UU Congregations Needed to Field Test Certification Program

Rev. Barbara F. Meyers, Chair of Certification Program team

EqUUal Access is pleased to announce the creation of a certification program for Unitarian Universalist Congregations, with the working title of Disability / Ability Action Program. The program was developed in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Association.

In 2011 EqUUal Access published Accessibility Guidelines for Unitarian Universalist Congregations. The Disability / Ability Action Program assists congregations in developing and implementing a plan for accessibility.

The certification program was developed as a joint program of the UUA and EqUUal Access to provide UU Congregations the opportunity to certify that they welcome, embrace, support, and integrate people with disabilities and their families into our congregations. Its sacred covenant with congregations is that they fully recognize the humanity and gifts of all people.

The program will have a two-year field test scheduled to begin in June 2013. EqUUal Access is actively seeking congregations that will take part in this field test. We will select congregations in different categories: small, large, old building, new building, renting, etc. The deadline for applying to be part of the program is April 30, 2013.

What's In a Word? by Carolyn Cartland, Vice President of Equual Access

Carolyn Cartland

When the Equual Access board chose the monthly theme for March a few months ago, we didn’t know how appropriate it would be. The March theme we selected, “What’s in a Word? Do the Words We Use Matter?”, is an apt description of the discussion now taking place on the “Standing on the Side of Love” blog. You may have seen it; if not, I recommend it. We are all invited to comment on whether the use of the word “standing” may be alienating to people with disabilities, how this issue may be impacting folks in our communities, and how ableism has affected our lives. I encourage everyone to make their opinions known below, on the Equual Access blog or on Access-l, the UU open forum for people who are interested in matters relating to accessibility. You are invited to join others who are committed to creating a faith community in which all people are truly welcomed into all aspects of congregational life. for UU. To view the sermon which initiated this conversation, go to the sermons web page for the Unitarian Society of Hartford, Connecticut and click on "2-12-12 Standing on the Side of Love - Rev. Katie Lee Crane."

At the Equual Access board meeting on March 7, we discussed this topic. We decided that words do matter to us, that words can change behavior and open minds, and that certain language presents opportunities to increase awareness of “the other” while other uses of language can limit understanding of others’ experiences. We understand that, initially, it may seem as though we are being “nit-picky”, “politically correct”, or “overly sensitive”. We are sympathetic to that perspective but weren’t those same comments made when women first objected to the sole use of the pronoun “he” in UU hymns, readings, and sermons? Weren’t similar comments made when the GBLTQ community objected to words that they deemed offensive? Who gets to decide if a word is offensive or not…the person offended or the person using the word? How do we show our belief in the “inherent worth and dignity of every person” if not by the language we use?

At our board meeting, we decided to pursue this conversation. We believe it is a valuable one for all of us, those with disabilities and those without, because at the very least it may open minds and hearts by providing a different perspective on the experiences of those whose lives are different from our own. Ableism, like sexism, heterosexism, racism, ageism, and all other forms of oppression, is alive and real in our culture; as in all forms of oppression, language is one of its most powerful tools. We encourage everyone to use this powerful tool in ways that are respectful, inclusive, and constructive. Whether SSL ultimately chooses to remove the word "standing" from the name of this social justice campaign or not, we believe this dialogue is necessary for the campaign to be inclusive and respectful of all people.

Disability Is by Kate Ryan

Disability is.

It just is.

It is neither a blessing nor a curse.

It is not fiction; it is not imaginary, it exists in ways we can see and we cannot see.

Disability is not a curse from God or punishment for your sins or your past life. You do not have a disability because you or some deity chose you to learn a lesson through it.

Disability is doing what you can, with what you have. It is accepting your limits and pushing your boundaries.

Disability is not a tragedy. It does not need prayers or candles or sorrowful glances.

Disability does not need pity. Disability needs action.

Disability is not because you did not work hard enough or try enough, or because you unconsciously sabotaged yourself from achieving your goal.

Disability is not because you did not try this or that treatment, cure, or ritual.

Disability is in spite of thousands of years of people trying to rid the world of it and of people with disabilities.

Disability is you, and it is not you. It is of you and about you. It is inherent within you and totally without you.

Disability is happiness and sorrow, and taking joy in things ordinary and extraordinary.

Disability is a warm, caring community with a slightly warped sense of humor.

Disability is finding bodily fluids to be very, very funny.

Disability is, and it isn’t, and nobody can define it but you.

Justice and Disability Rights by Alison Carville

My name is Alison Carville and I live with Spina Bifida. I have lost count of how many times I have been asked “What is that?” or even before what it is, “Why are you stuck in that chair?” When I was born, doctors that performed the Cesarean section to give me life were not sure how long I would live and if so, what “quality of life” I would have.

