"We urge leaders, teacher, neighbors, friends and families to help increase awareness and understanding of disabilities."
First Presidency Statement, Church News April 1989

A Father Indeed

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Outstanding video of a father and his son who was born with Down syndrome.

Connect with Others

There are lots of links, resources and websites listed on this site but the greatest resource you will ever find is a parent, family or individual who has had experiences similiar to yours.

Look for more way to connect with others coming soon!

Message Board

Stop by the Message Board to introduce yourself to the community, find an answer to a question or help someone else.

Visit the Message Board

Disability Information

This section is a work in progress and currently only references Church magazine articles and news items that are specific to a disability. Watch this space for additional content coming soon-

In the meantime, take a look at the current resources and let me know if you have some that I don't!

Spreading the News About the New Disability Site on LDS.org

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The good news about the new disability site is spreading, it has recently shown up in a number of places:

The homepage of LDS.org:

Disabilities.lds.org has recently been launched to help members with disabilities and their families participate more fully in Church meetings and activities. In addition to providing information on various disabilities, this new section includes suggestions and resources for leaders, teachers, caregivers, and Church members.

New Disability Section on LDS.org

Exciting News! There is a new section on LDS.org dedicated to disability information. This is a great resource for individuals, families, teachers and leaders. From the site:

This Web section on disabilities has been created to offer support, comfort, and an increased level of acceptance toward those with disabilities.

LDS Disability Resources

Article on Individuals with Autism and Their Families in Church

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An excellent article by Sharisa Lewis in Meridian Magazine titled Helping Autism Families Survive Church. She discusses the struggles that her own family had in Church and how one family made a difference. From the article:

Teaching the Gospel to Children With Disabilities Story from LDS Newsroom

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Teaching the Gospel to Children With Disabilities is a short article from the LDS Newsroom that discusses adapting classes for children with disabilities.

Taking Autism to Church from Meridian Magazine

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In an article in Meridian Magazine, Sharisa Lewis writes abouts experiences at Church with her 4-year old son who has autism.

Why is church so hard for autistic children? The answers can vary as widely as the children. Initially, I thought our child was just being difficult, but autism specialists have advised me that church is hard for most autistic kids.

Taking Autism to Church

The Spirituality of Parenting from David Dollahite

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David Dollahite is a professor in the School of Family Life at BYU's School of Family Life. He has written extensively on the involvement of fathers with their children with disabilities, in addition to providing many other resources for fathers. A few months ago he was interviewed by Krista Tippett of the excellent public radio program Speaking of Faith on the spirituality of parenting and he specifically addressed the spirituality of children with disabilities.

New and Improved LDS Ability

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There haven't been any updates to the site for quite awhile, but we have been working on a few projects behind the scenes...

First of all, there is now a user registration that you can sign up for.

Q: Why would you want to sign up?

A: So that you can go to the new message board to introduce yourself and meet lots of other great visitors.