Stories

If you haven't had an opportunity to check out the new Mormon.org, I would encourage you to do so. It is a great resource to help you share the gospel with others. A central focus of the site profiles of individual members, including the following:

• Jarem who built his own leg and makes the impossible, possible.
  More about Jarem from his personal site
• Luis Vance T. who is a Homeland Security Consultant in Washington DC.
• Rochelle, mother of two boys with disabilities.

I recently came across the Mormon Women Project that "celebrates women who have made deliberate choices — with the help of the Spirit and personal revelation — to overcome personal trials, magnify motherhood, contribute to communities outside their homes, or be converted to the Gospel". A few of the stories they have posted involve an experience with a disability, including the following:

• A Special Mother for Special Needs by Nancy McNabb who lost a daughter to SIDS and has a son with autism.
• Nothing is Impossible by Dee Dee Shipley who has diabetes and has adopted ten children with disabilities.
• Beyond this Mortal Coil by Lynn Anderson who had two children (now deceased) who were born with epidermolysis bullosa

I came across an interesting video produced by Wendy Wilson, a Special Education Student at BYU-Idaho a couple of years ago:

I'll Walk With You-Profiles of Autism in LDS Congregations.

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

Over at the LDS blog, Times and Seasons there was recently a post that stated, "It is wicked to kill an unborn baby because the baby has Down’s Syndrome". The more than 200 replies to that statement that follow provide an interesting discussion on the value of a life of a person with a disability.

In case you don't want to wade through all of the discussion, I have highlighted a few of the comments below:

From the Mormon Mommy Wars Blog come 4 posts on the author Heather's experience as a personal care attendant (PCA) for Rick Hoyt. Heather provides a frank and insightful recounting of her experiences with Rick. I have provided a few excerpts below, but the posts are worth reading in their entirety, along with the comments: