People face a bunch of small barriers in life and some larger ones, and it is often the number of barriers that make it impossible to go to church, not just one large barrier.

These barriers are also barriers to people with disabilities, and so increase their disability. I am good example, I have multiple disabilities due to having lived with AIDS for so long, as well as having ADHD, PDD-NOS,( an Autistic Spectrum Condition similar in many ways to Aspergers). Presently I am also living on ODSP and studying at School, so I face barriers that exist for low income people.

Remove just one barrier and people still may not be able to come because of other barriers. That is why I believe barriers have to be approached systematically. People living with disabilities, illness, or difference are more then defined by just one difference. In fact the one way we are all alike is that we are all different, and removing barriers for one person often results in a barrier being removed that impedes many others. 

Low income is a barrier to participating in church events or belonging to certain groups in the church when accommodation is not made for low income people. Due to my developmental disability, I also need church members and clergy and other staff, to spend more time with me on certain things when they are new. As well I need people to be aware I have an Autistic Spectrum disorder and give me a break because sometimes when I am frustrated with life, or overwhelmed I have difficulties in expressing myself and being understood. I tend to over do things, I get really excited at times, and its like a drug in the way it affects me, so I also tend to get easily  frustrated. I unable to read other people well, to understand their reactions. This can lead to over talking in conservations, and sometimes speaking out loudly in a crowd or gathering. Also my frustration can be interpreted as anger at people, when really I am not that angry, just frustrated and usually a little lost, and frightened. I also have to face barriers that people attitudes create when they fear me for having HIV or are threatened by my sexual orientation. Regardless of your church or your own attitude toward s including GLBT members, you need to examine why GLBT do not feel welcomed. If your church and you have no issues having GLBT members in your church, why are there none or very few. Are they there but scared to come out. If a GLBT person makes it to church, it is a real barrier to there full participation if they feel afraid to be honest. What can we do. As well if your church feels that GLBT can not participate fully, what can you, and others in your churches do. Can you and other like you in your church accommodate them somehow. How do you treat other members who hold different opinions then the church, or other members who do things that the church disagrees with. I believe that we can benefit by being in church communities with different types of people, and that we can learn from the disability community in the many ingenious ways we have been able to overcome some seemingly insurmountable barrier.

Sometimes when the barriers have been removed the churches do not make the community aware of of them. So communication or lack of communication becomes a barrier. This is one area where we can help. We can give you lists of community resource directories that people who are different consult to see if a place can accommodate their difference (i.e people who use wheelchairs), or who will be accepting of their difference (i.e. gay men and lesbians)

Christ is all about change. (I speak from my perspective as a lay member of a United Church in Ottawa Canada, First United) Many churches in Ottawa are too busy to deal with the present-day realities of just maintaining the church, let alone changing it. Change even in the best situations is also difficult. I know that and others with disabilities know that better then most. This is one of the many reasons why churches have no accessibility plans for the disabled, and even fewer still address the barriers facing others. They do their best when made aware of certain needs, but they often fail due to a lack of understanding of the social component of disability, and the time needed to study the issue.

On top of this many disabled/differently abled people who could use support and accommodation stay silent and will not make their needs known easily. This is due to fear, stigma, low incomes, isolation and not knowing about the social aspect of disability and how barriers creates disability. They also see the lack of existing accommodation or communication as a sign they are not wanted and that the church is not willing to accommodate them if asked. Senator Michael Kirby who chaired the Senate Committee that produced "Out of the Shadows at Last" a report that examined mental illness and addictions in Canada, says that the negative attitudes and stigma associated with people living with mental illness creates barriers that actually are more disabling then the actual illness.

While the Church needs disabled and people from diverse communities, those of us who have disabilities and are different need the Church to help change attitudes, through words and in acts to remove barriers in Church and in society at large.

What are barriers?Descriptions of the different types of barriers people face.

Disability Etiquette - Tips on interacting with people with disabilities. People Who Use Wheelchairs or Have Mobility Impairments, People Who Are Blind, People With Low Vision, People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, People With Speech Disabilities, Persons of Short Stature, People With Cerebral Palsy, Tourette Syndrome, People Who Look Different, Hidden Disabilities, Epilepsy (Seizure Disorders), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and Respiratory Disabilities, HIV & AIDS, Psychiatric Disabilities (Mental Illness Developmental Disabilities, People With Learning Disabilities., People With Traumatic (or Acquired) Brain Injury, and Service Animals.

Congregational Audit of Disability Accessibility - From Presbyterians (USA) for Disability Concerns. This is a great resource for helping identifying barriers. Of all the audits I have seen I find this the broadest as it covers a wider range of disability then others.

Information on Welcoming People with Developmental Disabilities into your Church

A Drama of Love: A Christian Educator's Guide to Creating Classes Where Everyone Belongs

Fighting Stigma and Discrimination in Society facing those with mental illness and addictions and suggestions for overcoming these barriers from the Kirby Report

We Need Your Help

In the first month after the launch of the web site we have already advised one rural congregation by providing information on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (AODA) and helped them develop a strategy to overcome a municipal regulation law that was preventing the church from removing barriers to people who use wheelchairs, and others with physical disabilities. All cities and public institutions in Ontario are now required under the AODA and theOntarians with Disability Act ODA to create an accessibility plan which requires them to identify barriers to people with accessibilities, I was able to point out that the plan in this municipality had not followed the AODA and ODA, by including regulations (as well as barriers to employment for all disabled person, among other types of barriers) in their accessibility plan. Hopefully they should be able to use this information to ask for an exemption to the regulation, which would increase the cost of the renovations and would make the project not affordable, and thus leaving a barrier in place. If this is not successful we will offer our help in assuring that the municipality either allows the renovation to go forward, or that the municipality does a better job and proceeds to quickly start and identify unnecessary regulations that prevent the removal of barriers by churches and others. The same municipality has also failed to look at barriers to employment as well as barriers to people with learning disabilities, neurological conditions, and people living with many illness. If the regulation that is blocking the removal of the barrier, can not be changed, then all regulation that block access will be brought to the attention of local disability activists, who will add it to the list in demonstrating the the municipality is not following the ODA and AODA. Either way I belief this web site has already contributed to the process of removing barriers and has had a success.

We do not however have the ability or skill set to do this in other provinces, and as well neither do we have the skill sets to do help churches with other problems they have around identifying and removing barriers, so we need as many people as possible to sign up and volunteer to help. Tell us what you can do, tell us what skills you have and would be pleased to use, and as well if you have experienced with any type of barriers and how you were or were not able to overcome them (or other people who face barriers to church), let us know. Also any and all ideas and suggestions are welcome. Our email is accessiblechurches@gmail.com.