• What do we do when a child’s special needs start to interfere with the needs of other children?
• What do we do when there is not enough time, volunteer energy, or resources to successfully work with a behaviorally difficult child?
• How do we help the parents of a special needs child meet their own needs for community and spiritual renewal when their child has difficulty fitting in?
• How much time must we put into this effort when we only have our Sunday School children one-day a week for approximately 45 minutes?

These questions are just a few of the several questions generated by the survey, which was sent to all UU Religious Educators in the USA and Canada. There is a larger issue of what is meant by learning differences and how this affects the way we teach religious education to each one of our unique children. All of us have special and preferred ways of learning that are often very different from the ways we have been taught in school.

I am hoping that this newsletter will begin the process of creatively addressing some of these questions. I know that it will just scratch the surface of what is needed in the way of information. But it is a start.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone that completed the survey and an apology for the short time period allowed for response. (There was a mix-up in the mailroom and the survey was mailed two weeks later than planned.) I received a solid response of 160+ surveys and there are still a few surveys trickling in.

I am humbled by the wonderful, thoughtful and compassionate responses I received from the overwhelming majority of respondents. The compilation, summary, and conclusions from the surveys provide important and critical information on themes and trends concerning current practices in working with special needs children in religious education. But, I can not do justice in this newsletter to the complexity and depth of response that was provided.

I am appreciative of how difficult it is to provide a welcoming, inclusive Sunday School experience for all our population of diverse children, each one with their own special learning styles and needs. I am impressed at the willingness of religious educators to tackle the difficult issues of accommodating children with disabilities who have multiple needs at the same time as balancing

those needs with the needs of all the children in religious education programs. Many of the religious educators have found and continue to believe that the effort is worth it and that all children are enriched by the experience. The vast majority of religious educators responding to the survey are struggling with this issue. They are seeking help, searching for answers, trying to educate themselves and their parent/teachers and are willingly engaged in this profound struggle.

For those of you who have been curious as to who I am and my background concerning special needs, I offer the following brief explanation. I am not an expert on religious education, however I do have the perspective of a parent that teaches Sunday School. I do have an educational and professional expertise in the area of education and disability issues and, most importantly, I am the mother of two children, one who is severely dyslexic. I am also a committed UU and I am currently completing a job as Development Director for the UU Urban Ministry in Boston and will stay on as a part-time Lay Minister at Large for Literacy.

My son changed my life. I know how it feels to have a child in trouble, a child who is different. Children are so much a part of us. As parents and educators we agonize and wish that life could be easier for our children. The struggle to understand my son’s learning disability has led to a higher understanding of myself. Being part of his struggle has changed me spiritually and led me to be more compassionate toward all children. I watch my son and marvel at his cheerfulness, his fortitude, his creativity, his sensitivity, and his unusual view of the world. His life is one that is being forged by constant struggle.

I am convinced that this world needs the diversity that my son and other special needs children represent in order to solve our problems. Children with learning differences contribute and will contribute to society in wonderful and very different ways from the norm. We as Unitarian Universalists can help positively counteract, with a caring and creative RE program, the prevalent negative experiences that the majority of children with learning differences experience in school. At the same time, we will be creating a loving and exciting RE program for all children.

The following are the conclusions from the survey results report that I wrote for the UU Funding Program panel. The entire report is too lengthy to include here. I received much valuable information from the surveys that will aid in deciding what information to include in future newsletters. If anyone is interested, I will be happy to mail or email you a copy. Please email me at salrick@mediaone.net if you would like one.

The responses to the survey revealed that UU churches are currently dealing with the struggles and problems of providing a religious education experience to all the children that cross the churches’ thresholds. Most are meeting the challenge with compassion and creativity. I am amazed at what is being accomplished. There is no way in one hour on a Sunday to always meet the needs of all children and their parents. It is important to be realistic about what an RE program can accomplish with its staff and volunteers. But, a very clear message from this survey is that there is immense value in making the attempt to serve all children taking into account their diverse learning styles and abilities. It is a long, never-ending, but valuable process and in the doing we learn valuable lessons about relationships, communication, diversity, creativity and compassion.

Overwhelmingly people are hungry for information and training because they are serving children with special needs, now. Those churches which already have in place a system for parent/teacher orientation and training and an active RE program have an easier time accommodating special needs children when they arrive unexpectedly in their program. Many churches’ RE programs already have adopted the philosophy of teaching to different learning styles so that it is less stressful to adapt when a child with multiple needs arrives in the program. Clearly, the larger church has more resources to draw upon than the smaller church. However, smaller churches usually know each of their children intimately and therefore have the time to work out solutions with the parents. More often the case is that churches do not think about special needs and teaching to different learning styles until confronted with serving a child with physical or developmental disabilities. This forces the congregation as a whole to be aware of the issue because often a specific accommodation must be made. This sometimes leads to churches being more creative about their entire RE program.

The vast majority of churches are having to cope with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)children who often have behavioral and emotional issues which makes serving them in RE classrooms a serious challenge. There are no easy solutions for working with these children, but religious educators clearly need help in coming up with ideas to try because these children are in our RE classrooms and affecting the religious education experience for everyone. There are also children with learning disabilities who are not behavior problems but dread coming to Sunday School because it can be just another learning experience which exposes their learning differences. Merely asking a dyslexic child not to read does not solve the problem of participation nor lessen the child’s agony. Total reliance on reading and listening techniques often makes Sunday School feel too much like being in school for all children. Using different teaching tools to include children with dyslexia or different learning styles helps all children: those who can not focus, those who are bored, those who are very active, and those who are painfully shy.

Making RE programs welcoming for all children is an evolving process and everyone learns: teachers, parents and children. And, it takes patience and perseverance and compassion, all of which most religious educators seem to possess. Creatively including special needs children in the RE program can be viewed not as an extra task for the religious educator, but as a part of what religious education

1. Educating the whole congregation as to the needs of religious education and the wonderful differences among the children affords the opportunity to learn and grow as a congregation;
2. Educating and training teacher/parents how children learn and think can also help in understanding our own children;
3. Starting a dialogue between parents on how to compassionately include all children in the RE program provides opportunities for growth and positive change and leads to creative solutions;
4. Making church buildings handicapped accessible not only helps mobility impaired children and adults, but makes the buildings more welcoming for the elderly, very small children, pregnant women, those who break a leg, sprain an ankle or have arthritis or are chronically ill; and
5. Serving the different child or the disruptive child makes us confront our own fears and forces us to stretch our abilities to understand, provide and teach.

The results of the survey suggest the following initial format for the newsletter. However, I am willing to change the format if after several newsletters, it does not seem to be meetings people’s needs.

• An advice column in answer to specific questions (this may include responses from other religious educators);
• A section on what other churches are doing;
• A feature article on the most asked for topics listed in the survey; and
• A list of resources pertinent to the feature article.
• The subject of most concern that was mentioned by almost every single survey respondent was ways to cope with disruptive children in the classroom. I hope to address this issue in the next newsletter.

I realize that many of you are struggling with some immediate difficult issues around integrating special needs children in Sunday School. I will be happy to talk with you and provide suggestions if you contact me at salrick@mediaone.net with a specific question and also let me know when is a good time to call. Remember, most parents are the best source for information about their child. Help them understand and articulate exactly what they want their special needs child to experience in Sunday School. Sometimes parents have not thought carefully about what their child needs from religious education. It may simply be a need for companionship, which can be provided in many ways. The process of determination often clears up misconceptions and helps clarify exactly what the Church can and can not do.