Episode 45: Ministry to Students with Disabilities (Sandra Peoples)

It’s unfortunately easy for youth ministry to exclude students who are neurodivergent or who have physical disabilities. These students and their families often experience significant stress in at home, and the church can sometimes add to their sense of not feeling welcomed. This episode from the podcast features a conversation with Sandra Peoples about how youth workers and churches can better serve students and parents with disabilities.  Discussion Questions:  It could be helpful to start by talking about verbiage - what do we mean by disabilities and why is the community moving away from the phrase “special needs”?  When we’re talking about ministry to students with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent, it can quickly get overwhelming to really understand what we’re talking about. Could you give a basic overview of what these phrases mean for our listeners who are new to the conversation?  How should youth workers think about disability from a biblical and theological framework?  What are some unique stresses and challenges these families experience that would be good for pastors to be aware of?  Obviously, youth ministries don’t have the same resources and support as a public school to provide one-on-one aides and we haven’t usually received much training, so what are some ways that our youth ministries could realistically make some changes to be a welcoming space?  Most of the special needs students who come to youth group are likely considered mild/moderate in needs and are mainstreamed in their school classes, so they can often slip under our radar because there isn’t always something visible about their disability. What counsel do you have for youth workers that will equip us to better minister to these students?  About Sandra: Sandra Peoples (M Div, PhD student) is the disability ministry consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, an adjunct professor for Liberty University, and the author of Unexpected Blessings: The Joys and Possibilities of Life in a Special-Needs Family. She and her family live outside of Houston, TX. Resources Mentioned YPT Podcast 37: Serving Students with Special Needs (Bryan Barrineau) Joni and friends Sandra's ministry website Sandra's Podcast: The Key Ministry Podcast Sandra's Book: Unexpected Blessings Sandra on Twitter: @SandraPeoples Join YPT's Facebook group: @youththeologian (make sure you answer the membership questions) Follow YPT on Twitter/X: @youththeologian Follow YPT on Instagram: @youththeologian YPT has published an ebook that's a free download for subscribers. Youth Ministry is Theological Ministry collects ten articles from the YPT archives to help new readers catch the heartbeat of Youth Pastor Theologian is written by six different contributors from across America, Mexico, and the UK.