Visit http://www.prayingwithLior.co/clergy.html for reviews of this DVD about an inclusive community and the religious coming of age of a young man with Down's syndrome. Ilana Tractman, producer and director

November 29th, 2007

There is something really special going on in our midst, something that might easier happen in a small church than in a larger one. This is the confirmation class for Walter Boyles.

Walter is an autistic child on the low functioning side of the spectrum. He is almost non-verbal and has a number of mannerisms. He also has a warm smile, a deep sense of belonging to our church, great parents, and quite a network of supporters within our church family. Now he has reached confirmation age. But what does one teach a young person in Walter’s condition? There are no special needs confirmation class curriculums for Walter’s level. Walter’s mother, Sandy, and I knew only one thing: We would not want to pursue Walter’s confirmation just for the sake of the ritual. The Elders of the church supported us in this. Early on, they expressed concern that the curriculum for Walter would not just establish requirements for Walter to pass. This would contradict our understanding of God’s grace. Instead, the Board of Elders wished for a curriculum that focused on Walter’s potential for learning and growth in the faith. Back in 2005, this sounded well intended but also very ambitious. However, before we knew it, we received help from two great sources. The library of the Boggs Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey provided sample curriculums for higher functioning children. Rev. Bill Gaventa, the leader of the Boggs Center, helped us compile a list of learning goals and objectives. This was then reviewed by a member of our church, Heather Epstein, and her husband, Dan. Both are special education teachers and fluent in a teaching approach called Discrete Trial. Finally, Heather and Dan translated the curriculum into the language of Discrete Trial. Thanks to their work, we soon had four lessons divided in numerous sessions, all compiled in a thick three-ring binder with spreadsheets. Each session contains learning tasks broken down into sequences of ten trials each. The outcome of each trial is recorded on  a spreadsheet. This makes success measurable.           Walter has made tremendous progress in these sessions. Since May, 2007, he has learned the following: 1. To go alone from Fellowship Hall to the sanctuary when prompted. 2. To recognize the cross as a special object. 3. To distinguish our pew Bibles from other books. 4. To recognize us pastors. 5. To sing the Gloria Patri together with others. One of the most exciting features of Walter’s confirmation class is the involvement of other church members. Some have served as distracters to help Walter distinguish between a pastor and a layperson. Our seminary professors, John Coakley and David Waanders, have served in addition to Susan and me as robed pastors during our sessions. This has helped Walter realize that there are many pastors. Other church members have helped teaching a particular trial session or filling in the spreadsheets. We teach twice a week, Friday evenings at our home in Jamesburg, and Sunday mornings before church. Come spring, we will celebrate Walter’s confirmation. By that time, it will be a feast for our entire church family because so many of us have taken part in these classes. What a powerful manifestation of God’s love this is. Thank you, First Church!    

Dr. Rev. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

Since 2000 he and his wife serve the First Reformed Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey, as co-pastors.

A request has come to UCC Disabilities Ministries for resources for children with autism, aspergers and adhd. The inquiry is focused on confirmation material. Our experience has been to tailor a course in basic content to the individual as each youth has specific gifts of understanding. Much depth can come with simplicity. Meet your young person where he/she is in understanding. Persons who wish to share what they have done in preparing youths for confirmation are invited to make a comment and/or contact the webmaster if you have notes or other resources that can be put on the website. I worked individually with a young woman who was in a similar situation after brain surgery. For us, it worked to be together 15 minutes at a time. Those minutes were focused on one topic to help her to concentrate. She responded well to art and concrete forms of symbols. We went through the basic material of confirmation in short form but enough so that she could connect and have a level of understanding appropriate for her. I believe that God does not require a test but comes to us with open-armed invitation. As a young child, I was allowed to grow in my understanding of Holy Communion at my own pace. What I remember clearly today about this experience was the loving hands that carefully lowered the plate of bread and held the container of juice cups as they were passed in the pews. My family was busy in the choir and at the organ bench so I sat "at home" anywhere and with anyone in our church. I did not grasp the fine points of symbolism but you can be certain that I caught the essence of the act and the holiness of the moment. I was included without reservation in the family of God. db

The compassion of 15-year-old Chad House permeated Nebraska Conference Annual Celebration 2005. Chad, the son of Terry and Trudy House lives with behavioral, developmental and neurological disorders resulting from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). His mom, Trudy, understands through and through that he is one of "God's children `loaned' to [her] to love, to nurture, and to teach." First Congregational, UCC, Hastings, folk have long-since set aside discomfort to accept his special needs. Karen Roback, Chad's minister-person, said, "I have learned much more from him than he will ever learn from me." After nurturing Chad's early religious journey, she designed for him a confirmation program. He responded with clarity that he knows at heart level what God's love and God's church are about. Chad also showed us that he lives his confirmation promises. He and Trudy stood near the "Speak Out" microphone as I described the mission of the doll I was about to loan him for a companion. A colleague at General Synod had invited me to check out the cloth doll riding in her wheelchair. This was no usual doll. The fingers sewn into each hand pad were made for holding. To be sure, it had rug yarn hair and a soft body. He wore a beard, but no mouth. For a frustrated youngster, a smile would offer little understanding. A sad mouth could not celebrate joy. Further, his eyes were as openly compassionate as those of a dog guide. Chad listened to the stories about the doll who served as listener during the sleepless nights of a woman moving through chemotherapy. He spent time with a high school senior sidelined by mono and with another during a difficult season of bipolar disorder. He lived in the arms of an older man with Alzheimer's and awoke a woman's smile at the care center. He snuggled with another young child in another worship service. I, too, having wrapped my arms around this soft symbol of God's presence, understood what they discovered. So did Chad. As I wondered about his imaginative spiritual play, tender stories bubbled back to the Disabilities Ministries table. This youngster who finds relating to others difficult studied the faces of conference participants. From time to time he would approach someone. "Do you need to hold the Jesus Doll for a little while?" Then he placed him into their arms. From time to time others found in him a tool for chatting with Chad. At the banquet, Chad approached the head table. He told our conference minister, "Jesus needs to sit at this table because that is where Jesus belongs." So Roddy Dunkerson, our conference minister, found a chair, and the doll that reminds us of Whose we are and how we are to be with each other dined at the head table. To learn about FAS, visit www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas/default.htm Beulah Enterprises, a Children's Mission ministry of St. Paul & St. James Church in New Haven, CT, markets the Jesus Doll made in a cottage industry by battered women rebuilding their lives. - db Used with permission of the Chad and his parent as well as with the blessing of the Nebraska Conference. Reading the Signs is edited by Dee Brauninger.