Twenty-one years after the Americans with Disabilities Act, my experience of living with a physical disability is still seen as “less than others” or “separate, but equal” in the world. I went through kindergarten-12th grade with the help of the IEP, or Individual Education Plan in efforts to give me a mainstream education. The school district always had an eye on me, just in case I could not fully understand the “normal” curriculum that every other student was learning.

I am now enrolled in college, and literally a few months away from graduating with my Associate’s in Arts degree from Edison State College in Florida. I have learned that as an adult, I have to learn how to deal with accessibility on my own. I have learned that by sticking up for myself, my physical disability is not a detriment, but an asset of my personhood that I would not change for the world. I believe that while I do these things on my own, and my college does have an Office for Students with Disabilities (or Office for Disabled Students, depending on who you ask), our society has much more to learn about inclusion and accessibility for people living with disabilities.

Our history of disability awareness begins with institutionalization of such individuals. Not only were individuals with psychiatric & psychological disabilities or illnesses “shut away” and institutionalized, but those with physical disabilities were not even given a chance. We were called crippled, broken, and worthless.

In 1817, the first school for individuals with hearing impairments in the western hemisphere was opened in Hartford Connecticut.

It wasn’t until Justin Dart, who lived with polio, wanted to attend the University of Houston for Education that people living with physical disabilities were seen on a larger scale of having legal rights and inclusion. In 1954, the educational institution refused to grant him a teaching certificate because of his disability. Today the college has the Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with Disabilities which is accessible to students of all abilities.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. This is the first piece of comprehensive & inclusive legislation in the 21st century focused on accessibility. Justin Dart, along with actor, director, and activist Clint Eastwood, founded Justice for All in efforts to defend against congressional attempts to restrict efforts of the ADA.

In the last several years, under the Obama Administration, there are more pieces of legislation to advance the rights of people living with disabilities. President Obama signed HR 146, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act which aims to develop better equipment and technologies so that individuals may live fully and independent from unnecessary boundaries and federal offices are required to include all statistics of their employees with disabilities. The Obama Administration is the first to have an Accessibility Committee in the Legislative Branch and also to have a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is the first new human rights treaty of the 21st century.

We still have a long way to go in order to achieve full civil rights for all persons living with disabilities, however we are on the right path to a better and more inclusive future. 650 million individuals, or 10% of the population now lives with a disability, and the time is now to work for justice and respecting the inherent worth and dignity of every person however they walk, roll, or stride on the side of love in their lives.

Alison Carville is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers, Florida, a student, and Facebook host for EqUUal Access.

Universalism & Disability Meditation by Naomi King

One Meditation on Why Accessibility, Disability Rights,  

and Celebration Matter for Unitarian Universalists

I have a heart for Edwin Markham’s epigram Outwitted (1915):

He drew a circle that shut me out –

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

Markham captures the heart of Unitarian Universalism as I understand this faith: whenever we come across a barrier to a bigger Love, a Love that abides, holds, and engages every one, then our labor is to take down that barrier and make the circle bigger. We are always changing and being changed in this radical and transforming Love that already knows us, holds us, and cherishes us. No one is beyond Love’s reach or acceptance.

Yet so very few of us have that continuous experience, inside religious communities and outside of it. That belief in transforming Love is both dream and challenge shaping our daily lives.

I work hard to hold onto that belief at times, like when I've read another missive from faith authorities that tells me faithful ministry means never falling ill. The text translates: if you're living rightly, then you won't be ill; if you're ill, that's evidence of failing to live rightly. As someone with a degenerative genetic disease and several chronic illnesses, it doesn't matter how well I take care of myself or how rightly I live, I will still have long periods of flaring illness and the progressive degeneration of a critical piece of my gene. I reject the misery offered me in the name of faith, a diminishment that diminishes the Holy, and turn back to the faith that sustains me, challenges me, and changes me.

Universalism teaches that each and every one of us is gifted. One of the tasks of religious community is to name, accept, and celebrate those gifts. When we meet a person, our faith asks us not to record how this person is more or less than, but to stop and rejoice in this blessing we have the honor of meeting. Transforming Love is a dream and a challenge.

Accessibility in congregations and congregational life, celebrating the gifts and honoring the experiences of people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and working for disability rights are ways of faithing – faith held not like property, but living, moment by moment.

Love wins when the barriers to full participation in life come down. Love wins when a child once set aside as unteachable leads the congregation in giving thanks. Love wins when people who live every day with the experience of exclusion are part of claiming their place in the Heart of Life, and people who experience inclusion every day are dancing in solidarity alongside.

Love wins. That’s what this faith is about, and love winning is exactly why accessibility, disability rights, and changing in and through Love are fruits of living faithfully.

Rev. Naomi King