Getting There

As it pertains to issues around disability and accessibility, General Assembly 2013 in Louisville went, from my perspective, pretty well.  The workshop on creating inclusive worship services with Suzanne Fast, Sarah Dan Jones and Amy Carol Webb was well conducted and very well attended.  The Equual Access booth was busy with many ribbons, business cards and literature being handed out, many questions being answered, and many new relationships being formed.  The convention center was, as far as I knew, physically accessible. And the language during group worship and plenary sessions was generally appropriate and respectful.

So, all in all, I think it went okay.  However, there were a few times during the week when people were not as sensitive as they should have been.  We still have a long way to go in raising the consciousness of people around hurtful words and phrases and the suggestion of concepts that demean an entire group of individuals.

The most grievous example of this came during the Sunday Morning Worship and the sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. William Schulz, President and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and former President of the Unitarian Universalist Association.  In his opening remarks, Rev. Schulz said, “I have been preaching to Unitarian Universalists now for more than forty-four years. One of the definitions of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over again without appreciable effect. Thank you, Peter, for giving me one more opportunity to prove my sanity.”  This was followed by uproarious laughter in the hall, including the dignitaries on the stage behind him.

First of all, Rev. Schulz, that is not one of the definitions of mental illness.  Secondly, it is not true that all people with mental illness do the same thing over and over again without appreciable effect.  Thirdly, I know many people who do not have a diagnosis of mental illness who do the same thing over and over again without appreciable effect.  Witness my New York Mets.

But the worst thing about these remarks was the effort to squeeze some laughs out of a blatantly stereotypical and negative profile of a particular class of persons.  Imagine what would have happened if, for example, Rev. Schulz had begun his sermon with, “One of the definitions of a lesbian is…”; or  “One of the definitions of an Hispanic is …”  At the least, it would have been met with stunned silence.  At most, it would have resulted in cries of protest and people leaving Plenary Hall.

Yeah, we still have a ways to go.  But I’m hopeful.  I truly believe that while words may sometimes divide us and preconceived ideas, judgments and assumptions may sometimes hurt us, if we pay attention to these things; if we give voice to it and speak out against it; if we strive to understand others with compassion and empathy, we will prevail.  And General Assembly will truly become the beloved community.

As the author Jose N. Harris said, “I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”

With respect,

 Mark Bernstein, CERG  Consultant and UUA Liaison to Equual Access

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.

Hero Worship

What is the definition of a hero?  I like the quote by our own Ralph Waldo Emerson that, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”

You may have seen the recent news story about the Houston, Texas waiter who refused to serve a customer because he asked to move his family to another table to be further away from a child with Down’s Syndrome who was sitting nearby with his family.  Further, the customer reportedly said to the waiter, Michael Garcia, that “Special needs children need to be special somewhere else.” 

Garcia responded by telling the customer that he was not able to serve him.  He also asked him how he could say that “about a beautiful 5-year-old angel?”  Since the incident, Garcia has been the object of media attention, celebration and pats on the back from restaurant customers eager to thank him for his five minutes of bravery.

 Here’s a link to the full story:

http://www.today.com/moms/waiter-hailed-hero-after-standing-boy-down-syndrome-1B8038223#waiter-hailed-hero-after-standing-boy-down-syndrome-1B8038223

What was it about Garcia’s act of defiance that caused such an outpouring of love and support?  Could it be that they saw in Garcia what they could not see in themselves?  A willingness to take a stand?  The courage to risk retribution and possibly injury/loss of job/loss of prestige to do what they think is right?

As Unitarian Universalists, we are compelled to be heroes every day of our lives.  Our faith requires us to speak out against injustice in whatever form we find it.  It requires us to be brave five minutes at a time.

Thank goodness for people like Michael Garcia.  He reminds us of the hero in all of us and the need to stay true to our values and to ourselves.  As George F. Kennan wrote, “Heroism is endurance for one moment more.”

