Disability and Faith Blog The Disability Comes to Church Podcast Stephen Bedard, September 13, 2023September 13, 2023 One of the areas that is most important to me is the intersection of faith and disabilities. I hear from may churches that are struggling with how to welcome and include people with disabilities. For that reason, I have started a new podcast called Disability Comes to Church. They are… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: Autism is Okay Stephen Bedard, April 3, 2023April 3, 2023 Autism has been a part of our lives almost from the beginning of our married life. Amanda and I were married in 2000, our son was born in 2001, and he was diagnosed with autism in 2003. Our daughter was diagnosed with autism soon after. We have had many people… Continue Reading
Bedard on Discipleship Person-First or Identity-First Language? Stephen Bedard, December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 When we talk about disabilities, should we use person-first or identity-first language? That is, should we refer to “people with disabilities” or “disabled people”? In this episode, we look at this topic. Visit my website Disability Comes to Church. Please support this podcast through Patreon. Continue Reading
Bedard on Discipleship What is the Difference Between Mental Health and Mental Illness? Stephen Bedard, July 8, 2022July 8, 2022 We often use the terms mental health and mental illness interchangeably but they are not exactly the same thing. So what is the difference? That’s what we look at in this episode. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: Opportunities to Share Stephen Bedard, April 25, 2022April 25, 2022 In recent years, there has been a shift in my interests more to the area of disabilities. This was seen most dramatically when I did a last minute shift in my Doctor of Ministry thesis to write on disabilities and the church. I continue to look for opportunities to write… Continue Reading
Bedard on Discipleship Disability Ministry and Theology of Worship Stephen Bedard, February 24, 2022February 24, 2022 In this episode of the podcast, we look at how our theology of worship affects the way we minister to people with disabilities. For more on this topic, visit Disability Comes to Church. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Should Pastors Care About Disability Ministry? Stephen Bedard, February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 As a pastor, I know that there are many demands and different voices calling for attention. Everybody wants the pastor’s attention. Is disability ministry something that should be added to the list? What is Disability Ministry? First, let me talk about what I mean about disability ministry. Disability ministry may… Continue Reading
Apologetics and Theology Blog Should We Still Read Books by Ravi Zacharias, Jean Vanier, Etc.? Stephen Bedard, January 23, 2021January 23, 2021 A number of major Christian figures such as Ravi Zacharias, Jean Vanier, Bill Hybels and others have fallen. Some of these were prolific authors that were influential in their area of expertise. Should we still read their books or should we purge our personal libraries? This episode looks at these… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disability and the Church Blog Stephen Bedard, January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 This is (probably) the last post in the Disability and Faith category on this website. Is that because I have lost my interest in disabilities? Actually, it is the exact opposite. I want to focus more on the intersection of faith and disability and so have started a new website… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog 3 Theological Steps to Becoming a Disability-Friendly Church Stephen Bedard, November 19, 2020November 19, 2022 I hear from many pastors about how to become a disability-friendly church. Usually they are thinking in terms of the facilities or programs. Basically: What is the stuff that needs to be done? I appreciate this eagerness but there is actually some theological groundwork that needs to be done before… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog What to Do When You See a Service Dog in Public Stephen Bedard, October 7, 2020March 17, 2021 You are out in a grocery store or a restaurant and you see a person with a dog wearing a jacket. How do you respond? What if the person doesn’t look blind? Actually seeing eye dogs are only one type of service dog. Our family had an autism service dog… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog How Big Does a Congregation Need to Be to Have a Disability Ministry? Stephen Bedard, October 3, 2020October 3, 2020 That all depends on how you define “disability ministry.” If you mean hiring a person on staff, gathering a dozen volunteers and investing in specific curriculum, you may need a fairly large church. But if you mean a place where people with disabilities can be ministered to and can minister… Continue Reading
