This Week's Q&A and Resources
is autism a gift, salvation and baptism recommendations, where should a church start?
I thought we were celebrating the last day of January today, but then I looked at the date and saw it’s just the 30th! What a long month it has been. A good month, but long!
This week I got to meet virtually with moms of kids with cortical visual impairment (CVI) through Kansas’s DeafBlind Project. We talked about how to support typical siblings in our disability families. There’s a page on my website with all my resources on siblings if you’re interested!
I also had a meeting about an upcoming trip to Prague I’ll be taking to support kids with disabilities. I’m not sure what I can say about it publicly yet, but it’s very exciting! (I’ll be packing a whole sensory room into a couple of suitcases!)
This week’s questions:
Is autism a gift?
This question was part of a conversation with a friend, but it’s also part of a big discussion on neurodiversity and functional and social impairments. I’m working on an article entitled “How Christians Should View Neurodiversity & the Neurodiversity Movement” that gets at more of the scope of this topic. But the Scripture I pointed to in the conversation with the friend and fellow autism mom is James 1:17. Is autism a gift? It is part of who James is and he is part of our family (and our church family), which means it is for our good and God’s glory. In that way, even with all the challenges for James both functionally and socially, it is a gift. Here’s what I wrote in my book for parents of kids with disabilities on the verse:
The book of James says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17). It’s easy to see what we would consider as good and perfect gifts coming from God: good health, happy and obedient kids, pretty weather, and extra quality time with our spouses. These are all good gifts. But we must also consider the hard things good and perfect gifts. You can look back on your life and see times when that was true, right? A cancer diagnosis is bad, but it can bring a feuding family together to support the person going through chemo. Losing a job is bad, but it can help you assess your priorities and guide you to making a different decision about your future.
When I change my perspective and see everything as coming from God, the problems don’t feel as overwhelming. I can pray, “God, thank you for trusting me with this responsibility. I want to glorify You in everything, including this challenge. I need Your help to not grow resentful but to see this from Your perspective, as a good and perfect gift.” from my book, Unexpected Blessings
What salvation and baptism resources do you recommend?
From Awe & Wonder: the Accessible Gospel & Salvation Kit
From Ability Ministry: the Becoming a Christian: Baptism Decision Workbook and video series
From Children & Salvation: This book is releasing in Sept 2025 and includes a chapter from me on children with disabilities and salvation
Should our church start with buddies or a self-contained/specialized class?
This is a great question! The first question I would ask back is, what do the kids who currently attend your church need? For most churches, that’s buddies in the typical classroom to help the kids who are struggling. Lots of emails to me in my consultant role start with, “We have this one kid …” The most immediate need for those churches is to help that kid feel more comfortable in the typical class setting.
When we came to our current church, we started with a specialized class because the immediate need was a class for James (the new pastor’s son). Over the eight years that we’ve been here, we’ve been able to expand and grow to meet different needs and serve all ages.
The good news is there isn’t a wrong answer to this question! You could even start both at the same time if you’re able. Sometimes a big ministry launch is easier to recruit and train for than getting support for one need at a time.
Ask God to show you the next right steps to take. He will be faithful to meet your needs because his heart is to reach more families!
What I’m reading and listening to:
From Scripture, the book of Deuteronomy - I’m reading and studying for my comprehensive PhD exams early this fall, so I’m focusing my Bible reading time on the themes of children and family, discipleship, the image of God, and disability.
Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus by J. T. English (for a class I’m taking)
Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus’ Final Words Our First Work by Robby Gallaty (for a class I’m taking)
“Are We Measuring Discipleship All Wrong? A Fresh Framework for Your Church” by Justin Allison on Substack
“5 Myths about Children’s Ministry” from Jared Kennedy for the Crossway Podcast
Doctrine Matters podcast with Kevin DeYoung
“Your Toughest Church Social Media Questions Answered” from The Pro Church Tools podcast
God Attachment: Why You Believe, Act, and Feel the Way You Do About God by Tim Clinton and Joshua Straub (I have just read chapter 5 so far to better understand attachment theories)
From the report of Lifeway’s trustee meeting this week: Mandrell also called out the “overwhelming response” to the Grace Bible for readers with dyslexia. The kids’ edition released last fall has sold more than 5,000 copies. “Within a matter of days of the release, we ran out of inventory and have been working hard to meet the demand,” he said. The adult version released a few weeks later and has already sold nearly 3,000 copies as well.
Our Bible study Held: Learning to Live in God’s Grip is now available in what the translators are calling Tagish (Filipino/Tagalog with English). They sent us copies, and we love the cover and are praying for the families who will read it!
On Thursday, Feb. 6th, my regular email newsletter will go out with a link to a disability ministry planning calendar from Key Ministry: The Podcast that I’m excited to share. The next week (after the Super Bowl and before Valentine’s Day) I’ll be here again answering questions.
I’ll leave you with this encouragement from Deuteronomy:
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children …” (4:9)
Let’s make the wonderful works of God known to our children, our children’s children, and the children God brings into our ministries to share the gospel with and to disciple!