 

Mark Bernstein

CERG Growth Consultant and UUA Liaison to Equual Access

Looping Your Sanctuary by Carol Agate

Are you planning to build a new sanctuary or remodel an existing one? Now may be the perfect time to install an induction loop around the perimeter. The loop will allow people who wear hearing aids to hear all the voices coming from the microphones right in their ears.
You may wonder why they would need that if the sound is already being amplified. That's because loudspeakers distort sound. Our brains do wonderful things with the sounds our ears pick up and deliver to them. But when those ears lose the ability to hear well, the brain can't do a competent job of interpreting the sounds. The brains of people with normal hearing are capable of interpreting those distorted sounds and understanding what comes through the loudspeakers. But for the brains of people with hearing loss the amplified sounds remain distorted. An induction loop sets up a magnetic field and hearing aids that have telecoils pick up those voices and put the sounds right into the ears, just as though the speaker was one foot away.

You may already have installed an FM transmitter and have receivers that you distribute to congregants and guests. If so, good for you! But do you find your ushers don't know where the receivers are kept, the batteries are dead more often than not, or the ear buds or headset pads are to hard to keep clean or to keep changing? When people with telecoil-equipped hearing aids walk into a looped sanctuary, no equipment is needed. All they have to do is flip a switch on their hearing aids.

Even if you aren't remodeling you may be able to install a loop.

One Step At A Time

Accessibility Floor Mats Adorn the
Floor of UUFCC

On the home page of its website, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County (UUFCC), located in State College, PA, includes the following statement: We welcome participation in our services and activities by all persons without regard to age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, gender or sexual orientation.

And guess what? They mean it. When you walk into their beautiful sanctuary, one of the things that you notice are several spaces among the rows of chairs with blue mats placed on the floor. Printed on the mats is the wheelchair logo, the universal symbol of accessibility. The floor mats are attractive and blend seamlessly with the dark blue of the surrounding chairs. More importantly, they signal to the congregation and to those visiting that this is a place where all are welcome; that we have room here for all.

The Fellowship’s Minister, Rev. Mark Hayes, says, “Rather than shuffling chairs around, we wanted to be more intentional and more welcoming.”

Their intentionality extends also to those with hearing disabilities. The sanctuary has a two level looping system, which enables anyone with a hearing aid to listen clearly and free of other distracting noise in the environment without the use of a separate receiver and headset.

UUFCC is just one of many Unitarian Universalist congregations that are committed to greater comfort and inclusion of people with disabilities in worship and congregational life. The Unitarian Church of Barneveld, located in Central New York State, is a small congregation with a very big heart. In the spring of 2012, they dedicated their recently completed ramp access. The ramp, which provides access to the lower building’s social area, was built with donations from members and friends, UU related funding, and hours of volunteer labor. For the time being, access to the building will only allow individuals to hear the worship service, but the good people of Barneveld are not done. Phase two of the plan will be the installation of a lift from the ground floor to the sanctuary.

As journalist and social activist Dorothy Day wrote so eloquently, “People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time." The people of Centre County and the people of Barneveld, one step at a time, are building monuments to our faith and to our commitment to be a religion for all.

Thanks to Ellen Asprooth, St. Lawrence District Reporter, for contributing to this blog.

Mark Bernstein
CERG Growth Consultant and UUA Liaison to Equual Access

Amazing Gifts - A Book Review

Faith communities love stories, particularly stories of success. Teachers, preachers, advocates, administrators tell and retell stories of faithful struggle and faithful achievement to inspire us, to instruct us in what is possible, to invite us further on our own faithful journeys as individuals, families, and faith communities. Mark Pinsky has collected a volume of such faithful stories about disability and full inclusion from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Unitarian Universalist communities and families.

"Many religious interpretations, cultures, and personal beliefs hold onto the hope that everything would be perfect if people would just become perfect. No one wants to believe that it's really out of our control. Trials are for spiritual purification, and the Koran states that no one can attest that they are believers without that faith being tried. But God does not curse people with diseases because they or their loved ones are 'bad.' Islamic liturgy doesn't refer to disabilities in this way." - Laila, "The Right to Kindness and Charity" in Amazing Gifts

Amazing Gifts is structured with three sections of stories, defined by who is telling the story: Empowering People and Congregations, Ministry by People with Disabilities, and Family Members in Ministry. Each section may be read and studied on its own, but together they invite us all into imagining a radically inclusive world of transforming love.

