News and notes from UMAMD, 3/17/17

 Health care and daily life
https://ourlifeis.com/2017/03/10/dear-ivanka-lets-talk-about-the-ahca/

The Arc statement on AHCA
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-the-ahca-poses-a-threat-to-people-with-disabilities_us_58cacc52e4b0e0d348b34134

Not Dead Yet on health care
http://notdeadyet.org/2017/03/ndy-in-national-disability-leadership-alliance-opposing-cuts-to-vital-healthcare.html

Per capita caps on Medicaid:
http://www.thismess.net/2017/03/resources-medicaid-per-capita-caps.html

NDRN on changes to ADA
http://ndrn.org/en/public-policy/ada-a-civil-rights.html

Words matter: fighting the stigma
http://www.dallasnews.com/life/healthy-living/2017/03/06/words-matter-fighting-stigmaof-mental-illness

Creating sign language books
http://bookcreator.com/2014/12/creating-sign-language-books-book-creator/

Spirituality and trauma
https://qz.com/606564/psychologists-have-found-that-a-spiritual-outlook-makes-humans-universally-more-resilient-to-trauma/

Reasons to sign when HOH ...
https://ondeafness.com/2016/09/12/14-reason-to-sign-to-your-hard-of-hearing-or-cochlear-implanted-child/

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Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
a caucus of the United Methodist Church.

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News and notes from AMD, 3/10/17

Disabled student safety in crisis
http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2017/03/06/keeping-students-with-disabilities-safe-in-lockdowns-evacuations-and-other-school-crises/

The privilege of mental health
http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/07/05/the-privilege-of-mental-health/

Advocacy/ awareness: IRS scam reaches VR
https://www.irs.gov/uac/irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing

Advocacy: GBCS on health care
https://umc-gbcs.org/faith-in-action/health-care-is-a-basic-human-right

Advocacy: AAPD on health care
http://www.aapd.com/action-alert-tell-congress-to-save-healthcare-provisions-that-are-essential-to-people-with-disabilities/

DHM website features Lenten devotions and ASL glossary
https://www.umdeaf.org/

4th global Methodist missions conference of the Deaf
http://llumc.org/4gmd
 --

Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
a caucus of the United Methodist Church.

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News and notes from AMD, 3/3/17

What if...
http://www.keyministry.org/church4everychild/2017/2/20/what-if-this-were-your-lead-pastor

Stigma quiz (you do not need to enter name or e-mail to complete it)
http://letsthinkagain.org/stigma-quiz/

Not Dead Yet: suicide
http://notdeadyet.org/2017/02/anita-cameron-the-disability-perspective.html

Health care and disability
http://brokenandchosen.blogspot.com/

4th Global Missions Conference of the Deaf
https://www.umcd.org/newsnat/1708.html

Advocacy: Easterseals on healthcare
http://www.capwiz.com/easterseals/issues/alert/?alertid=75771626&type=CO

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Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
a caucus of the United Methodist Church.

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News and notes from AMD, 2/24/17

"Can you read my lips": a captioned video that demonstrates what it's like to be Deaf
https://vimeo.com/148127830

Putting faith to work: helping people with disabilities find employment
https://medium.com/christian-citizen/putting-faith-to-work-helping-people-with-disabilities-find-meaningful-employment-b9958b62d5fd#.bgc8ysb1x

Positivity Only movement and disabilities
http://www.rootedinrights.org/how-the-positivity-only-movement-has-a-negative-impact-on-the-disability-community/

Accessibility isn't a problem only at conferences. We are grateful to the Disability Ministries Committee for providing guidelines for inclusion.
https://stephenkuusisto.com/2017/02/13/the-awp-and-disability-inclusion-2/

Standing Up for what I Need (is it the same in preaching?)
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/opinion/standing-up-for-what-i-need.html

It's time to retire "able-bodied"
https://laurensmithdonohoe.com/2017/02/19/its-time-to-retire-able-bodied/

Laura Bratton, who spoke to the AMD last year, has written a book about her life story of being born sighted and then becoming blind as a teenager. The theme of the book is overcoming adversity with grit and gratitude. The goal for the book is to empower people  facing challenges to continue living a full life with meaning and purpose.
http://www.ubiglobal.org/book/
--

Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
a caucus of the United Methodist Church.

Click here to join this e-mail list.
Visit us on the web or Facebook.

