Church for family with SN kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:May be more conservative and too far in VA than you want, but McLean Bible Church has a great SN ministry.

I did not attend but knew other families who have loved it and I would recommend their annual Accessibility Forum and lectures as a general special needs resource.

+1. I don't attend but know that many families with SN kids go there for this directed ministry. They also sponsor jill's house to give parents of SN kids a much-needed break.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't you feel accepted at all churches?

[Anonymous]

We have children with similar profiles and have all thrived at the 9:30 service at Chevy Chase UMC. Best Wishes!

[Anonymous]

St. George's Episcopal in Arlington. It's a smaller program, but is very welcoming to SN kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you feel accepted at all churches?

Well, theoretically. But I would imagine that many churches think they are accepting and welcoming when they really are not.
Often the problems are structural. Also- kids with special needs have a variety of different special needs, in school they get an IEP, tailored to them. Frequently, churches expect special needs kids to just go with the program.
A truly welcoming and inclusive church will say things to a parent like "What can we do to help your children to make their experience and your experience at church positive." What is good for one child will not be good for another child.

Some examples:
A kid with ADHD often does not do well when the kids are expected to be in the service with adults 'learning to worship.' This is intensified when the services are really long. It's not really welcoming to just smile at the poor parents who are barely able to hear anything going on b/c their entire focus is on keeping their child from disturbing others.

A kid with high anxiety is going to have a problem in a setting where everything is always changing. Kids are expected to get up mid-service and go out to an unknown location, etc.

A kid with a physical disability is going to have a hard time accessing a church when they keep the elevator locked, and they always have to go find someone who might have the keys- who sometimes is on a different level.

A church that truly wants to be welcoming and inclusive will sit back and think about what (often unknowing) barriers they have put in place, and think about how they can reach all children, not just the ones that fit into their mold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All Souls Unitarian works hard to include all children in their children's programming. Wonderful, welcoming congregation.

We go to All Souls and LOVE it. But it's definitely not mainstream Protestant. OP, if you are open to learning from all faith traditions, and value diversity and social justice, I highly recommend you come visit us!