‘Fear and misunderstanding’ must be overcome for Church to fully realize its mission to serve those on the peripheries, Shanks says

LIVONIA — Jason Shanks warned the audience he might tear up.

Shanks, president of the Our Sunday Visitor Institute and former CEO of Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, is used to giving public presentations.

“But I normally don’t speak on this topic,” Shanks said.

The topic of the day for Shanks was his 11-year-old daughter, Nora, who has cerebral palsy and severe autism.  

“I can remember when Nora walked for the first time,” Shanks said. “She was 5, and they didn’t think she would walk. For me, this was a miracle. It was like when Jesus said, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ When I see Nora, I see Christ.”

Shanks was one of two keynote speakers Nov. 2 at Madonna University for the first-ever archdiocesan All Belong Symposium, a daylong conference for parents, educators, clergy and lay faithful to learn how to minister to those with disabilities.

The conference was organized by Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan’s Special Needs Council and co-sponsored by a dozen local Catholic businesses, apostolates and parishes, many of which already minister to persons with special needs in some capacity.

“We really hope this becomes an ongoing ministry, not just a one-time event,” said Patrick Romzek, a member of the Special Needs Council and one of the chief organizers. “We believe that too often, people with disabilities don’t feel they fully belong in the Church, or they don’t know how to fit in with their church or dioceses. We’re hoping to change some of that.”

Apart from two keynote presentations, clergy, parents and catechists had the chance to gather in small groups to discuss issues pertinent to special needs ministry and learn about resources to help parishes and schools.

Shanks, who spoke about his first-hand experience as a parent to a special needs daughter, was joined by Charleen Katra, a member of the board of directors for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, who spoke about the practical realities of ministry to persons with disabilities. 

Children with special needs aren’t just a gift to their families, Shanks said, but also to their school communities.

“When we think of special needs, we need to think of the special gifts these people are to our parishes and schools. This is Christ walking among us,” Shanks said.

Often, schools are reluctant to accept children with special needs because of a “fear of the unknown,” Shanks said. Those fears include a drop in enrollment from general education students, the fear of a “devalued diploma” or the fear that being known as a “special ed school” will overwhelm the school with special education students.

“There is real fear and misunderstanding over what this looks like,” Shanks said. “But if you have a special needs student included in your school, test scores actually go up. Why? Because the teaching improves for all. They aren’t just teaching this one child. They’re teaching the whole class differently.”

Shanks said Catholic schools and parishes have a special calling to minister to those with special needs.

“At one time, the general public and society excluded people with special needs. It was our sisters in the Catholic Church who believed in the dignity of the person who stepped up and said, ‘We will serve,’” Shanks said.

Shanks said he understands concerns from budget-strapped pastors and principals reluctant to step forward; however, it’s been shown that income and enrollment “actually goes up” when schools step out in faith and accept special needs students into their classrooms.

“It's not enough to give lip service that we believe in belonging and we believe in inclusion,” Shanks said. “We as a Church can and should overcome these obstacles and objections.”

Shanks said it’s not enough for one or two schools in a diocese to be inclusive, but the challenge should be taken up by all Catholic schools and parishes.

“I really think it needs to be a unified, collective response for it to be effective,” Shanks said. “Until we do that, I’m not sure we can say we’re fully Catholic.”

Katra, associate director of evangelization and catechesis for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, said while in some areas, the Church continues to lag when it comes to ministry to those with special needs, the U.S. bishops were among the first to acknowledge the dignity of those with disabilities in their 1978 Pastoral Statement on Persons with Disabilities.

In that document, written 12 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act, the bishops called for parishes and schools to accept those with special needs, as well as for an “opening of the hearts of the faithful,” Katra said.

According to that document, Katra said, every Catholic has three baptismal rights: “the right to be educated in their faith, the right to a sacramental life, and the right to respond to God’s call.”

From a practical perspective, Katra said, parishes and schools can take advantage of myriad resources to help persons with disabilities more fully participate in Mass and sacramental preparation, such as hearing devices, large-print missals or “fidgets” to help individuals with sensory disorders pay better attention.

“We want to create liturgies that are sensory-friendly,” Katra said, adding one in six children have some form of sensory processing disorder.

Not every disability uses a wheelchair, Katra added, and every person is different.

“We have visible and invisible disabilities. Truth be told, we all have disabilities, because we all have strengths and weaknesses,” Katra said.

Katra said Catholic parishes and schools must be mindful of the terminology they use to describe persons with disabilities, noting that language frequently changes.

Even the term “disabled person” can create negative connotations, Katra said.

“I use the analogy of a traffic report,” Katra said. “Often, on the news you’ll hear about a ‘disabled vehicle’ on the freeway. In that context, what does ‘disabled’ connote? Broken. A problem. Not functioning. You’ll do everything you can to go around it.”

“That’s fine for an inanimate object, but I can’t use that term when I'm talking about a brother or sister in Christ,” Katra said.

When possible, Katra suggested using “people-first language.” For instance, instead of referring to someone as an “autistic person,” use the term “a person with autism” — or, better yet, she said, the person’s name.

“It represents more respectful and accurate communication,” Katra said. “And it especially acknowledges that all of us are much more than our weaknesses or our disabilities or diagnoses.”

Above all, parishes should be attentive to the needs of all of their parishioners, including parents and caregivers who need support, Katra said.

“This is a ministry of hospitality and evangelization,” Katra said. “It’s both. We are welcoming back people who might have been away for a long time because the doors weren’t always open. We’ve been called to have them opened.”