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Monday, April 30, 2012

Blazing Trails

Samuel G. Howe
It will come as no surprise that many Unitarian Universalists have been instrumental throughout history in advancing the cause of people with varying abilities. Some of the names are better known: Dorothea Dix and Samuel G. Howe who, among other accomplishments, established the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston and was recognized as the country’s leading expert on the subject.  Others are lesser known, but no less important in raising consciousness, improving services, and gaining greater acceptance of people with disabilities in society.

While some of his techniques may have been suspect (he was a great proponent of bloodletting to cure ills, for example), Benjamin Rush was a pioneer in the study and treatment of mental illness.  Rebuffed when he protested the inhuman treatment of people with mental illness at Pennsylvania Hospital, he obtained state funding to create a ward for the “insane” at that facility and began a practice that revolutionized the way we think of people with mental illness.  In 1812, he wrote the book Medical Inquiries and Observations, Upon the Diseases of the Mind, which was a standard reference for seventy years and earned him the title of “the father of American psychiatry.”

Dr. Martha May Eliot was a leader in the development of health services for mothers and children.  While on staff at the Department of Pediatrics at Yale, Dr. Eliot helped to develop the Division of Child Hygiene and collaborated in the drafting of the first Maternity and Infancy Act which required states to extend and improve services for mothers and children and for “handicapped” children.  In her report to Congress in the mid-1950’s, Dr. Eliot identified children with mental retardation as a program priority.  Largely through her initiatives, by 1955, services for people with mental retardation were a priority within the federal government.  Since 1964, the American Public Health Association has awarded the Martha May Eliot Award to deserving individuals who have provided extraordinary health services to mothers and children.

T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. has a long and distinguished history in the field of primary care pediatrics and child psychiatry.  An author of more than 200 scientific papers and chapters, Dr. Brazelton has been influential in advocating the importance of early intervention to at-risk infants and their families.  Among other honors, he was appointed in 1989 to the National Commission on Children by the U.S. Congress, where he advocated for better services to disadvantaged children.  His Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale is used worldwide to assess the physical and neurological responses of newborns as well as their emotional well-being and individual differences.

These are just a few of the stories of Unitarian Universalists living out our faith in word and in deed…and helping to make the world a better place for people of all abilities.

Embracing the Child in Our Beloved Communities


Through the financial support of the UUA, the author and educator Sally Patton has been offering workshops on creating welcoming ministries for all families that want to attend our Unitarian Universalist Congregations. Entitled Involve, the workshop is designed to train religious educators, ministers and lay leaders to minister to children with different ways of learning, being and knowing and insure their successful inclusion into congregational life. So far this year, Sally has presented her workshop in the San Francisco area and in Westchester County, north of New York City. On May 19th, Sally will be at the Unitarian Universalist Church of West Chester, a suburb of Philadelphia. For those in that area, registration will be open until May 17th. For more information, contact Mark Bernstein, CERG Growth Consultant at mbernstein@uua.org. For more information about Sally, log on to her website at www.embracechildspirit.org.













Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Honoring Dorothea Dix - Reformer, Humanitarian, Unitarian


During the month of April the Equual Access featured discussion topic is Unitarian Universalist History with Accessibility and Inclusion. Since Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, it seems particularly fitting that we begin with a story about her and her work. Her life is featured on the Disability History Museum and her biography there reminds readers that, "Dix did not truly discover her life’s work until she was almost forty years old. She did not become a leader in the asylum movement until she herself experienced a debilitating bout of depression and physical illness in 1836."

The Tapestry of Faith Windows and Mirrors curriculum for grades 4-5 includes the life story of Dorothea Dix:

"Dorothea Dix lived in the 1800s. At a time when women had fewer choices than men did, Dorothea made extraordinary choices for herself. She did not grow up a Unitarian, but she chose to become one as an adult. Another choice she made was to work hard on behalf of other people.

Dorothea made one of the most important contributions to our society by helping to create hospitals for people with mental illness. In her time, there were no hospitals for people with mental problems. People who acted strange or could not communicate because they had difficulty thinking and interacting the same way most others did, were kept in prisons. Often they were chained and given very little clothing. So what if it was cold in the prison? Nobody cared whether these people were cold. Most people thought people with mental illness did not get cold or feel pain. In fact, many people thought that those with mental illness were not fully human at all.

.... Dorothea deeply valued the right to make one's own choices. She trusted her own choices about the right way to live her life. One of her choices was to become a Unitarian. Another was to work to help people with mental illness in ways they were not able to help themselves. She understood they were people whose right to make their own choices had been taken away. She helped everyone understand that people with mental illness are people like us, who deserve dignity and respect."