February 15, 2019 Uniquely Human – Review I have read many books on autism but Uniquely Human is one of the best. As I read it, my initial reaction was, “I…
February 5, 2019 The Reality of Welcoming People With Developmental Disabilities I am committed to welcoming people with disabilities, both physical and developmental, into the church. But there is a danger that we romanticize what…
January 29, 2019 Redefining Perfect – Review When a couple begins to have children, at least in the back of their mind, they are hoping for the “perfect” family. But what…
January 27, 2019 Good News: A Pastor Who Cares Our son Logan has started attending a church in the city where his group home is. I have mentioned this before and we are…
January 24, 2019 The Paradox of Disability – Review One of the first times that I heard about the intersection of faith and disability was a discussion about the L’Arche communities. L’Arche was…
January 10, 2019 Is it Wrong to Label People With Autism? I recently had a discussion about using labels when describing people on the autism spectrum. Some of the people in the discussion felt strongly…
December 11, 2018 Disabling Mission, Enabling Witness – Review I recently read Enabling Mission, Enabling Witness by Benjamin T. Conner and I absolutely loved it. I am currently doing some research into disability…
November 27, 2018 Disabilities and Disabilities I’m thankful that more people are talking about disabilities these days. But what do we mean by disabilities? Some may refer to “people with…
November 10, 2018 Top Five Things I Wish People Knew About Autism As I approach my fiftieth birthday, I’m writing a number of top five lists. Since autism is something that is close to my heart,…
October 20, 2018 Autism and the Double Meltdown We went to visit our two children who have autism and who live in a group home. Logan is 17 and Abby is 16….
October 9, 2018 An Autistic Thanksgiving I suspect that most families have unexpected situations and uncontrollable factors when it comes to family dinners and holidays. This is definitely true when…
September 24, 2018 People With Autism Become Adults I have been doing some informal research into how many people with autism are in churches. I had a very interesting comment that I…
September 13, 2018 How Apologetics Intersects With My Interest in Disabilities Two of the areas that I write on the most are Christian apologetics and disabilities. This makes sense. My faith journey includes a period…
September 12, 2018 What Our Church Does For Disability Ministry When people find out that I’m interested in disabilities, I often get asked what we do at our church for disability ministry. Like myself,…
September 4, 2018 Autism and the First Day of School Like many parents, we sent our children off today for their first day of school for the year. We took the obligatory pictures of…
August 19, 2018 Good News: “Go Away!” How many parents think it is good news when their teenage daughter tells them to go away? This one does. A couple of days…
August 14, 2018 First Thoughts on The Good Doctor The Good Doctor is a medical drama that airs on ABC and which features a doctor with autism. It is based on an earlier…
August 2, 2018 The Hope’s Reason Podcast I have been podcasting for quite a few years and I do enjoy it. Although my original podcast has been taken down by me,…
July 17, 2018 Disability Stereotypes in Movies One of the pet peeves of many people in the disability community is how people with disabilities are portrayed in movies and television shows….
July 5, 2018 Why I Don’t Talk Much About Ableism For years we have heard about sexism (discrimination against a gender, usually females) and racism (discrimination against a race, usually non-whites). People may be…
June 26, 2018 What is a Disability? I recently asked a question on a couple of Facebook groups that I belonged to. One group was about autism and the other about…
June 18, 2018 Asperger’s From the Inside Out – Review Before there was just an Autism Spectrum Disorder, there was also an Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). The simple definition of AS is that it is…
June 15, 2018 Inspiration Porn This past week, I was at the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability. There was so much that I learned but one of the…
June 4, 2018 This is What Autism Looks Like It is important for me to share information about autism. It is vital that our society grow in autism awareness. But is autism is…
May 29, 2018 Making Plans With Autism A few weeks ago, we were staying at a hotel with our three youngest children. One of the reasons we went to the hotel…
May 6, 2018 Good News: A Beautiful Day For a Walk My Good News is that I took a walk to Tim Horton’s. How is that Good News, other than the fact that I really…
April 23, 2018 An Important Question For Churches and Disabilities Our church has a Bible study that takes place Sundays after the service. We were looking at Paul’s vision for the unity of the…
April 17, 2018 Why I’m Glad My Children Didn’t Come For a Visit Our two oldest children have autism and live in a group home about an hour and a half away. They normally come for visits…
April 9, 2018 An Autism Challenge Our society has come a long way when it comes to autism awareness. People know more about autism than ever before. But how well…
April 2, 2018 Churches Need More Than Autism Awareness There has been an increase in autism awareness, both in general and in the church. That is a good thing but more is needed….
