An important point to emphasize and remember is that a person should never ask direct questions to a person regarding their disability. The disabled person or a parent of a disabled child will choose what information to share and when to share it. Questions regarding immediate issues to accessibility and communication methods are appropriate to ask the disabled person or parent. First, address the person who is disabled and if they are unable to communicate their needs, the person who is with them will speak on their behalf. It is important to never assume a person is unable to communicate with others due to their disability. Speaking around a disabled person rather than to them disempowers them and strips them of their dignity as human beings. We should recall Celidonius and how Jesus spoke directly to him, rather than his parents as opposed to the synagogue clergy who spoke around Celidonius to his parents, who in turn told them that Celidonius could speak for himself. Addressing a person directly is an important step to inclusion and breaking down barriers of exclusion, developing friendships and discovering a person’s gifts and talents which can be contributed to Church ministries.
❤️🙏🤟🏼
Dr Kelly Fleming 
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