Teaching High School Special Needs SRE
It’s not my skill set. It’s too hard. I used to think that special needs teachers were extraordinary people (that weren’t me). It seemed hard and unpredictable and to be honest I just felt I didn’t have the time.
God’s heart
Psalm 139 says that we are all ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. God took care to knit together a person born with disabilities or fully-abled babies. ‘...all humans bear the image of God, and we don’t carry less of this image when we have a physical disability or a mental illness.’[1] Additionally, every member of Christ’s body is necessary and needed, whether they are weaker than others, they are still worthy of great honour (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
It is God’s heart that all people have access to the gospel, community and worship. Breaking down barriers (real or imagined) enables us to come alongside those with disabilities and to share the love of Jesus. We know that love takes sacrifice (consider Mark 2 and the friends of the disabled man).
My journey
Over time, God is shaping my heart and opening my eyes. I was saddened to read so many articles where families with kids with special needs did not feel welcome at church. In my love for Jesus, I knew he cared deeply for the outcast, the weak and vulnerable. I prayed that God would raise up others.
I recently joined a church that runs a Jesus Club (a Christian club for adults with disabilities). My heart for evangelism immediately thought, ‘how can we connect others to this amazing place?’ Through friends and connections, we discovered that students at our local special needs school did not have (nor ever had) a high school scripture class. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to connect these teenagers and their families with Jesus and His church?
So I took a deep breath and thought, ‘Okay I’ll help set it up and then others who can do it can take over.’ The Anglican Diocese is blessed to have a volunteer who has been setting up Special Needs SRE classes all over Sydney. She has the knowledge, the skills, the experience and the heart for this ministry. In her passion and generous time, she shared lesson plans, strategies, helped us make resources, prayed with us and even came with us to the class the first few times. She gave me the support and confidence we needed. She even arranged for me to visit an established High School Special Needs class where finally I thought, ‘I can do this’.
The Class
We teach a half hour class to around 7 teenagers each week. They are all in high school and have a wide spread of needs and abilities. Some are non-verbal, others chair-bound, and others who love to sing and dance. All have parents who have ticked the box for Anglican Christian SRE. We are a team of two as we teach and love these kids. We sign authorisation forms, wear approved Anglican Identifying cards and have been SRE trained like any other mainstream SRE teacher.
Our curriculum is based on the Beginning with God (Kindy CEP material) content but modified for their age and capabilities. We use a variety of hands-on activities to support their learning. We use musical instruments, dancing ribbons, a switch, sometimes an interactive iPad, a visual timetable, specialised books that we print, laminate and bind and send home with the youth at the end of term. One of our favourite activities is using our therapy ball to remind them of how much God loves them. We gently throw the ball to each child as we say, ‘God loves you Trevor’, and we move around the circle. To see their faces light up, to smile and laugh with them is such a joy. One boy last week, who is non-verbal and often stares out the window, and we are never quite sure how much he is engaging in the lesson, shot his arms out as we prepared to throw the ball to him and remind him of God’s love. Nothing beats that!
For me, this ministry went from unknown fears to pure delight and a highlight of my week. If God does raise up other people for this class, I will have a hard time letting it go!
Value
Like all SRE ministry it is often not easy to quantify all the fruit that is growing through these classes. But we pray and obey! My heart is that we will get better at opening channels with families to connect them to Jesus Club and our church. We still have lots to learn. But what a privilege it is to help these young people to know Jesus and for them to know how much they are loved by God too.
[1] https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/people-with-disability-and-mental-illness-belong-in-church/ TESS DELBRIDGE | JUNE 16TH, 2017 |