AAIDD Religion & Spirituality Network
"Working to foster opportunities for spiritual growth among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities."
At last year’s conference, Jeff McNair ran into Jim Mullin with the AAIDD Humanist Action Group and invited him to submit a post to share with all of you. Please take a moment to read what Jim has to say and feel free to leave a comment!
Continue reading “Guest Post from the Humanist Action Group”
Currently there are two different roles for certification (which can be viewed on the division webpage at http://www.aaiddreligion.org/certification): Pastoral Care, intended for institutional setting and Lay Minister, intended for community-based outreach. Although the two roles acknowledge the transition to community based supports, they are still heavily influenced by the institutional model.
I just returned from a month of international travel that I would like to report on briefly here. It included time in Netherlands, Ukraine and Uganda.
Continue reading “Message from the President: Some Lessons From Summer Travels”
For those of you not familiar with Quality Mall, if you would like to:
The Quality Mall is the place to be!
Continue reading “Faith and Spirituality Department of the Quality Mall”
The Annual conference was recently help in St. Paul, Minnesota where the Religion and Spirituality Division held their annual meeting. Notes taken at the meeting are included below:
In attendance:
Continue reading “Report from the 2011 Annual Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota”
This is a last minute reminder to everyone of the upcoming conference and some great activities form the Religion and Spirituality division that you won’t want to miss.
The conference will be held this year in St. Paul, Minnesota June 6-9, 2011. The conference is a great opportunity for learning, networking and recharging. Please don’t miss this event- if you haven’t registered yet, please do so today!
Continue reading “2011 Religion and Spirituality Division Conference Activities”
In meeting with people from faith groups and denominations, I am often asked about model programs that might be closest to the “state of the art” in terms of including persons with various disabilities. Recent research has also caused me to ask that question, particularly from an interfaith perspective. What are best practices in the Muslim community, for example, and where might those best practices be observed? Where is the “state of the art” best evidenced among Mormons? Where can I go to view model programs within the Jewish community?
Continue reading “Model Programs From Various Faith Traditions (May Message from the President)”
The Chaplain Certification process is under review. If you are interested in participating in this committee please contact any of the existing members: Dave Morstad at David.Morstad@mailblc.org, Sr. Gabrielle Kowalski at gkowalski@stritch.edu, or Anne Masters at masteran@rcan.org.
Continue reading “AAIDD Religion and Spirituality Division Chaplain Certification Process is Under Review”
Like the people of River City, IA in the O. Meredith Wilson musical “The Music Man” the modern day version of the Wells Fargo wagon dropped off a package at my home just before Chanukah. The package was from my dear friend, Sandy Block, a lay leader and co-chair of the Celebration Company, a program of the Alexander Institute which was created to serve people with disabilities in the Houston Jewish Community. The Alexander Institute is part of a growing disability services department at Jewish Family Service of Houston TX.
Continue reading “Modern Day Wells Fargo Wagon Signals Community Attention”
In considering why someone would become a part of a faith group, there are minimally two reasons. First, someone might choose to grow in their faith, knowledge, and understanding of faith as interpreted by the group of their choosing. This might involve attending sessions where sacred writings are read and discussed, studying materials oneself, or acts of service to the larger group. Second, one might choose to simply attend a faith group meeting because of the social benefits of such participation. Their desire might be to make friends and experience community integration.
Continue reading “Faith Groups, Friendships and Integration (April Message from the President)”
AAIDD Religion & Spirituality Network 