Apologetics and Theology Blog Ravi Zacharias, Jean Vanier and Holding Our Heroes Accountable Stephen Bedard, September 9, 2020September 9, 2020 I always write these posts with much fear and trembling. Ravi Zacharias is highly respected among my colleagues in the Christian apologetics community. For many evangelicals, he is an example of a Christian leader who finished well. But did he? Even during his life, there had been some accusations of… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Should Disability Theologians Still Quote Jean Vanier? Stephen Bedard, August 18, 2020August 18, 2020 One of the most influential individuals in disability theology and disability ministry was Jean Vanier. He was also one of the greatest disappointments. He wrote many books that shared important insight, not just about disabilities but about being human in general. He also did many things to improve the lives… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Why Should Your Church Be Disability Friendly? Stephen Bedard, August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 I’m in the process of working on some resources to help churches become more disability friendly. By that I mean more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities. But it should be asked why churches should even bother attempting to become disability friendly. It’s a lot of investment without a… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: A New Way to Communicate Stephen Bedard, July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 One of the most difficult things about having nonverbal children with autism is the limits those circumstances put our our communication. That is not to say that there is no communication. They do use one or two words. There is also nonverbal communication that goes on. At the same time,… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog John Swinton on Theology and Disability Stephen Bedard, July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 One of my favourite disability theologians is John Swinton. I strongly recommend reading anything he writes. In this short video, John Swinton gives a brief introduction to theology and disability. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Uta Frith, Theory of Mind and Autism Stephen Bedard, July 4, 2020July 4, 2020 One of the most influential scholars in the area of autism. Part of her research has been in the area of the theory of mind. This video may help you to understand how some people with autism think. My main criticism of what she says is that she makes some… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Should You Pray For Healing For a Person With a Disability? Stephen Bedard, July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 I am doing research on the experience of people with disabilities in the church. There are many different experiences, as disabilities affect people in different ways. But there is one theme that comes up over and over. People with disabilities generally don’t people to pray for their healing. See my… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: The Kids and Church Stephen Bedard, June 29, 2020June 29, 2020 For many people, this pandemic has been really difficult in terms of church. People would rather be sitting together in a building worshiping than watching a worship service on a computer. But there is a bright side for some families. At Queen Street Baptist Church, we post our worship service… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog What Kind of Ship is the Church? Stephen Bedard, June 20, 2020June 20, 2020 A number of people have used nautical images for the Church. The starting point is usually that the Church is not a cruise ship, meaning it is not designed for the comfort of its passengers. The contrast is either with a battleship or a rescue ship, with the focus on… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Other Anti-Discrimination Fight That Needs to Be Fought Stephen Bedard, June 17, 2020June 17, 2021 Some of the biggest news in recent times is the fight for the rights of people who are marginalized. Much of this has been focused on the black community and the LGBTQ community. There is more that is needed. As a Canadian, I would like to see more conversation about… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Negotiating the Disabled Body – Review Stephen Bedard, May 23, 2020May 23, 2020 I have been researching how biblical texts portray disabilities and this has brought me to Negotiating the Disabled Body by Anna Rebecca Solevåg. While much of the book deals with texts from the New Testament, it does touch on other early Christian texts such as the Acts of Peter. Both… Continue Reading
Bedard on Discipleship Autism and the Church Stephen Bedard, May 16, 2020May 16, 2020 Is the church welcoming and embracing people of autism? It depends on what congregation and what individual with autism that you ask. This is my second interview with Ron Sandison. Ron, as an individual with autism has great insight into how churches can be more welcoming toward people with disabilities… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Eyes Opened by the Blind Stephen Bedard, May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 Our church has a Zoom after church fellowship during this time of only online services. It is a nice way of connecting with people. The fun thing is that there are different people showing up each time. This past week, we had two people who were both born blind. We… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: She Feels Happy Stephen Bedard, May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 With yesterday being Mother’s Day, it was important for us to be able to talk to Logan and Abby. They live in a group home 1.5 hours away. They both have autism and are nonverbal. We have been talking to Logan pretty regularly through Skype. Abby hasn’t really been interested,… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Relationship Between Disability Theology and Disability Ministry Stephen Bedard, May 1, 2020May 1, 2021 Some churches want to jump right into Disability Ministry. Start programs, promote accessibility, invite people with disabilities. Let’s do ministry! I love that enthusiasm. But I think that churches also have to do the hard work of wrestling with Disability Theology. Yes there are some encouraging words about people with… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Crip Camp – Review Stephen Bedard, April 4, 2020April 4, 2020 I recently watched the documentary Crip Camp on Netflix. As a person interested in disabilities, I was eager