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Catechesis | |
Education | |
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Starting up a Disability Ministry |
We received your question on the NCPD website about the numbers of Catholic high schools providing services for students with disabilities. Many Catholic High Schools are serving students with disabilities, that we know for sure. Please check out our webinar Access in Catholic Education for Students with Disabilities, Part II: High Schools which was produced on Feb. 16, 2010. The link is on our website at www.ncpd.org [1]. Click the “webinars” drop-down button and click on that webinar to go to a page that includes a replay link and many other resources which discuss or address that topic. Scroll down to Resources when you reach the page to view and/or download what you find there. Contact information for the 3 presenters is available, as well. One of them, Marie Powell, is Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Education and a long-time supporter of including students in Catholic education. You could contact any of them if you like, but they do speak eloquently on the webinar about their experiences.
The numbers, specifically as you ask for them, may not be available. It is a developing and rapidly changing field. Marie collects information for the Bishops on a regular basis for Catholic education in general but even she would be hard pressed to state specific numbers. Take a look at the webinar and the resources to get a better idea of what is currently available.
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Welcome. We are happy that you contacted NCPD. And thank you for your ministry with people having disabilities and their families.
You will find our website to be a tremendous resource. If you like, I will give you a telephone call and guide you through its wealth. I have been a DRE myself and used NCPD as a resource at the parish, then at the diocesan and Catholic school levels in my work.
I encourage you to sign up for the NCPD E-News, our free monthly electronic newsletter that includes all kinds of updates and ideas on the full range of disability ministry. You can find archived copies if you scroll down the right column of our home page at www.ncpd.org [1], and click on its link.
One of the best sources of inservice for yourself, catechists and others, including parents, are the 12 webinars we have produced on a variety of disability ministry topics. There are two webinars which directly address catechetics for students with disability in parish programs and 2 that are more specific to full-day Catholic school programs. We will be doing a new one this year which is the first in a series covering sacramental preparation for all our Sacraments. This one is on first Eucharist and Reconciliation preparation for students with disabilities. If you go to the buttons at the top of our home page and click on the drop down box for webinars, you will find links to pages for all 12 of the webinars we have produced. Most are still available for re-play and all have what we refer to as ministry toolkits, resources provided by presenters and NCPD staff for use by leaders such as yourself, to support your ministry on these topics. The webinars and their resources are also available in DVD/CD kits, for purchase on our website.
If you click the button along the top of the page for Ministry/Specific, a drop-down list of links will appear which will take you to resources specific to the disability named. Most of our resources are available free of charge for download and use. We encourage you to duplicate them. If you do use our materials, we appreciate your giving credit for the source.
Another critical set of resources to ministry are found as a quick link in the right hand column of our home page at www.ncpd.org [1]. Scroll down to Bishops’ Statements. These provide a modern foundation for disability ministries, as well as practical resources for DRE’s such as are found in the Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities (1995) [2].
At the top of that right hand column is a large button to Diocesan Directors of Disability Ministry or Diocesan Contacts for Disability Ministry in most dioceses of the United States. If you do not know yours, yet, and as important, if they don’t know you yet, make sure to be in touch with them. They can be a wonderful resource that is critical to your ministry.
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Here are some good, down-loadable “start-up” considerations for a parish disability ministry.
Links:
[1] http://www.ncpd.org/../../../../../../..
[2] http://www.ncpd.org/../../../../../../../views-news-policy/policy/church/bishops/sacraments
[3] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncpd.org
[4] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.clevelandcatholiccharities.org%2fdisability
[5] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncpd.org%2fviews-news-policy%2fpolicy%2fchurch%2fbishops%2fpastoral
[6] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncpd.org%2fviews-news-policy%2fpolicy%2fchurch%2fbishops%2fsacraments
[7] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncpd.org%2fviews-news-policy%2fpolicy%2fchurch%2fbishops%2fwelcome-and-justice
[8] https://by2prd0511.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=NXuB5yeO6Eeh8OPLglUWzSeDPj9KA9AIGORDUnDmIvUHDeZuKPC4wC1rQ_xd-36_JedTPRuLhvo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncpd.org%2fsites%2fdefault%2ffiles%2fwelcome%2520and%2520justice%2520-%2520spanish.doc