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Community examines inclusion opportunities

Kirksville Daily Express - 10/18/2018

Oct. 17--The "age of invisibility" for individuals with disabilities is over, Community Inclusion Conference keynote speaker Shelly Christiansen said Tuesday. Instead, she said, the struggle people with disabilities face today is not to be seen or tolerated by their communities, but to truly become part of them.

Christensen spoke at the opening of the conference at Truman State University, which was presented by Adair County SB40, Truman's Disability Studies program and other non-profits. The conference focused on the theme of increasing disabled people's ability to participate in their communities, a theme similar to Christensen's upcoming book. Titled "From Longing to Belonging," it explores the theme of including disabled people in religious communities, something Christensen has been a longtime advocate for.

In her talk, Christensen said her advocacy is inspired by her son, Jacob. When he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, the family's synagogue and the religious school Jacob attended were an important support system.

"That led me to believe that was the case at every single religious school. Well, it's not," Christensen said.

Wanting to become an advocate for her son, Christenson earned a graduate degree in disability studies and began working with people with disabilities. She said she realized quickly that many people she worked with were not able to participate fully in religious communities.

One woman with cerebral palsy had been searching for a congregation that would see her as an equal participant for 14 years. Others struggled with faith communities that did not treat them as adults, did not have the facilities to accommodate physical disabilities or simply never asked them what they wanted.

"People used to say all the time, 'we don't have people like that here,'" Christensen said. "And it's always ironic because faith communities seem to be the one place that would welcome and support people without any obstacles."

Religious organizations are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, which makes accessibility a legal requirement for many other institutions. Christensen said there were other barriers for people with disabilities who wanted to be part of religious communities, such as group homes that only offered one service for people of all faiths or home health care workers who refused to take their clients to services for religions different from their own.

To help change those attitudes, Christensen co-founded the Jewish Leadership Institute on Disabilities and Inclusion and now works with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Christensen said making people with disabilities feel truly included can be as simple as taking the time to directly ask them what they want and need. Instead of being treated as objects of charity, she said, they should be treated like any other community member.

"People are entitled to share what's important to them. People are entitled to define what that is," Christensen said.

In the vendors' hall of the conference, representatives of local non-profits shared Christensen's message of helping individuals find a sense of belonging.

Melissa Killen, a team leader at Easterseals Midwest, said her organization focuses on similar ideas. Easterseals provides services to people with autism, including helping them find jobs and develop connections in their communities.

"The individuals we work with, obviously they're living in the community, they need to feel like they're making a difference," Killen said. "Getting out and volunteering or having jobs, they need to be out there."

LaDonna Williams, the executive director of Rural Advocates for Independent Living, also said the conference's theme echoed her organization's mission. RAIL, which is active in 10 northeast Missouri counties, focuses on helping people with disabilities live as independently as they want to.

Williams said RAIL provides a variety of services to its clients, including helping them transition out of living in nursing homes.

"We want to provide services to help people live in the communities of their choice," Williams said.

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