Living on the Edge, part 2

Living on the Edge: The Messy Truth of Bathrooms and Disability, part 2

I know that I am speaking primarily as a person whose gender presentation is male. But I know from conversations I’ve had with friends and disabled females that the problems are often worse where they are concerned.

Justin HancockDecember 15, 2017Comment

My Story

My Story
by Glenna Gillilan

I was born with two disabilities - - cerebral palsy which affects my speech and balance, and scoliosis which affects my balance and gives me some lower back pain as well as affected me with arthritis at a young age.

Justin HancockDecember 12, 2017 Comment

Hello? Can You Hear Us?

Hello? Can you hear us?
by Stephen Taylor

Do you ever get frustrated when you want to be a part of a conversation but are ignored? Or, worse yet, you want to be part of a conversation but aren’t even invited? There is no feeling more isolating than being in a room full of people but not being acknowledged. Maybe my height scares people, but I really doubt that. My guess is when people see my hearing aids, they assume that I am unable to hear and choose to ignore me. They may be right about my not being able to hear in that setting, but they should at least recognize the fact that I am in the room. People in the disability community experience this on a daily basis and have been doing so for centuries.

Stephen TaylorDecember 8, 2017Comment

Living on the Edge, part 1

Living on the Edge: The Messy Truth of Bathrooms and Disability

Over the last several years, as I have begun to devote more of my life and ministry to advocating with those with disabilities and their families, I have increasingly felt myself being drawn to paint a intimate, personal picture of disability for the general public. Despite the grand narratives of overcoming great odds that often get spotlighted in general society, I find that where the rubber meets the road in life with a disability is in the small day-to-day moments that no one sees.

Justin HancockDecember 5, 2017 Comment

The Weight of Microagressions

The Weight of Microagressions
by Lisa Hancock

The stares that tell you you don’t belong. Invasive questions about how, why, and “how badly” you are disabled. Pats on the head from complete strangers. These are all examples of microagressions. Further, these are all microagressions I have personally witnessed and experienced as the wife and primary caregiver for my husband, Justin.

Justin HancockDecember 1, 2017 Comments

The Cold Reality of our Churches

The Cold Reality of our Churches
by Stephen Taylor

On any given Sunday, churches roll out the red carpet, welcoming anyone and everyone
to come inside. This scenario is replayed by churches across all denominations. They welcome
all individuals, but once they are inside the church, families are segregated into their respective
spaces: parents attend church in the sanctuary; teens head to student life; kids head to children’s
ministry; and, lastly, individuals with disabilities—particularly children with disabilities—are
sent to an entirely different area. Here, the church is dumbfounded about what to do—if an
individual does not look like me or act like me, then what are we supposed to do?

Stephen TaylorNovember 28, 2017Comment

Presume Belonging

Presume Belonging
by Sharon McCart, MDiv

For years I have used the word “inclusion.” I have worked hard for inclusion of people with disabilities in our congregations. As a rule, I do not like special programs that are places of segregation, keeping people with disabilities separate from the rest of the congregation. I want children with disabilities to be included in Sunday School classes with other children the same age. I want adults with disabilities to be included in whatever the rest of the adults are doing. I have spoken and taught and written and advocated for inclusion.

Stephen TaylorNovember 17, 2017 Comments

When I Look Back

When I Look Back
by Jay Hancock

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Soren Kierkegaard

When I look back at life it’s difficult for me to order my thoughts into a coherent list of experiences. With that in mind this is a stream of consciousness recollection of my life and experience with my brother and best friend, Justin.

Justin HancockNovember 14, 2017Comment

My Story

My Story
by Stephen Taylor

Most of my life has been lived outside of a faith community because I have spent most of my life trying to “fit” in. For years, I understood God to be a divine being who wanted nothing to do with me. I was the odd one, the redhead step child who was ignored, unacknowledged, or even worse, invisible to others. At the age of 12, I had an interaction with a member of the clergy that was devastating to me.

Stephen TaylorNovember 10, 2017Comment

Faith and Disability, My Story

Faith and Disability, My Story

I have a complex relationship between my faith as a follower of Christ and my identity as a disabled person. It took me several years to understand that my disability was not some sort of awkward and ungainly addition to my life, and therefore something I had to set nervously next to my faith in Christ.