Presenter: Jacqui James

"The disabled experience discrimination, segregation and isolation not because of their disability, but through society's response to their disability."

The good news and bad news is that churches are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Because of this, the level of accessibility varies widely from church to church. Any person requiring special access or services will not know in advance whether a particular site can support his/her needs which limits or excludes attendance and participation. Churches often improve accessibility due to a specific congregational need rather than to comply with a code. Through improved awareness our churches will be able to address and schedule the improvements needed to become more welcoming to persons with disabilities and special needs.

In response to these needs and growing awareness, the UUA Board of Trustees appointed an Accessibilities Committee, and the UUA HQ was made more accessible during a two-year project. The Accessibilities Committee has published three pamphlets to help congregations evaluate their accessibility, which are available at their booth at GA, from the UUA bookstore and online: That All May Be Welcome, How Accessible is Your Congregation? and What do I say? What do I do?

Also highly recommended is the publication "That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome to Persons with Disabilities," published by the National Organization on Disability. The UUA has just developed a weekend workshop, "Creating Accessible Congregations," to help church leaders evaluate and plan for improving access in their facilities. Churches and districts can apply for this workshop starting in September.

"We need to move past our comfort level in welcoming and communicating with the handicapped" Ms. James urged. She noted that she had to recognize her own discomfort talking to someone in a wheelchair and that she needed to pull up a chair and be at eye level to accommodate her own comfort level. In response to concern about cost of accessibility, "changing attitudes doesn't cost a lot," and is the first step in assessing the need. A simple example of this is printing a large print Order of Service using 18pt type. It is important for churches with some accessibility to move to the next level.

Many churches also need RE materials to address accessibility issues, and one curriculum is currently under development; also, current RE curricula have assumptions about the abilities of children participating that need to be rethought.

Reported for the web by Mark Gibbons and Norman Wright, formatted by Kasey Melski.