to see it. In many ways, this is two documentaries. The first is about the camp in the title, which was actually Camp Jened. The was camp for people with disabilities that… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Why Autism Awareness is Important to Me Stephen Bedard, April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 April 2 is Autism Awareness Day and all of April is Autism Awareness Month. Why do I care about this? For me autism is not an issue, it is my family. Our two oldest children, Logan and Abby, have autism. Their experience with autism has shaped our entire family. I… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog COVID-19 and Autism Stephen Bedard, March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 For many of us, the COVID-19 is a radical change in our routine. We have children home from school. We have had to shift to working at home. We have to livestream church services instead of attending in person. This change in the way things normally are can create anxiety… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Why I Recently Bought a Book by Jean Vanier Stephen Bedard, March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 The Christian and disability world was recently rocked by the revelations that Jean Vanier sexually abused a number of women. We will never look at Vanier the same way again. The other day I was at a second hand story and came across a Jean Vanier book that I hadn’t… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Jean Vanier and the Fall of a Hero Stephen Bedard, February 22, 2020February 22, 2020 Over the past year, I have been reading quite a few books by Jean Vanier. He plays an important part in my DMin thesis. I have thoroughly enjoyed his writings. It has been more than just reading for school. While his Catholic faith is somewhat different than my Protestant beliefs,… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Loop – Pixar Short About Autism Stephen Bedard, February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 Pixar has been very good, not just with their movies, but with their shorts. One of their newest is called Loop. This is probably the one that has been the most emotionally moving for me. The reason for this is that Loop is about a nonverbal girl with autism named… Continue Reading
Apologetics and Theology Blog Raging With Compassion – Review Stephen Bedard, January 21, 2020January 21, 2020 One of the areas of apologetics that none of us can avoid concerns the problem of suffering. If not ourselves, we all know someone who will suffer in a way that no easy answers are available. The common response to the problem of suffering by theologians is called theodicy. This… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Theology and Down Syndrome – Review Stephen Bedard, January 3, 2020January 3, 2020 I love theology and I love thoughtful reflections on disabilities. One of the best that I have read is Theology and Down Syndrome. Some theologians are focused completely Disability Theology. That is not the case with Yong. He has written on many theological topics and doesn’t focus his teaching on… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Hope inexpressible, Love unconditional (An Autism Poem) Stephen Bedard, December 31, 2019April 4, 2023 The doctor enters the room with tissuesParents listening, ignorant of the issuesHope inexpressibleLove unconditionale Will the child ever go to bed?Sounds in the night, filling with dreadHope inexpressibleLove unconditional Waiting for words, even one or twoLonging desperately to hear, “I love you”Hope inexpressibleLove unconditional As time and time relentless flowsGaps… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog A Christmas Miracle Stephen Bedard, December 25, 2019December 25, 2019 A miracle may be a bit of an exaggeration but please hear me out. We had our children Logan and Abby visit today for Christmas. They both have autism and live in a group home over an hour away. People with autism often struggle with unexpected changes. Our daughter Abby… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Nazis and the Killing of the Disabled Stephen Bedard, December 20, 2019December 30, 2019 Two of my main interests are the history of the Second World War and disabilities. The latter because I have two children with disabilities. It is heartbreaking to hear about the lengths the Nazis went to kill those, including babies and children, with disabilities. This is a forgotten part of… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disability, Providence, and Ethics – Review Stephen Bedard, December 17, 2019December 17, 2019 One of the most prominent disability theologians is Hans Reinders. I recently read his book, Disability, Providence, and Ethics. Reinders wrestles with questions of why God allows people to experience suffering in this life. But in this, he follows John Swinton by avoiding traditional theodicies. Reinders doesn’t attempt to provide… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Receiving the Gift of Friendship – Review Stephen Bedard, December 10, 2019 One of the theologians that I have been reading in my research into disability theology is Hans Reinders. He is one of the most respect theologians working in this area. One of his books is called Receiving the Gift of Friendship. In this book Reinders looks at a number of… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: Love and Family Stephen Bedard, October 28, 2019 People wonder what it is like to have children who are considered non-verbal. Non-verbal doesn’t mean that there is no verbal communication but it is limited and not the primary means of communication. Our children do find other ways to communicate. we know what they want. They are very good… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Jean