Ramp that welcomes disabled to parish community

IT was encouraging recently to see Daniel Day Lewis win the best actor award in the Oscar
ceremony for his portrayal in My Left Foot of an Irish writer
who was physically crippled by cerebral palsy. Encouraging because for so long many people with disabilities have remained in the backdrop of all our lives, our communities and our society as a whole.
Huge asylums were built away from towns to house those with mental disabilities, while similar residential homes behind walls were for those with special physical needs. We may argue that this approach is changing, most notably in the government's commitment to community care. But in society as a whole, the mistrust and fear of any sort of disability still is very evident, and is buried in a denial process that disowns the fact that there are many people in our society with special needs.
Healthy, young, vital images beam out from advertisement boards. There is very little room in a designer world for those who are not perfect.
The Christian churches have a real role to play here in breaking down such taboos, and Church Action on Disability (CHAD), a campaigning group started two years ago to highlight the whole nature of disability in our society and our church, has been busy leading the way.
Secretary of CHAD, the Revd John Peirce, feels that films like My Left Foot and last year's Oscar winner Rain Man (on autism) have played a role in helping people realise the contribution that people with special needs can make to our society if given a chance. "If we make it difficult for people with disabilities to enter our churches, our homes, our communities, it is we who loose out in the long run."
Church Action on Disability is an ecumenical group committed to opening up church communities to those with special needs. Looking around your local church on a Sunday, how many disabled people do you see asks John Peirce. Too often the answer is not very many. But one family in four have some experience of disability. So where are all these people? Are our churches welcoming them, or excluding them?
CHAD has been responsible for the devising of a study pack on disability which is available for church groups aimed at promoting discussion on some of the issues raised by the experience of disability.
"It's not that people have neglected those with disabilities deliberately, but rather it is a whole problem of denial in society," according to John Peirce. People are often nervous around the disabled.
To meet someone who has cerebral palsy, or who is blind or who has a specific handicap is to face the fact there are certain unexplainable things in life, there sometimes appears to be no justice."
CHAD have also gathered a group of church architects together to concentrate on problems of access. If any church wants to speak to this group, it is contactable through CHAD and will give advice. "We are strongly emphasising the point that access is fundamentally a welcoming attitude. If I can't open the door or climb up the steps to go into your home, I won't be inclined to visit that often, and I won't feel that you really want me inside," says John Peirce.
For further information on CHAD, contact John Peirce on 0647 21259 or at Charisma Cottage, Drewsteignton, Exeter EX6 6OR