Cumulative Writing Project - You have been writing throughout the course. Submit the cumulative writing project now to receive credit. The document you submit should contain your work from weeks 1-10
Instructions:
Your Cumulative Writing Project for the course contains your writings from weeks 1-7, and week 10. There is no writing assigned for weeks 8 and 9. You should complete the assignment during the week it is paired with a video topic, but you will not submit any of the writing until the end of the course. When you get to the end of the course, submit the entire document with all of the writing assignments in a single Word document.
Week 1 Assignment:
I introduced myself to you. Introduce yourself to me. Begin the Cumulative Writing Project (document) with these 4 items:
1. A picture of yourself and the place where your congregation meets. (copy and paste picture here)
2. 3-5 Sentences describing where you live – your geographic location and some information about that area (rural vs. urban, population, climate, interesting facts).
3. 2-4 sentences describing why you signed up for this course and what you hope to get out of the experience.
4. At least 4 “true” statements, similar to what I shared in the video. You may need to research to find some statistics related to disability in your geographic location. For example, what percentage of the population where you live has some sort of disability? What areas of disability are most prominent? What other statistics are important to this topic?
Add this to your Cumulative Writing Project for the course. Do not submit any of the writing until the end of the course. When you get to the end of the course, submit the entire document with all of the completed writing assignments.
Week 2 Assignment:
1. As you think about greens (areas of strength, your gifts/talents) and pinks (areas of challenge, things that are difficult for you to do) in your own life, write a paragraph describing a few of your greens and pinks.
2. Consider someone you know who has some form of disability. Write a paragraph describing that person’s areas of green and areas of pink.
3. Write a paragraph describing how that individual’s areas of green (gifts) might be used in your congregation.
Week 3 Assignment:
1. Cultural context is an important part of having discussions and putting together supports. After watching the video this week, write at least 4 paragraphs discussing persons with disabilities in your own cultural context.
a. You may want to write about these and other themes: If someone in your community gives birth to a child with a disability, what would be the community’s reaction? What emotions are connected with the word “disability” in your culture?
Week 4 Assignment: Put an idea in place
2. As you think about universal design within the children and youth context, decide on 1 idea you will put in place within that setting in your congregation. Describe what you have chosen (in 1-2 paragraphs) and then include a photo of that universal design feature in action in your setting.
Week 5 Assignment: Accessibility Audit
1. Choose from one of the Accessibility Audits mentioned in the video and conduct one in your place of worship.
2. Write about what that showed you about your worship space and what changes you would like to make now.
The audits are listed here for you to review and select from:
· Erik Carter’s Congregational Assessment Tool (https://allbelong.org/media/Erik-Carter-Assessment-tool-1.pdf)
· UMC Disability Ministries Accessibility Audit (https://umcdmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/umc-accessibility-audit-2019-fillable.pdf)
· Joni and Friends offers this audit as a supplemental resource for their booklet "Start with Hello"
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qsHlClsYTVPMwXzy_YV0gMHUx2uN6wsa/view?usp=sharing)· Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod Disability Ministry Assessment Tool (https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/0AbJodk16VKbugOArWAhR0pQQUzaC76q)
· Mennonite Church Congregational Accessibility Network (https://canaccess.org/accessibility/quick-checklist/)
Week 6 Assignment: Get to Know Me
1. Think about a person you know with a disability. Fill out a “get to know me” page about that individual. Submit the completed page.
a. The "Get to Know Me" page is found in Appendix A of Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship: https://allbelong.org/media/Appendix-A_puzzle-piece.pdf. You can use the PDF, adding right to it with the “fill & sign” feature, or you can simply type in the questions and answers on your working document, without the individual’s name (to protect confidentiality).
Week 7 Assignment: Reflect on Tools for ASD and Universal Design
In talking about tools that work well for persons with ASD, you may have noticed that some of those tools would be good to have in place for an entire congregation. Why make a video preview for only 1 person when many others would benefit from that tool?
As you reflect on the tools that support individuals with ASD,
1. List one or two tools mentioned that you believe would make good “universal design” tools that you would put in place for the entire congregation.
2. List which tool or tools might be good to reserve for use with one specific individual
3. Explain your answers in 2-6 paragraphs.
(No assignments for weeks 8 and 9)
Week 10 Assignment: Who is Already Here?
This week we have discussed several areas of difference you may encounter in someone who attends your congregation. In fact, you may already have individuals present who have differences in hearing or who may have unique medical situations.
1. Write several paragraphs discussing
a. Who is already part of your congregation (1-2 paragraphs)
b. What tools you have put in place so that individuals can connect with worship, education, fellowship, and/or service. (1-3 paragraphs)
2. Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) discussing what tools you discovered in this course, that you do not yet have and would like to put in place to best support persons with an area of disability.
- March 24 2022, 1:07 PM