Vanier: Essential Writings – Review Stephen Bedard, October 25, 2019March 25, 2021 Essential Writings is a collection of writings by Jean Vanier that was edited by Carolyn Whitney-Brown. Vanier is best known as the founder of L’Arche. I really enjoyed this book as it gives a great picture of Vanier’s life and thought. It begins with a nice introduction to his life,… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disabilities and Religious Needs Stephen Bedard, October 18, 2019September 1, 2021 Today I met with the group home where our children with autism live. It was a time to discuss how they were doing and how their needs can be best met. One of the things that I really appreciated was that they are very proactive when it comes to their… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Fragile Bones – Review Stephen Bedard, October 3, 2019 My daughter brought home a number of books from her school library and I was pleased to see one was Fragile Bones: Harrison and Anna by Lorna Schultz Nicholson. This book revolved around two high school students involved in a Best Buddies program, which seeks to match neuro-typical students with those… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Bible and Disability: A Commentary – Review Stephen Bedard, September 24, 2019 I’m currently doing research into what the Bible says about disabilities. This led me naturally to The Bible and Disability: A Commentary edited by Sarah J. Melcher, Mikeal C. Parsons and Amos Yong. The Bible is a book that speaks a lot about disabilities and so this is a volume… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Autism and Faith Stephen Bedard, September 13, 2019August 23, 2021 Someone recently asked me about people with Asperger’s Syndrome and the challenges of Christian faith. Asperger’s is now known simply as autism. I have heard people claim that people with autism struggle with faith. It is true that people with autism have brains that are wired differently. They may encounter… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Challenge of Having a Nonverbal Child Stephen Bedard, September 5, 2019March 12, 2021 Our two children with autism are considered nonverbal. That doesn’t mean they have no words, just that they do not typically communicate with verbal speech. Most times we can deal with it. They have no problems asking for what they want. We have learned to understand facial expressions and body… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Chronic Pain and Invisible Disabilities Stephen Bedard, August 24, 2019June 8, 2022 When people think about disabilities, probably they think of someone with Down Syndrome or a person in a wheelchair. But there are disabilities that are invisible. There are number of these invisible disabilities and one of them is chronic pain. People can look and act fine but in reality are… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disability in the Hebrew Bible – Review Stephen Bedard, August 15, 2019 Two of the biggest interests for me are the Bible and disabilities. When those two things come together, II am happy. That’s why I enjoyed Disability in the Hebrew Bible. Things can get complicated when it comes to the Bible and disabilities. People with disabilities and disability advocates will want… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Becoming Friends of Time – Review Stephen Bedard, August 6, 2019 Advocating for people with disabilities is very important to me. However, I have caught myself getting impatient with people with disabilities, whether physical or developmental. While I am aware things can take longer, I have an attitude toward time in which I expect things to move at a quick pace…. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disabilities and Healing Stephen Bedard, July 6, 2019June 25, 2021 One of my favourite podcasts is Unbelievable? hosted by Justin Brierley. Usually they scratch my apologetics itch, but recently they touched on another special interest of mine: Disabilities. One of the questions dealt with was the role of healing prayer. Many people with disabilities have been the victims of unwanted… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Should Parents Call Themselves Autism Moms and Dads? Stephen Bedard, June 13, 2019 I have recently come across comments by people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder who find the labels “autism mom” and “autism dad” offensive. This rather surprised me. The idea is that autism belongs to the person who has ASD and not the parents. It is wrong for parents to take… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disability and the Way of Jesus – Review Stephen Bedard, June 11, 2019 Two of the biggest interests in my life are biblical studies and disability theology. Disability and the Way of Jesus by Bethany McKinney Fox satisfied both those needs. This is a very important book for developing a biblical theology of disability. There are a lot of helpful passages in the Bible… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Sounds of Autism Stephen Bedard, June 4, 2019 I recently mentioned that we had a great service at our church this past Sunday. One of the things that made it a good service was a family that was visiting. This family happened to have two children with autism. They gave me the heads up before the service, although… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Animated Explanation of Autism Stephen Bedard, May 30, 2019 There has been much work done on autism awareness but there is still a long way to go. This is a great little video on autism. I love how it doesn’t present autism as something to be fixed but as people to be understood. You may find my book on… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Did Disabilities Win the Game of Thrones? Stephen Bedard, May 24, 2019 I found the final episode of Game of Thrones interesting on a number of levels. One of those was the way disabilities were portrayed, not just throughout the series, but in the conclusion. NOTE: SPOILERS BELOW Mighty kings and queens had been battling for eight seasons to determine who would… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Reflections on a Recent Funeral Stephen Bedard, April 11, 2019April 23, 2022 I recently did a funeral for a member of our church named Dianne. I didn’t know Dianne well, as her health didn’t allow her to attend much since I became the pastor. I did know that she had Down Syndrome. It was an interesting funeral in a number of ways…. