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
How Polyvagal Theory Sshapes Disability Ministry
Your nervous system makes decisions about safety before your conscious mind even catches up. This fascinating reality explains why creating genuinely inclusive environments for people with disabilities requires much more than good intentions—it demands understanding the science behind how we process new experiences.
Tracie Corll takes us deep into polyvagal theory, illuminating how our autonomic nervous system scans environments and triggers responses of social engagement, fight/flight, or shutdown. This unconscious threat detection explains why first encounters can be so challenging for individuals with disabilities in church settings. When someone enters an unfamiliar space with unknown people and unclear expectations, their nervous system immediately goes on high alert, making it difficult to engage, focus, or regulate emotions.
Drawing from her hands-on experiences coordinating disability ministries and special needs camps, Tracie shares powerful real-world examples that demonstrate how patience transforms outcomes. She describes watching the same individuals who initially needed significant sensory supports gradually become comfortable in environments that once overwhelmed them—not because they were trying harder, but because their nervous systems had recategorized the space as safe through consistent, positive experiences.
This episode offers practical wisdom for anyone involved in disability ministry, from the vital importance of sensory tools and visual schedules to the transformative power of consistent relationships. Rather than making quick judgments based on first impressions, Tracie encourages ministry leaders to create pathways for nervous systems to reset, allowing everyone to experience the peace and belonging that church should provide. After all, every person deserves the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him, and serve with their unique gifts—regardless of ability. Ready to transform your approach to disability ministry? Listen now and discover how understanding nervous system responses can make your church truly accessible to all.
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. I'm so glad that you have joined me and I am ready to talk about polyvagal theory, how that impacts our nervous system and how that impacts the interactions that we have with individuals that we might come in contact with, especially on our first meet. So what in the world is polyvagal theory? Well, it was developed by Stephen Porges, if I said that correctly, and it explains how the autonomic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, regulates our responses to safety and threat through three hierarchical states social engagement, fight or flight and shutdown. The theory highlights the concept of neuroception, the brain's automatic evaluation system. Okay, so basically all of our brains have this kind of. It makes me think of like a spy show and like the laser going. Basically, your brain is consistently scanning for situations and that is deciding how you then react, like your body's internal reaction to the stress or trauma or social connection, providing insights for and this helps us to understand, like, how do we respond? How do we help to understand, how do we gain insight to this? And so first let's explain a little bit more into the three states that this is talking about. First is social engagement, and this is like the most evolved state, representing safety and connection and social engagement. In this state, the vagus nerve supports healthy physiological functions and allows for accessibility and co-regulation with others. Fight or flight, and this is like mobilizing the defenses. The response is triggered, there's a perceived danger, leading to heightened alertness for energy for fight or flight. And the last one is shutdown, and this is the most primitive defense. It represents like immobilizing, response to an overwhelming threat, leading to the state of shutting down or freezing. So here's a couple of other things that we need to understand.
Speaker 1:Neuroception is the process by which the brain interprets signals from the body and the environment to determine if a situation is safe or dangerous. To determine if a situation is safe or dangerous, and this is done without conscious thought, okay. So understanding that is really important, knowing how people, like their body, has already made the decision before they are trying to think through the process of is this a big deal? Is this not a big deal? How can I deal with this? What do I do with it? All that kind of stuff. It's like an automatic decision based on what your nervous system has scanned and understood your experience to be. So then, the hierarchy is the autonomic nervous system operates in a hierarchy and it has those three stages, you know, one kind of being the normal. The second kind of I identify the risk, now I have to make a decision. And the last one is I've already made a decision and I'm terrified and this is not going to be a thing. So another word to understand is co-regulation, and this is the understanding that it's a theory that emphasizes the importance of feeling safe and connected through social engagement to co-regulate one's own physiological and emotional state, especially through interactions with others. So how does this play into working with people with disabilities, ministering to people with disabilities?
Speaker 1:It was about a month ago now. I was participating in the denomination that I'm a part of, which is the Assemblies of God. We were participating in, like our biannual meeting, and it's thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of people and within that they have what's called Camp GC and that's for kids of a certain age to participate in a program while their parents are in meetings and other things going on. So I was asked to head up the special needs portion of Camp GC. So there are some kids who are identified that have some needs, where we had to provide one-on-one support, also providing a space within our sensory space for kids who would not be able to participate in the rest of the regular of the typical program and also just being able to step in and help out kids who need it.
Speaker 1:And so day one was absolute Busy, crazy kids needing, overwhelmed by spaces and sounds and, you know, just having trouble transitioning from space to space with people, all of those kinds of things. And then by the third day in like everything had started to calm down. And here's what I can tell you. Also, second experience the summer camp that I coordinate through the ministry that I serve under is day one is very similar. You know it's a little bit chaotic, people are having all the feelings you know we're having to put out, you know little fires here and there to help people in the process of being there and feeling comfortable and feeling safe. And it was the same thing Two, three days in everything's calmer, people are feeling good. You know all of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:So how does that relate to this polyvagal theory and the experiences that our bodies? Well, first of all, we understand that this experience, it's perceived and processed through the body before we can even reason it. Okay, so we have asked in this setting for people to come into situations that they are unfamiliar with, with people that they're unfamiliar with and schedules that they're not familiar with and unknown expectations. Okay, so, just those things that I've listed. And that is an experience also on a Sunday at church, when coming for the first time, never having been in that environment before, you're meeting new people in new spaces, with schedules that you don't know or understand and expectations you have not been given. Okay, so those are all perceived threats, especially for individuals who do not regulate well and or someone with autism who has a very rigid schedule and a specific understanding of certain people, places and events, and so we are triggering these layers and these hierarchical states, layers and these hierarchical states and we're somewhat having expectations that well, first of all, those who are incurring our expectations. They don't know what they are. Number one and number two. We just want them to be happy-go-lucky and enjoy what we're doing, because we've set up these lessons and we've set up these lessons and we've set up spaces and we've created ways for people to be ministered to. However, we need to have a little bit of patience, especially on our first meets and our first layers of experience.
Speaker 1:I also have a friend who helps to run a daycare and the influx of children with disabilities is huge and the preschool is not prepared or trained or have specific resources available for the kids with disabilities. But parents are just I don't know if they don't have anywhere else to go, if they're not sure where else to go, if you know, whatever is happening, even though the preschool is very upfront in saying, listen, we don't have these resources and we don't have these things, they are enrolling their children as a part of this and so all of that goes on, kind of like a trial basis. But the problem is, is day one, a child that is diagnosed with autism struggled to participate, to follow instructions, to comply, and that's like day one and the consideration is on day one? I don't know that we can do this. This isn't probably the right place for this child. However, does that child know the people that are there? Do they feel comfortable? Do they understand and have schedules that they can follow, can look at? Do they know what the expectations are? And we're going to have that same experience, whether it's in a preschool, in a school, in a church, at a ministry event outside of the church, inside the church, whatever it is. Um, we're asking people, first of all, that struggle to regulate emotions in a familiar setting. We're placing them in an unfamiliar setting, asking like we would like immediate entering into the situation, like we want them to be comfortable right off the bat.
Speaker 1:It was. It's so very funny because you know the summer camp that I do during, we have sensory bags, we have fidget tools, we have noise canceling headphones, we have earplugs, we have the whole, the whole nine, to make sure that you know whatever sensory need might pop up we can accommodate. And so it was so very funny because day one we have we had people not only need to use noise canceling headphones, but they wanted to sit in a separate space From where it was, so they were like in the hallway instead of in the service room when we were doing worship and so on. And this is day one and we've got three, four or five people, you know, wanting to be in that separate space. And it was like day I don't know, it was like the third day and we were doing an event in the same space that we typically have service.
Speaker 1:We were playing bingo and they were winning prizes and I mentioned to one of my other volunteers. I said oh, it's so funny and all of this chaos and this loudness that not a single person needs their noise cancelcanceling headphones or needs to sit out in the hallway. Now I jokingly say that, fully understanding that by day three they had started to get comfortable with their caregivers, who were assigned to them through the people that they were hanging out with through the week that were their roommates. Also, I know that they knew the schedule. They had a visual schedule available to them and also they were doing a preferred activity where they were then rewarded with prizes as a part of the game. So I say that all as a joke, but it's also a true setup of expectation over time, right as the church.
Speaker 1:When we first meet someone, we need to know that that first meet isn't the full picture and won't ever be the full picture of that individual and we may be seeing them at their most heightened experience because they don't know us, they don't feel comfortable with us, they don't know what the expectations are, they aren't sure how long am I going to be here, how is this going to work? What do I need to do? Will the people be nice to me? What will the interactions be like? So there's all kinds of things that we have to consider as we're serving people with disabilities, especially those who have a harder time regulating those emotions, and those who maybe have focus and attention issues, or those who are going to need you know a more specific schedule and know what the expectations are and be able to follow through with those things so that they can feel more comfortable.
Speaker 1:And that's where I'm going to tell you, like the sensory bags, especially the noise cancelcanceling headphones, the fidgets those are going to be an essential tool for you to use, having patience and understanding and not pushing that individual to do things so far out of their comfort zone at first, and giving a little bit of a step-back approach and allowing them to kind of lead the direction and lead the way approach and allowing them to kind of lead the direction and lead the way, and also providing like the noise canceling headphones, the sunglasses, different things, different tools that will hit those sensory needs to give them more comfort and then down the road they may not need them at all because they feel completely comfortable.
Speaker 1:And those are just options and availabilities that we can make that are super simple. Super easy, but also understanding that over time someone's comfort level is going to change and hopefully they will become more comfortable and you can build up layers of ways to assist them and help them feel more comfortable in attending, whether it's through those sensory bags, the noise-canceling headphones, whether it is through a transition box of preferred items that would help that person enter the building and enter into the room or space that they need to be for ministry. There are so many ways to do that. But knowing that that first meet, that first experience, isn't going to be your full picture and hopefully not the full story, because you will get to know that person.
Speaker 1:When you get to know someone, then that experience, that nervous system that is going to overreact and decide and make decisions, is going to change because it's not going to perceive you or your volunteers or the space that they're in as a threat, but as a safe space where the peace of God is overwhelming, where they can participate and enjoy, because every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in Him and to serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. 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 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.