March 29, 2018 Caring for Special Needs People in Your Small Church One of the most practical podcasts that I listen to is the 200 Church podcast. I was quite happy when I heard they were…
March 15, 2018 Stephen Hawking and Disabilities Stephen Hawking just recently died. There is much about Hawking that I disagreed with. He denied the existence of God and thought heaven was…
March 14, 2018 31 Days to Become a Better Pastor: Embrace Those With Disabilities Many churches have embraced the concept of disabilities. Churches want diversity of gender, ethnicities, age, economic status and others. But what about disabilities? I…
February 19, 2018 Interview With Lamar Hardwick I’m grateful to Lamar Hardwick for sharing his experience with autism. Lamar blogs at The Autistic Pastor. Could you share a little about yourself…
February 14, 2018 Miraculous Healings From Autism? I came across an article from the Charisma magazine website written by Becky Dvorak titled Miraculous Healings for Autism Begin to Manifest. How do I…
February 13, 2018 Autism: Explaining the Enigma – Review I recently read the book Autism: Explaining the Enigma by Uta Frith. It is an older book, having been published in 1989, but it…
February 6, 2018 Wonder – Review Our family was able to watch Wonder, a movie that we have wanted to see for sometime. The movie is about August “Auggie” Pullman, a…
January 29, 2018 The Autism Opportunity Easily Missed by Churches My observation of churches is that there is an increase in awareness and compassion about autism. The media has really brought autism to the…
January 22, 2018 A Relic From the Past Our family recently moved to a new house. It is not surprising that in the packing and unpacking that long lost items turn up….
January 16, 2018 Reflections on Teaching Accessibility Ministry This past weekend, I had the opportunity to teach a module as a part of the Certificate in Accessibility Ministry at Tyndale University College….
January 9, 2018 Breathe – Review Last night I watched the movie Breathe, directed by Andy Serkis. The movie stars Andrew Garfield (Amazing Spider-Man) and Claire Foy (The Crown). The…
January 4, 2018 How to Become a Disability-Friendly Church You may or may not know that I used to be the associate editor for Faith Today magazine. Although I have moved on to…
December 19, 2017 Don’t You Dare Judge! One of the outcomes that some special needs families experience is that the children move into a group home. How that takes place depends…
December 16, 2017 Stay Engaged With Your Special Needs Child (Part 2) This is the first of two-part guest post by Bryan Stoudt. Visit Bryan’s website at the link found in his bio at the end of…
December 8, 2017 Special Needs Families Are Not a Monolithic Group I speak often on the needs of families who are dealing with disabilities. My prayer to that the church will respond to those special…
December 6, 2017 Stay Engaged With Your Special Needs Child (Part 1) This is the first of two-part guest post by Bryan Stoudt. Visit Bryan’s website at the link found in his bio at the end of…
December 1, 2017 A Simple Way to Make Your Church More Accessible When you think about an accessible church, what do you think of? Perhaps the installation of an elevator or a wheelchair ramp. Maybe hearing…
November 14, 2017 The Moment That Haunts Me They say you should never live with regrets. That may be so, but there are certain events that I do regret that I didn’t…
October 17, 2017 Recognizing Autism One of the most important reminders about autism is that everyone with autism is different. My mantra is “if you have met one person…
October 13, 2017 5 Ways Churches Can Help Support Families With Disabilities One of my passions is to help churches be welcoming and safe places for families with disabilities. I come at this both as a…
October 9, 2017 The Power of Little Victories What are the things that you celebrate as a parent? It may be your child getting their driver’s licence or graduating from university. We…
October 6, 2017 Autism and Mental Health Although autism is not a mental illness, there is a connection. The stress of either being on the autism spectrum or caring for someone…
September 19, 2017 What Does Jesus Want Our Churches to Look Like? I was preparing for an upcoming sermon and came across an interesting passage. He said also to the man who had invited him, “When…
September 13, 2017 The Reason I Blog About Autism I often say that I blog for myself, that it is it is a way for me to sort through my thoughts and at…
August 23, 2017 Certificate in Accessible Ministry One of my passions is to equip churches to minister to and with people with disabilities. That is why I’m excited about a new…
August 15, 2017 A World Without Disabilities? CBS recently reported on Iceland and how they have almost “eradicated Down Syndrome. One of the people in the article said: My understanding is…
August 12, 2017 Disabilities and the Innocence of Children We had an interesting conversation the other day. Our three youngest children are aged 9-11. We were talking about what it will be like…
July 31, 2017 When People Stare I recently shared about taking our son with autism out to the park. While we see Logan regularly, it had been a long time…
July 27, 2017 Seven Years Ago Today Today it is seven years since our daughter went to live in a group home. She was seven years-old at that time. That means…
July 25, 2017 Disabilities and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats One of the hardest hitting parables that Jesus ever taught was the parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25. There is…
July 11, 2017 Why I Tease My Daughter With Autism My oldest daughter is 14 years-old and has autism. And I like to tease her. Don’t worry, I don’t tease her about having autism….
