and like I the example I gave with the if then with the iPad, um, like complete this, then then you have two minutes of iPad time. Two minutes is very, very short. I can set a timer, um, they can participate it. So it might not be something that's in the typical schedule, um, but it might help into the next step of what's coming. So let's talk about why these strategies work. Both the if-then and the now next strategies, they provide structure and predictability, which is essential for individuals who might feel overwhelmed by sensory input in unpredictable environments. Um, using these strategies, um, we can help to break down barriers of, you know, feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated, um, or anxious. Um, we can take away some of those feelings and emotions, which ultimately distract from discipleship opportunities, um, just pure worship, interaction, um, engagement with the Lord, because um our brains are so focused on the worry of what is next. So um we want to create a space that we have opportunities to learn to grow to become more like Jesus, and using the if-then and now next strategy can help us to better serve individuals with disabilities, making our ministries accessible, not just physically, but socially and spiritually, because we want everyone to have the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him, and to serve him with the gifts that he has given. Because we can talk about inclusion all day long. And I love the idea of inclusion, but there inclusion to me is not just I get to be a part of whatever I want to be a part of, but it's everyone having a seat at the table, a seated place that God had intended for each person to participate in the full life of the church. Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I've 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. 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.