"Let us take a hard look as Jews and see who is not in our midst. Who is not sitting next to us in a synagogue service or a Jewish community event because they have no way of getting there?...Who cannot read our prayer books because synagogues have not purchased large print or Braille prayer books? Who cannot hear our lessons, meetings, or sermons without special equipment or an ASL interpreter? Who is not participating in a family simcha because they cannot get up to the bimah..." - Rabbi Lynne Landsberg

Small groups could easily pursue one section at a time over the course of a year, sharing what they learn and imagine with their faith communities, and exploring building faithful ministries that include everyone. All the stories will leave readers wanting to know more, a yearning we can turn toward our own work of acceptance and inclusion.

"Question surrounding disability bring us close to the heart of theology and ethics...Sometimes God asks a congregation what it's made of." - Rev. Samuel Wells, Dean, Duke University Chapel

Sometimes faith communities struggle to imagine ministry by people with disabilities. The section of stories included in Amazing Gifts will invite those faith communities to hopeful new understanding and imagining new possibilities. Living with disability - as with other life circumstances - can grow us in faith and strengthen, or even make possible, certain ministries. Rev. Barbara Meyers, EqUUal Access Board Member, observes in Amazing Gifts,

"Having a mental illness has been an invaluable asset to me in working with others with mental illnesses. There is something about being with someone who has had similar experiences that is very powerful...This is especially powerful when a peer can see you as being able to live a successful life. Just by your presence, you convey that there is hope for them."

Pinsky concludes with theological summaries of why faithful communities are called to be communities of all people, open and accessible, inclusive and celebratory, enduring and changing. Pinsky also admits there are a lot of hard stories, stories that disappoint, that teach us about unfaithfulness, and many more stories that are not yet finished, that we are in the middle of living.

"Learning how to recognize the gifts and talents of children and adults with disabilities can transform congregations and their leaders." - Mark I. Pinsky, "Conclusion"

Unitarian Universalists will particularly want to attend to the stories related by the Rev. Robin Gray and the Rev. Barbara Meyers, included, respectively under Empowering People and Congregations and Ministry By People With Disabilities. Rev. Gray tells of different congregations she has served and the decisions they made to be accessible and inclusive. Rev. Meyers speaks about her Mental Health Ministry and how it has made a real difference in people's lives, including her own.

What faithful stories of inclusion, accessibility, and ministries through and with disabilities do you have? Who is not able to participate and give now and what can you and your community do to address that? What is going on in your faith community that bears witness and hope that every one matters and has gifts to give?

Review written by Rev. Naomi King, EqUUal Access' host on Twitter and teaching pastor with City of Refuge Ministries.

Justice and Equual Access by Carolyn Cartland, Vice President Equual Access

The theme for our January blog has been “Justice and Disability Rights.” As you may have read, we have several terrific contributions which reveal some of the ways we, people with disabilities, have not received justice and had our rights disrespected or withheld. When I first joined my congregation, I was denied equal access to the building because I could not open the front door independently. One extremely cold (ten degrees) January night I was stuck outside for what seemed like hours (it wasn’t, but boy was it cold!). Once I was in the building, amidst tears, rage, and chattering teeth, I communicated my needs to the women with whom I was attending a “Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” course. The next day, when I called the minister to discuss it with him, he had already heard from one of the class participants. Soon after, the Building and Grounds committee authorized funds for an automatic door opener. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. By advocating for physical access to the building, I was also advocating for the right of inclusion.

Equual Access was founded to promote the rights of Unitarian Universalists with disabilities, both within our congregations and within our larger community. Part of the strategy for having our rights recognized and acted upon is to tell our story, to communicate our issues and the discrimination which we face. This blog helps do that; so does talking and working within our congregations and the UUA. That’s what worked for me at my congregation.

To further our goal of increasing the inclusiveness of congregations and to add our voice to the larger social justice efforts undertaken by the UUA, the Board of EA will be working hard to expand our communications network. We will especially focus on communicating closely with the Multicultural Growth and Witness department; we will receive copies of their monthly reports so that we can learn what projects they are undertaking so that we can make sure our perspective is included. We will share our priorities and concerns with them as well. We will also be having periodic conversations with the head of the department, Taquiena Boston, and members of her staff so that we can increase each entity’s awareness of issues and concerns. Such specific and intentional conversations should aid in our joint efforts to respect the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, UU or not.

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.

Coping with Crossflow by Roger Christan Schriner

Many years ago a wise old fellow told me why he was no longer frazzled by Los Angeles traffic. "I stopped obsessing about how I needed to get from Point A to Point B. Instead, I just focused on coping with the crossflow."