News and notes from AMD, 2/17/17

GCORR: increasing equity
http://www.gcorr.org/4-ways-to-increase-equity-for-all-physical-and-mental-abilities/

Inclusion is not a luxury
http://www.disabilityandfaith.org/inclusion-is-not-a-luxury/

America's new ministers (could this open door for disabilities?)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0206/America-s-new-ministers

Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies 8 (open access)
Catherine Willits, The Obfuscation of Bodily Sight in Julian of Norwich
http://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3828/jlcds.2014.6

UM Disability blog: UMC article 4 amendment
http://umdisability.blogspot.com/2017/02/umc-article-4-amendment.html

Advocacy: AAPD on ACA and Medicaid
http://www.aapd.com/take-action-to-prevent-gutting-of-the-aca-and-medicaid/


CFP: Pedagogy and Disability
The Journal of Religion and Disability is planning a special issue on Pedagogy and Disability to appear in October 2017. Our guest editors for this issue are Dr. Meghan Henning (University of Dayton) and Dr. Kirk VanGilder (Gallaudet University).
We are seeking submissions for this issue from scholars who have researched and presented in this area. This special issue will focus on a broad range of issues related to pedagogy and disability including, but not limited to;

• Universal classroom design for physical space,
• Universal design principles for teaching activities and classroom conduct,
• Integrating disability studies content into the curriculum of various disciplines,
• Developing disability studies courses and programs,
• Strategies for teaching with a disability,
• Inclusive pedagogy for learners with disabilities.
• Experiencing religious studies/theology classrooms as a student with a disability
• Technology and teaching strategies
• Online teaching and disability inclusion
• Implementing experiential or community engaged learning and the disability studies classroom
• Developing graduate level courses around disability, the body, and religion and or practical ministry
• Pedagogy that engages more than one learning style
• Integrating content on the body and healthcare into the curriculum of various disciplines

We are looking for submissions in the range of 5000 words in length. Submissions should be received by July 15, 2017.

Send your submissions to mhenning2@dayton.edu and kirk.vangilder@gallaudet.edu

--

Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
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UMC Article 4 Amendment

This year, Annual and Central conferences of the UMC will be voting on an amendment to Article 4, Paragraph 4 of the constitution. Through the Commission on Status and Role of Women we offer the following information about the amendment, and, in particular, its effect on people with disabilities.

Note that the vote will be yes / no. No amendments to the proposal are allowed.

The proposed amendment regarding membership reads as follows:
In the United Methodist Church, no conference or other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or constituent body of the Church because of race, color, national origin, ability or economic condition, nor shall any member be denied access to an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church because of race, color, gender, national origin, ability, age, marital status, or economic condition.

What do these changes mean?

• ABILITY: adds ability to the list of categories constitutionally protected from exclusion in the Church; the Church cannot discriminate based on a person’s physical or mental circumstances. Adding this word to “The Constitution” means that a person may not be denied membership privileges based on their abilities or limitations (abilities are God-given gifts vs. skills which are learned behaviors).
• GENDER: adds gender to the list of categories constitutionally protected from exclusion in the Church; the Church cannot discriminate against a person because they are male or female. Throughout The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, gender is used when addressing fair treatment of both men and women; this language is consistent with The Discipline.
• AGE: adds age to the list of categories constitutionally protected from exclusion in the Church; the Church cannot discriminate based on a person’s age, particularly the very young and the very old. Reminds us that the Church is a multi-generational community; all ages are important.
• MARITAL STATUS: defines status as “marital status”, adding it to the list of categories constitutionally protected from exclusion in the Church; the Church cannot discriminate against a people because they are single or married. These words prevent unfair treatment of a person based on their marital status.
• *Note: this amendment is not about transgender, homosexuality or polygamy.

If you have any questions, please contact the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, United Methodist Women, the General Commission on Discipleship, or the DisAbility Ministries Committee of The United Methodist Church

A captioned video is available with succinct explanations and illustrations.

News and notes from AMD, 2/10/17

UM Disability blog: Deaf Ministry
http://umdisability.blogspot.com/2017/02/deaf-ministry-making-new-connections.html

What's behind Americans' hearing loss (uncaptioned video)
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/whats-behind-americans-hearing-loss/

Theology, Bible, and Disability overview
http://www.catalystresources.org/theology-bible-and-disability-an-overview/

Loving or persecuting?
http://disabledchristianity.blogspot.com/2017/02/are-we-loving-or-persecuting-jesus.html

Autism care and race
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/children-color-autism-face-disparities-care-isolation/

Not Dead Yet Day of Mourning (March 1)
http://notdeadyet.org/2017/02/national-day-of-mourning-march-1st.html

Advocacy: marriage penalty for people with disabilities
https://www.change.org/p/wyoming-governor-remove-the-penalty-that-prevents-people-with-disabilities-from-marrying#petition-letter

Miriam Spies,  a minister of the United Church of Canada, is conducting research about ministers with disabilities and their congregations. If you are interested in helping, contact at miriam.spies@gmail.com.

Click here for a list of events of interest to people in disability ministry.

This newsletter is generally issued weekly by the
United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
a caucus of the United Methodist Church.

Click here to join this e-mail list.
Visit us on the web or Facebook.