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Should You Wear Blue on World Autism Awareness Day? Stephen Bedard, April 2, 2019March 18, 2021 Many people, especially those with friends or family with autism, wear blue on World Autism Awareness Day (April 2). It is a way to raise awareness and show support to those with autism. But did you know that there is some controversy about this? The idea of wearing blue comes… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Including People With Disabilities in Faith Communities – Review Stephen Bedard, March 29, 2019March 26, 2021 One of the most important issues for me is to make sure that people with disabilities are welcomed into our churches. One person who has done a lot of work in this area is Erik Carter, author of Including People With Disabilities in Faith Communities. There are two things that… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog What Churches Need to Know About People With Disabilities Stephen Bedard, March 25, 2019December 5, 2022 Yesterday, we had a town hall meeting at our church. This was to look at, among other things, ways we do outreach and ways we welcome. Numerous topics came up and one of them was disabilities. Although I’m an advocate for people with disabilities, I wasn’t the one who brought… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Christ on the Psych Ward – Review Stephen Bedard, March 8, 2019April 21, 2019 One of the most important conversations needed in the church is that of mental illness. There are different ways we can do this. It can be by describing the facts of mental illness or telling the stories of people with mental illness. The latter is the content of Christ on… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Uniquely Human – Review Stephen Bedard, February 15, 2019April 22, 2019 I have read many books on autism but Uniquely Human is one of the best. As I read it, my initial reaction was, “I wish I had read this book when my children were diagnosed!” This book is a solid introduction to autism, giving a good number of examples of… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Reality of Welcoming People With Developmental Disabilities Stephen Bedard, February 5, 2019November 8, 2019 I am committed to welcoming people with disabilities, both physical and developmental, into the church. But there is a danger that we romanticize what this looks like. Sure I can share some beautiful stories but that is not all that there is. I would like to speak specifically about those… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Redefining Perfect – Review Stephen Bedard, January 29, 2019October 5, 2019 When a couple begins to have children, at least in the back of their mind, they are hoping for the “perfect” family. But what happens when a child is born with or an adult acquires a disability? Is there now imperfection? For people of faith, perhaps there is a need… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: A Pastor Who Cares Stephen Bedard, January 27, 2019September 22, 2022 Our son Logan has started attending a church in the city where his group home is. I have mentioned this before and we are thankful. I care as a father but I can also see this from the perspective of a pastor. I know from experience that it is not… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Paradox of Disability – Review Stephen Bedard, January 24, 2019August 6, 2019 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 founded by Jean Vanier and Vanier has done much to raise awareness in the church about people with disabilities. Hans Reinders has edited a volume titled,… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Is it Wrong to Label People With Autism? Stephen Bedard, January 10, 2019December 5, 2019 I recently had a discussion about using labels when describing people on the autism spectrum. Some of the people in the discussion felt strongly that labels are completely inappropriate. What do I mean by labels? People with autism are often described as being high-functioning vs low-function or mild vs severe…. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disabling Mission, Enabling Witness – Review Stephen Bedard, December 11, 2018June 25, 2020 I recently read Enabling Mission, Enabling Witness by Benjamin T. Conner and I absolutely loved it. I am currently doing some research into disability and theology and this book just got me more excited about this topic. What is unique about this book is that Conner brings together the two… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disabilities and Disabilities Stephen Bedard, November 27, 2018August 14, 2019 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 disabilities” as if they are one monolithic group but that is not the case. There are many different types of disabilities and each group will have… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Top Five Things I Wish People Knew About Autism Stephen Bedard, November 10, 2018April 20, 2020 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, I need to blog about this as well. Autism awareness has come a long