June 15, 2017 How Diverse Do You Want Your Church to Be? I have listened to a number of podcasts and read some books that have argued for increased diversity within the church. I am all…
June 4, 2017 Good News: First Communion Today may have been one of the most amazing mornings at church in my life. I shared a couple of weeks ago about how…
June 1, 2017 Wrestling With an Angel – Review When it comes to being parents of children with disabilities, there is a connection that goes deep. Even if we have never met or…
May 26, 2017 Don’t Pet the Service Dog! I was at the hospital today visiting someone. As we walked into the hospital, we saw someone with a service dog waiting to pay…
May 25, 2017 Autism and Quality Time Last weekend, our children with autism were visiting from their group home. It is always great to have them with us. At one point,…
May 22, 2017 A Place of Healing – Review Perhaps one of the first Christian “celebrities” that I ever heard of was Joni Eareckson Tada. She has an amazing story and has accomplished…
May 21, 2017 Good News: Bringing Our Son to Church Today was one of the happiest Sundays in my life. Many people take it for granted that they can go to church as a…
May 19, 2017 Do You Have People With Autism in Your Church? The CDC has said that 1 in 68 children are born with autism. In Canada, the numbers are about 1 in 94. Those are…
May 9, 2017 Adventures of SuperCaptainBraveMan: A Spectrum of Love – Review I recently encountered a series of books called The Adventures of SuperCaptainBraveMan. While I haven’t read the first book, I was sent a copy…
May 2, 2017 Be Careful With the Advice You Give Autism Parents It is common for parents to share their wisdom with each other. Experience provides little tips that we can share with others. This is…
April 13, 2017 Bitter-Sweet Sixteen Our son Logan turned sixteen just the other day. On his birthday, we gathered the family together and went to a used car lot….
April 2, 2017 Good News: Thankful For Autism Awareness About fourteen years ago, when our son Logan was diagnosed with autism, I was pretty ignorant about autism. I only knew what I saw…
March 31, 2017 My Six Favourite Autism Memories Our two oldest children have autism and our experience with them has shaped our entire family. Although there have been some hard days, we…
March 29, 2017 Why Should the Church Care About Autism Awareness? April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness Month. But why should the church care about autism awareness? Shouldn’t we…
March 13, 2017 Marriage and Asperger’s Syndrome What do you think of when you think of autism? Nonverbal children rocking back and forth, perhaps banging their head? Autism includes that but…
March 1, 2017 My Problem With the R-Word I was recently watching the Netflix series, Luke Cage. Throughout the series, I was bothered by the generous use of the N-word, even by…
February 14, 2017 Tips to Becoming an Autism-Friendly Church The CDC has reported that 1 in 68 children are born with autism. Your church needs decide if you want to include or exclude…
January 28, 2017 5 Things You Should Know About My Children With Autism Autism awareness has come a long way but there is still far to go. I have two children with autism. They are both on…
January 18, 2017 Five Reasons Why King Solomon Was on the Autism Spectrum This article is a guest post by Ron Sandison. You can find his bio at the conclusion of this post. As a theologian and…
January 16, 2017 Thoughts on The Accountant I have been hoping to see The Accountant for some time and finally got to watch it today. I was not disappointed. It was…
January 4, 2017 The New Edition of How to Make Your Church Autism-Friendly! I believe that of all the books that I have written, one of the most important is How to Make Your Church Autism-Friendly. It…
December 27, 2016 Disability and the Gospel – Review One aspect of working through ideas about disabilities is to develop a theology of disability. The Bible has some important things to say about…
December 12, 2016 Confessions of an Autism Mom I am so thankful for my wife and the way she is able to put into words our experience as autism parents. Amanda recently…
December 10, 2016 Dear Future Mom A heartwarming message from 15 people with Down syndrome to a future mom.
December 8, 2016 On Being an Accessible Church In the province that I live in, it is the law that all public buildings, including churches, are accessible to those with disabilities. We…
December 7, 2016 He Came Down If you are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, you need to watch this video. It is about a nativity play put on…
December 2, 2016 Bullying Also Happens in the Church People with disabilities are too often the target for bullying. Those who have communication or cognitive challenges are particularly vulnerable as they may have…
November 26, 2016 Nothing is Happening Tomorrow Have you ever had someone start to say something, in the sense of revealing information, and you would do anything to stop them? We…
November 11, 2016 A Theology of Autism This is a lecture by theologian John Swinton that was given at the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability in 2011.
November 9, 2016 The Church and People With Mild Autism I think that there has been some improvement in the church’s willingness to embrace and minister to people with autism and their families. But…
November 5, 2016 An Autistic Evening One of the purposes of this blog is to increase awareness about autism. As much as I love to share the positive experiences, the…
November 5, 2016 How to Talk to a Person With Autism Who Seems to Ignore You If you tried to talk to our son, you might find that he would avoid eye contact and probably would hum while you spoke….
November 2, 2016 What is an Autism Service Dog? Many people have heard of guide dogs for the blind, but what is an autism service dog? The principle is the same, in that…
