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PDF/Doc/Online Article/Spreadsheet

Featured Resources

"

Survey of Parish Disability Awareness and Practices

El Bautismo de Jesús

Enero: El Bautismo de Jesús Actividades adaptadas para la formación  de fe en el hogar

An adult male teaching working at a table with a teenage woman in a classroom

Strategic Components for Successfully Working with Individuals with ASD

Ushers greeting at church door.

Tips for Welcoming People with Disabilities at Mass

Young girl working on a project at her desk at school

Teaching Tips for Students with Autism

Altar of a Church

Prayers of the Faithful: Autism Awareness Month

NCPD Logo

Opposing MD SB 418 Bill on Assisted Suicide, 2016

"On behalf of both the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD), whose Ethics and Public Policy Committee I chair, as well as the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), as Director of Bioethics and Public Policy, I am writing to request that your Committee refuse to endorse LB 1056: Patient Choice at End of Life Act."
NCPD Logo

Board Statement on Inclusion, 2015

"Catholics with disabilities, like all Catholics, are incorporated in the Body of Christ as integral members. They, like any other member, belong to the faith community."
Lector who has Down Syndrome

Language: A powerful tool for parish hospitality

Words can sustain negative stigma and myths or they can communicate respect and sensitivity. When you meet a person with a disability, choose words that say what you mean--that you see them first as a person with many abilities. Talk to the person directly, instead of their companion or interpreter.
A teenage girl holding out a gift with candy cane wrapping paper

The Gift of Giving

Many people with disabilities are remembered especially during the season of Advent as needy recipients of charity. Families, parishioners, and coworkers look for opportunities to buy gifts for those less fortunate, less healthy, and less wealthy. The able-bodied become the designated "givers" and the disabled become the designated "receivers".
People walking around on a busy street

How to Help a Person Experiencing a Mental Illness

- Tips to help a person experiencing mental illness - Warning signs that may indicate mental illness
Three adolescents talking with one another on a city street

Child & Adolescent Mental Health

Learn about the warning signs, causes, and treatments for mental health illnesses in youth and young adults.
A person who is blind walking out of a Church with other parishioners

Interacting with People with Vision Loss

20.6 million American adults are blind or living with vision loss that is not corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses (National Health Interview Survey 2012). The following are some tips to facilitation interaction among people with and without 20/20 vision.
Black and white linocut of people supporting each other

Handout: The Person with Mental Illness

Ways to create a pro-life culture with persons living with mental illness.
Dark church with three stained glass windows and 3 golden stained glass chandeliers hanging on each side

Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities

This USCCB pastoral statement (1978) uses language to describe disability that is now outdated. Read the NCPD document, “Speaking of Disability: Pastoral Guidelines on Language” for information about appropriate language. November 16, 1978
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Inclusive Registration Forms - Cincinnati

To be used with students with disabilities to record method of communication, medical information, skills, specific concerns.

Inclusive Registration Forms - Orange

Sample questions to be included in the registration form for all students in the religious education programs Permission to photograph

Placement

Records the placement agreed upon by the parents, inclusion coordinator, and catechist. Placement is to be reviewed annually or as otherwise indicated.
"

Classroom Team Interview

Records the outcome of the interview following the classroom observation in order to provide positive support for classroom volunteers and additional tips and training, if needed.
Pieces of paper on a table with three peoples hands in discussion

Planning Meeting

Used to evaluate the year and provide information for the next catechist as to the strengths of the student and teaching methods that have been helpful.

Quotes from Church Statements

Here is a collection of quotes from Church statement regarding disability.  
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People walking around on a busy street

How to Help a Person Experiencing a Mental Illness

- Tips to help a person experiencing mental illness - Warning signs that may indicate mental illness
Three adolescents talking with one another on a city street

Child & Adolescent Mental Health

Learn about the warning signs, causes, and treatments for mental health illnesses in youth and young adults.
A person who is blind walking out of a Church with other parishioners

Interacting with People with Vision Loss

20.6 million American adults are blind or living with vision loss that is not corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses (National Health Interview Survey 2012). The following are some tips to facilitation interaction among people with and without 20/20 vision.
Black and white linocut of people supporting each other

Handout: The Person with Mental Illness

Ways to create a pro-life culture with persons living with mental illness.
Dark church with three stained glass windows and 3 golden stained glass chandeliers hanging on each side

Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities

This USCCB pastoral statement (1978) uses language to describe disability that is now outdated. Read the NCPD document, “Speaking of Disability: Pastoral Guidelines on Language” for information about appropriate language. November 16, 1978
"

Inclusive Registration Forms - Cincinnati

To be used with students with disabilities to record method of communication, medical information, skills, specific concerns.

Inclusive Registration Forms - Orange

Sample questions to be included in the registration form for all students in the religious education programs Permission to photograph

Placement

Records the placement agreed upon by the parents, inclusion coordinator, and catechist. Placement is to be reviewed annually or as otherwise indicated.
"

Classroom Team Interview

Records the outcome of the interview following the classroom observation in order to provide positive support for classroom volunteers and additional tips and training, if needed.
Pieces of paper on a table with three peoples hands in discussion

Planning Meeting

Used to evaluate the year and provide information for the next catechist as to the strengths of the student and teaching methods that have been helpful.

Quotes from Church Statements

Here is a collection of quotes from Church statement regarding disability.  

Individual Religious Education Plan

This pdf form helps parish religious education staff assist the family by providing religious education instruction that takes into consideration the student' s special needs. 
A Story About Going to Mass

A Story About Going to Mass

This resource tells what it is like to go to Mass from the perspective of a child. "When I enter church I dip the tips of the fingers on my right hand in the holy water and bless my self with the sign of the cross. To myself or out loud I say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”    
close-up of a stained glass window: a man holding a book

My Mass Book Picture Missal

Print out this resource to create a book about each part of the Mass. A person can follow along with this book during Mass to help them meaningfully participate in the liturgy.
 Child sitting with a pen at a desk looking up

Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew

Autism is an extremely complex disorder but for purposes of this one article, we can distill its myriad characteristics into four fundamental areas: sensory processing challenges, speech/language delays and impairments, the elusive social interaction skills and whole child/self-esteem issues.
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NCPD Logo

National Catholic
Partnership on Disability

Advancing the Meaningful Participation
of Persons with Disabilities in Church and Society

Contact us: 415 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Suite 95
Washington, D.C. 20017-4501; ncpd@ncpd.org; (771) 203-4477

NCPD is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit corporation.
EIN: 52-1262317

Copyright © NCPD - National Catholic Partnership on Disability | Website: CEDC