way but there is still far to go. Here are five things… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Autism and the Double Meltdown Stephen Bedard, October 20, 2018January 30, 2021 We went to visit our two children who have autism and who live in a group home. Logan is 17 and Abby is 16. The visit didn’t turn out the way we expected. Abby was unsettled, which was causing Logan to be unsettled. It seemed to get okay at first… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog An Autistic Thanksgiving Stephen Bedard, October 9, 2018July 12, 2019 I suspect that most families have unexpected situations and uncontrollable factors when it comes to family dinners and holidays. This is definitely true when the family includes autism. This past weekend was the Canadian Thanksgiving, which should be a time for family to get together. Autism makes things less than… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog People With Autism Become Adults Stephen Bedard, September 24, 2018July 22, 2019 I have been doing some informal research into how many people with autism are in churches. I had a very interesting comment that I think reflects common thinking on autism. One pastor responded by saying, “We don’t have many children in our church.” The funny thing is that I never… Continue Reading
Apologetics and Theology Blog How Apologetics Intersects With My Interest in Disabilities Stephen Bedard, September 13, 2018July 17, 2020 Two of the areas that I write on the most are Christian apologetics and disabilities. This makes sense. My faith journey includes a period of atheism and I am a skeptic by nature. In addition, I have two children with autism and so disabilities are close to my heart. But… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog What Our Church Does For Disability Ministry Stephen Bedard, September 12, 2018April 30, 2019 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, people are always look for ideas. So when I get asked what we do for disability ministry, this is what I tell them. Church. Yeah, that’s… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Autism and the First Day of School Stephen Bedard, September 4, 2018May 29, 2019 Like many parents, we sent our children off today for their first day of school for the year. We took the obligatory pictures of our three children and posted them on Facebook. Except we have more than three children. Two of our children have autism and live in a group… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: “Go Away!” Stephen Bedard, August 19, 2018 How many parents think it is good news when their teenage daughter tells them to go away? This one does. A couple of days ago, I was visiting our children, Logan and Abby, at their group home. Both Logan and Abby have autism and are considered nonverbal. Abby uses an… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog First Thoughts on The Good Doctor Stephen Bedard, August 14, 2018June 22, 2020 The Good Doctor is a medical drama that airs on ABC and which features a doctor with autism. It is based on an earlier South Korean series. At this point I have only watched the first two episodes and will comment further after watching the first season. These are only… Continue Reading
Apologetics and Theology Blog Bedard on Discipleship Stephen Bedard, August 2, 2018March 19, 2021 I have been podcasting for quite a few years and I do enjoy it. Although my original podcast has been taken down by me, I am still active in podcasting. I offer a podcast that is partner to my blogging activity at this site. It is called Bedard Discipleship. This… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Today is a Hard Day Stephen Bedard, July 27, 2018August 9, 2022 Today is eight years since our daughter Abby moved into a group home. She was only seven years old at the time. That means she has lived away from us longer than she lived with us. That is hard. It wasn’t an easy decision to have Abby move out of… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Disability Stereotypes in Movies Stephen Bedard, July 17, 2018May 15, 2020 One of the pet peeves of many people in the disability community is how people with disabilities are portrayed in movies and television shows. Very often, stereotypes are used for people with disabilities. People with autism or MS may not feel that the portrayal of their diagnoses represents their experience…. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Why I Don’t Talk Much About Ableism Stephen Bedard, July 5, 2018December 22, 2022 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 less familiar with ableism. What is ableism? The Centre for Disability Rights gives this definition for ableism: Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog What is a Disability? Stephen Bedard, June 26, 2018June 1, 2022 I recently asked a question on a couple of Facebook groups that I belonged to. One group was about autism and the other about sarcoidosis. I asked members whether they identified as disabled. Interestingly, many of those with sarcoidosis did identify as having a disability, while most of those with… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Asperger’s From the Inside Out – Review Stephen Bedard, June 18, 2018May 8, 2020 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 autism without the language deficits. However, AS has disappeared as a diagnosis and is now a part of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Michael John Carley, the executive… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Inspiration Porn Stephen Bedard, June 15, 2018April 21, 2019 This past week, I was at the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability. There was so much that I learned but one of the terms I came across for the first time was “inspiration porn.” What is inspiration