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
Brains That Learn Differently Need Churches That Teach Differently
Learning disabilities affect how the brain processes information and are not related to intelligence, yet 80% of people with disabilities aren't in our churches. As a mother and ministry leader who has navigated this journey with my son, I share insights about the neurological nature of learning disabilities and how churches can better serve this population.
• Learning disabilities are neurological disorders affecting how the brain processes information, not a reflection of intelligence or effort
• Children with learning disabilities often disengage from church activities that feel academically demanding
• Challenging behaviors may mask struggles with learning or social difficulties
• Social isolation and diminished self-esteem are common challenges that affect church participation
• Churches can create accessibility through curriculum modifications, multi-sensory approaches, and alternative participation methods
• Training volunteers and leadership is essential for creating truly inclusive environments
• Every person has God-given purpose, making those with learning disabilities truly "indispensable" to 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 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.
Speaker 1:Today we're talking about learning disabilities, and this is a realm of life that I, as a mom, have walked with my son, and I am excited to talk about it because there are some key pieces of information that I think will unlock the way that we interact with those with learning disabilities and how we can make sure that we are helping them to learn, grow and support them within the walls of our church. So let's dive into some basic things about learning disabilities. First of all, it's a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive, store, process and respond to information. It impacts our cognitive processes like reading, writing, math, comprehension and reasoning, and it makes learning challenging in the traditional ways. So, as a mom, the first diagnosis that my son Noah received was they called it a cognitive disorder, and part of the reason that they called it that is that they couldn't be specific because he was so young, they didn't know the full impact of it, and so later on we had the specific names given to us. But here's some things that we really need to know.
Speaker 1:When we talk about learning disabilities, it's not related to intelligence, which is typically our first thought. Individuals with learning differences often have average to above average IQs. They're caused by differences in how the brain functions, not in lack of effort or motivation, which many individuals with learning disabilities are or tend to be considered lazy. So that is something really important to note. These disabilities can affect areas of life, including academics, social interactions, emotional well-being, and it can boil down to things like, you know, time, finances, basic math, things, reading and comprehension, and so all of those things look very much like an intellectual disability which is tied to an IQ. So again, it is not an IQ problem connection. It is how the brain takes in the information and interacts with it, so more on the processing layer. So let's take a little bit deeper dive into the impact on life and how learning disability kind of impacts it.
Speaker 1:So we want to take in the understanding that learning and developmental disabilities can significantly affect a person's ability to develop and maintain social skills and relationships. So that looks very similar, whether it is a connector to the IQ or a connector to how the brain processes information and, you know, in the ways of social interaction. It can be how you take in and understand social cues or jokes, maybe how that person expresses themselves, responding appropriately to things, and challenging challenges with forming relationships and maintaining those friendships, challenges with forming relationships and maintaining those friendships. Next, which this is a direct impact on, that is self-esteem and confidence, where constant academic struggles can really kind of chip away at that self-esteem and lead to feelings of, you know, inadequacy, inferiority, which makes it hard to then form friends and feel confident in those social situations Because of that. Then you move on to social isolation, where individuals may tend to withdraw from those social activities because they feel misunderstood, they don't feel welcomed, maybe they feel inferior, which we had mentioned before, and that leads to, you know, loneliness and just alienation and to further this impact it could be into you know, lead into bullying and stigma because of stereotypes that exist. It is statistically proven that students with learning disabilities are at higher risk of experiencing bullying and stigmatization in an educational setting. Thankfully, we are in the church and we can teach and choose different because of Jesus, at least, we hope that we would.
Speaker 1:So let's look at how those types of things go direct into church life. How does that impact in those areas? Well, the number one thing that we're going to see, especially with children and teens, is disengagement. They may choose to disengage from activities like Sunday school or Bible study, maybe even worship, I would say probably the areas which feel a little bit more academically strong. Those are areas that they may choose to disengage from. And because of that disengagement, maybe when it's kind of forced or pushed or not provided with accommodations, you're going to see challenging behavior, and one you might be seeing off-task behavior, because they are choosing not to participate in the activities that are provided. They may also be creating distraction with their behavior to hide their lack or their deficit or their inability, um, so you're going to see also with those that these are built in.
Speaker 1:Challenges again with the social act, uh, social skills, executive functioning, um, and that all leads to with difficulties with those church activities. I mean reading the Bible is one of the number one things that, as a Christian, we want to do. And then we have our interaction with our Bible studies, our Sunday school classes and all of those kinds of things, typically with reading and writing, and those become difficulties within those activities. And then you add to all of that with, you know, social exclusion, if they just don't fit right, whether it is due to the inability to do the academic type things or if it is the lack of ability to have the social interaction. So how can we change this? How can we make sure that we are being a support to individuals with learning disabilities, understanding again that it is not an IQ-based, it is about the processing and how the brain takes in information. So simple things that we can do.
Speaker 1:We want to make accommodations, adaptations and accommodations within the church, whether we provide support to make the gospel not only spiritually accessible but socially accessible. We've talked a whole lot about it's not enough that they can open the door and come in the building, but we have to be determined to teach them and we have to be determined to include the individuals. We might have to modify some of the curriculum. We might need to use a multi-sensory approach. We might need to provide alternative ways to participate in the activities that are provided. We might need to take some of the focus off of the behavior. Pick your battles and consider the possibility that the learning disability is causing some of the behavior and it's not just a sinful, rowdy child that doesn't know what to do. It might be a hurting, isolated child that needs support and accommodations. So building that love and understanding is going to be key through these situations. You want to train your leaders and your volunteers. That's something that we talk about all the time. You can't expect them to do something or handle something that they have not been taught about. Yes, to some people that comes natural or life experience has built in, but you want that for all of your volunteers.
Speaker 1:We want to create opportunities for connection, fostering those friendships and relationships within the church with individuals with disabilities and without disabilities. We want to utilize scripture to you know, carry one another's burdens, encourage one another, one another up all of those kinds of things that scripture would direct us to do, so that we can be a support and be a love to all of those. Because we go back to the main scripture that this podcast is named after. My books are named after, and it's indispensable. That's that word that you find in the book of 1 Corinthians 12, where it says that those that seem the weaker are actually indispensable, which means indispensable means we can't be without.
Speaker 1:We are at a lack if we don't have these individuals in our churches, and they're only going to come in our churches if we love, accept, disciple and deploy them. And so we want to create those opportunities, knowing that every person has a purpose. God has a plan, and we get to do that through the open doors of the church, through accessibility. That speaks of physical accessibility, social accessibility and spiritual accessibility, and that's how we be the body of Christ. 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 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.
