Interest Group on Disability because there needed to be one

 

 

Interest Group Outline

FWCC Section of the Americas Virtual Session March 19, 2021

Descapacidad, Diferencia, y dificultades  en comunidades espirituales

Disability, Difference, Difficulty and Spiritual Communities

Jeff Keith and Dorene Cornwell

 

Welcome and a few minutes of worship

 

Intros

Name, where you are from 

Choose at least one of:

Pronouns

          What you are wearing

          Who else is with you: Pet? Roommate? Service animal including service python? Elijah?

          Any access needs

          A Fun Fact about you, maybe disability-related

          Something you hope to take away from this interest group

 

Discapacidad, diferencia, dificultad y comunidades espirituales. Este grupo explorará los temas del título reflexionando sobre las siguientes interrogantes: 

Milagros - ¿Qué son? ¿Existen?

Cuando hablamos de discapacidades y dones, ¿a qué nos referimos?

 

Disability, Difference, Difficulty and Spiritual Communities. This group will explore the themes in the title reflecting on the following queries: Miracles? Are they a thing? Are they not a thing?

When we talk about disabilities and gifts, what do we mean?

Closing worship     

Miscellaneous notes

Zoom and flow of Interest group.

If you have video, please turn it on while speaking

Please use Raise hand which is *9 on phone

Please be sparing about chat to everyone.

Suggesting resources is cool

If there is someone who can only use the chat, listen.

Brave Space / Confidentiality / Narrative Theology

Dorene’s Access needs:

           Pay attention to others’ access needs. For example,

People who lip-read can leave Zoom in active speaker mode.

           Please remember to turn video on before speaking if possible.

I cannot see faces very well especially in Gallery View. So let’s all watch for each other and help hold moments of distress.

 Screen share visual accessibility is very limited for me so I always like or files shared in the chat.

I am unlikely to use screen share myself. I use 4x screen magnification which I can turn down if needed. However, even at 2x, me moving around on the screen can give other people vertigo. But I am happy to email people before or after with what I have presented. 

Why do I ask what people are wearing?

I have been going to a series of webinars c

alled CripCamp. Crip Camp is about the intersection of disability and BIPoC issues. All sessions have both ASL interpretation and a live transcript. They now use a model for chat of write in questions, someone reads and then presenters answer.

            I have discovered that one of the most fun things about the panel intros at the beginning of the session is when people describe what they are wearing. So as another way to connect, let’s try it. I only want to know that you are zooming in your sleepwear if there is something really interesting about your sleepwear.

 

How it came about.

 When RantWoman registered for this year's section meeting, she indicated that she was interested in doing an interest group on disability. Initial followup noted that some topics had more than one person offering. RantWoman wrote to inquire and was put in touch.... 

When in touch, RantWoman and ... both admitted we had no idea what we were supposed to do but that we were clear that an interest group was needed. Four phone calls later spaced over several days, the first part of the outline above emerged. 

The miracles question is partly related to a passage in Acts about Peter healing someone who had asked him for money. Among topics that came up in planningL what if one prays for a miracle and the requested miracle does not happen. RantWoman also would have tried to comb out threads about miracles in interpersonal form. In the event, miracles did not really come up.

The second part of the outline is RantWoman recycling snark. It was not shared except  with...

The actual event:

RantWoman would not actually say Friends got too far past introductions. But that meant safe space to talk in real terms about different experiences and things Friends came to the group with.

RantWoman likes a question she remembers as something about barriers. Truthfully, probably no one can ever remove all barriers. The point is more to have different ways to do things, to recognize that two people with the same issue may very different ways of dealing with it. Continuing revelation and openness to new approaches also seem relevant.

Translation / interpretation was a group effort. RantWoman is self-absorbed and only looked up "desprendimiento de la retina."

One additional language note: capacidades diferentes came up; RantWoman much prefers diversas capacidades which also came up.

RantWoman hopes others also felt the event was well held. RantWoman felt well used.