porn? Many people find people with disabilities inspirational. That is fine if… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog This is What Autism Looks Like Stephen Bedard, June 4, 2018October 8, 2021 It is important for me to share information about autism. It is vital that our society grow in autism awareness. But is autism is more than a diagnosis, it is about people. Autism never happens apart from real people. Here is a short video of myself and my daughter Abby… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Making Plans With Autism Stephen Bedard, May 29, 2018June 8, 2019 A few weeks ago, we were staying at a hotel with our three youngest children. One of the reasons we went to the hotel is that it had a pool. Since the hotel was in the same city as the group home where our children with autism live. The plan… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Good News: A Beautiful Day For a Walk Stephen Bedard, May 6, 2018 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 enjoy their steeped tea? This weekend included a visit from our children, Logan and Abby. They have autism and live in a group home over an… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog An Important Question For Churches and Disabilities Stephen Bedard, April 23, 2018April 23, 2021 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 church in Ephesians 2. One of the participants asked a question about how this fits with disability ministries. The lady in our study (who happens to… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Why I’m Glad My Children Didn’t Come For a Visit Stephen Bedard, April 17, 2018November 23, 2019 Our two oldest children have autism and live in a group home about an hour and a half away. They normally come for visits every other week. Last weekend they were supposed to come for a visit but they didn’t. And I’m glad. How could I be glad that my… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog An Autism Challenge Stephen Bedard, April 9, 2018June 15, 2020 Our society has come a long way when it comes to autism awareness. People know more about autism than ever before. But how well do they know people with autism? As a part of autism awareness month, I challenge everyone to get to know one person with autism. The person… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Churches Need More Than Autism Awareness Stephen Bedard, April 2, 2018April 30, 2020 There has been an increase in autism awareness, both in general and in the church. That is a good thing but more is needed. Autism awareness means that people know what autism is and may even have some understanding about what people with autism need. But more is needed. It… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Caring for Special Needs People in Your Small Church Stephen Bedard, March 29, 2018October 21, 2020 One of the most practical podcasts that I listen to is the 200 Church podcast. I was quite happy when I heard they were doing an episode on special needs. Co-host Jonny Craig has a child with special needs, so it was nut surprising. It was a helpful discussion with… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Stephen Hawking and Disabilities Stephen Bedard, March 15, 2018May 9, 2020 Stephen Hawking just recently died. There is much about Hawking that I disagreed with. He denied the existence of God and thought heaven was a fairy tale. I suppose he knows the truth now. But aside from his views on God, there was much about Stephen Hawking that was praiseworthy…. Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog 31 Days to Become a Better Pastor: Embrace Those With Disabilities Stephen Bedard, March 14, 2018February 28, 2020 Many churches have embraced the concept of disabilities. Churches want diversity of gender, ethnicities, age, economic status and others. But what about disabilities? I need to confess that I’m biased in this area. In addition to being a pastor, I’m also a father of two children with disabilities. We also… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Interview With Lamar Hardwick Stephen Bedard, February 19, 2018July 3, 2021 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 and what you do? My name is Lamar Hardwick. I am a husband, father of three boys, and the pastor of New Community Church located in… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Miraculous Healings From Autism? Stephen Bedard, February 14, 2018October 1, 2021 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 respond to this? When our children were first diagnosed with autism, we had a couple of friends message us out of frustration as to why we… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Autism: Explaining the Enigma – Review Stephen Bedard, February 13, 2018February 13, 2020 I recently read the book Autism: Explaining the Enigma by Uta Frith. It is an older book, having been published in 1989, but it is still useful. I have read many books on autism but I found this book particularly interesting. One of the things the author touches on is… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog Wonder – Review Stephen Bedard, February 6, 2018April 10, 2019 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 boy with a facial deformity. For the first time, he is going to a normal school instead of homeschooling. The movie is about his experiences, dealing… Continue Reading
Disability and Faith Blog The Autism Opportunity Easily Missed by Churches Stephen Bedard, January 29, 2018June 21, 2021 My observation of churches is that there is an increase in awareness and compassion about autism. The media has really brought autism to the forefront and a variety of advocacy groups have promoted autism awareness. Many people in our churches are related to or at least know someone with autism…. Continue Reading