On this World Autism Awareness Day, here's a great post about why churches need to be prepared to welcome children with special needs and do what's within their resources to accommodate them.
http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/autism-and-the-church/
As Ben has gotten older, it's become increasingly difficult to be involved at church, especially when there are all-church activities without childcare. He just can't sit in a church service, so our options are to attend the activity and spend time out in the lobby or another area trying to keep him busy and entertained, to keep him with us and be disruptive and not get a chance to really participate, or to stay home.
Guess which one we choose?
Ben has also had difficulty in the past with being in the nursery for both services, so we've had to start splitting our time depending on who is doing what at church that week. I'm usually singing with the choir and/or the worship team, and on the Sundays when I'm not, James usually is running sound. So one of us goes early to volunteer and stays for both services, and the other one takes the kids to, usually, the early service because it's less crowded and the volunteers during that hour seem to have a special place in their hearts for Ben.
I'm thankful that our church is preparing a classroom for special needs children. I'm anxious for it to open because Ben really is too big for the toddler nursery these days. I appreciate that we've been able to keep him there because it's more secure than the other classrooms and there are fewer places where he can get hurt. But he's not able to transition into the Kindergarten-level class and the nursery isn't working.
I don't know when the classroom will be ready and how long it will take to get enough volunteers to staff it, but I hope that it's soon and that there are lots of people with big hearts and a desire to help. I would love to see a full special-needs ministry bloom at our church, with a monthly night out for parents, activities for siblings to help them connect with others in the same situation, and more. There are some churches out there that are doing really great things to serve families who have special needs.
It's so important for families with special needs children to know that there is a safe place for their children, where they will be cared for and loved and not just tolerated, where someone will be a godly influence on their children and where they will be exposed to the teachings of the Bible while their families are receiving the same kind of teaching. There are so many families out there - maybe they're not at your church currently. But maybe they would be if there was a place for them.