By crossflow, he meant anything that slowed him down as he moved toward his destination. Dealing with crossflow no longer felt like an irritating distraction from the task of "getting there." Coping with crossflow WAS his task.

After this shift in attitude, he was less likely to be livid while following a pokey driver or getting stuck behind someone who had double-parked. Why did he feel better? Because defining his task as navigating crossflow helped him expect and accept these obstacles. It was similar to the mind-shift that occurs when a sales clerk realizes, "This customer who wants my attention right now is not a distraction from doing my job. The customer IS my job."

So what does this have to do with Equual Access? Realistically, every time one of us attempts to improve access, we will confront crossflow. In some cases it’s just a simple matter of jumping through procedural hoops to achieve a favorable outcome. But at times the barriers to change can be daunting, discouraging, and depressing.

I am a temporarily-abled equal access ally involved with E.A.’s Right Relations Committee. My professional background includes work in ministry, psychotherapy, and organizational dynamics. Like every minister (and every lay leader), I have lots of experience with crossflow. I know that in local congregations improvements come slowly, sometimes frustratingly so. We need to remember that it’s normal to encounter snags, complications, and sometimes overt resistance.

Obviously the attitudinal shift I’m talking about does not eliminate all stress for change agents, or for drivers in L.A. At times my friend who talked about crossflow would still become irritated by gridlock on Sunset Boulevard. But he was far less frus.trated when he defined crossflow-navigation as his primary task.

I’m planning to write an occasional entry on the E.A. blogsite about coping with crossflow. What glitches, setbacks and pushbacks do UU’s encounter when they work for equal access to congregational activities?

As one example, you may have read the blog entry called "Make your congregations loopy!" What problems might people confront in trying to encourage a local UU group to "loop" its sound system so those with hearing devices can tune in by just flipping a switch?

If you have any ideas about crossflow issues, or if you’d like to share a relevant case study, just post a comment. In October I’ll write more on this topic. Thanks for reading this entry, and good luck with every bit of crossflow that comes your way today.

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

Shared knowledge makes the Accessibility Guidelines document strong

On September 7, 2011, the Board of Equual Access approved a document entitled “Accessibility Guidelines for Unitarian Universalist Congregations: Creating Welcoming Congregations for People of all Abilities.” After the vote, the document was uploaded to the Equual Access website. This was a project of the Equual Access Policy Committee, of which I am the chair.

The writing of this document has been in process for many months. One of the things that make this an especially strong statement of accessibility is that a number of people contributed significantly to its production. The first pass at a document used a very different spreadsheet format, which was hard for blind people to read and for others to understand. This simply wouldn’t do - an accessibility document that was not accessible was unacceptable! Using input and suggestions from reviewers, the document was recast into its present form and the members of the Policy Committee each took on responsibility for writing parts of the document using their own knowledge and research.

Policy Committee member Rachel Klein wrote an excellent section on history and legislation. Policy Committee member Cynthia Parkhill wrote the section on Advocacy, and also pointed out that the needs of people using a printed copy of the document were different from those using an on-line copy. This resulted in having two different versions, one for print and one for online use. Policy Committee member Michael Sallwasser was instrumental in creating the structure for the document writing the section on creating a Welcoming Environment.

The document benefited from the reviews and comments we arranged for. When we had made our first pass at the document, we made the document available to people on the access-l list-serve and members of Equual Access for review and comment. I was very pleased when a number of people made significant efforts to review the document. This resulted in covering things that needed to be added to or improved upon the first draft; examples are sections on service animals, on developmental disabilities, on deaf culture and on hidden disabilities. We had the blessing of having an excellent copy editor for whom this was a labor of love.

When we had questions about how to cover a particular issue, I looked through the membership of Equual Access and contacted someone who had an interest in that issue. An example: I requested that several blind Equual Access members take a look at one of our drafts to see if they saw a problem with its accessibility from their point of view.

We expect that as the document is used, we will get questions about clarifying something, adding something, or some other aspect of its usefulness. We welcome these comments, as we have learned that making its production a shared process makes the document stronger and more useful. We want to thank everyone who participated in its production now and in the future.

Rev. Barbara F. Meyers
Community Minister
Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation
38132 Kimbro Street, Fremont, CA 94536
510-796-5722
com_minister@mpuuc.org
www.mpuuc.org/mentalhealth