Inclusion of people with special needs

Dear Editor,

I was heartened to read Kay Morgan-Gurr’s recent article on inclusion on the en website (‘Churches and accessibility: time to change’). How the church welcomes, cares for, and disciples those with additional needs is, in my view, one of the great challenges of this generation. It’s personal for me as a parent of three children, two of whom are neurodiverse. But it’s also a pastoral concern.

In the church I lead, we’ve seen a drastic increase in the number of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) children attending our groups on Sundays and midweek. In addition, we have an increasing number of adults with various additional needs and diagnoses.