Sandra Peoples: Blog

Supporting Students with Invisible Disabilities

What are invisible disabilities? Invisible or hidden disabilities include emotional, behavioral, or developmental disorders/diagnoses with no apparent physical symptoms or characteristics. Includes students with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Anxiety disorders Autism spectrum disorders Developmental disabilities Learning disabilities PDD NOS Oppositional defiant disorder Mood disorders (depression, bipolar) Attachment disorders (common in adopted and foster care children) Fetal…

Disability Ministry | Family | For Churches

Respite Resources

Respite events are an important way the church can care for special-needs families and reach their communities. Our church offers respite events four times a year. We set our age limit from 5-15 and include typical siblings. We do different options for days of the week and times so more people get an opportunity to…

Disability Ministry | For Churches

Spiritual Role of a Buddy

There are many pieces of practical advice I can give on being a buddy to an individual with special needs: Always make sure to grab your buddy bag, don’t take your eyes off your kiddo, notice how the class interacts with them, and work with the other ministry leaders through challenging behaviors. But something that…

Disability Ministry | For Churches

Reverse Inclusion

How do we meet the needs of teenagers who aren’t comfortable in the youth group environment but want to build true friendships with peers? Our church offers a reverse inclusion class! This class is designed for students with disabilities and invites typical students from the youth group to join for the purpose of friendship….

autism | Disability Ministry | For Churches

Behavior Support

An important skill in disability ministry and any ministry with kids and teens is how to support positive behavior choices and decrease opportunities for distracting behavior. All behavior is communication. It’s our job to figure out what the child is communicating with the behavior and fill the need before it leads to distracting behavior. The…

Disability Ministry | For Churches

Sample Forms for Disability Ministry

Knowing where to being with policies and forms can feel intimidating, but you don’t have to create them from scratch! Below are the Google doc versions of forms we’ve created for our ministry that you can download and adjust for your needs! Disability Ministry Adult Volunteer Application Disability Ministry Youth Volunteer Application Family Care Plan Individualized Spiritual…