(dis)Abilities and the Gospel: How to Bring People with Special Needs Closer to Christ

The term “special needs” is often associated with a severe mental or physical disability, such as Down’s Syndrome or other similar situations. Many people do not know how to react to such situations and many fear they will inadvertently say or do the wrong thing. How does one deal with a special needs child in a Primary class, for instance? What about at Girl’s Camp or during a Young Men’s meeting? What to do when it’s in an adult Sunday School situation?

Danyelle Ferguson and Lynn Parsons help to educate the reader by redefining what the term “special needs” can cover, including a host of other mental, emotional or physical needs. For instance, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is shown to be much more common than once expected or understood.

Ferguson and Parsons bring divergent but complementary points of view to this subject. While Parsons comes from a clinical background and thus offers a professional’s perspective, Ferguson comes from the…