Autism Creed Series Calls for More Special Needs Workshops

The first ever Autism Creed Series: develop, deploy, deliver, sponsored by our Special Needs Ministry on April 5, drew more than 50 children's pastors, ministry leaders, teachers, parents and volunteers from as far as Norman, Okla., and Midland.

Jessica Baldridge, Director of the Special Needs Ministry at Prestonwood, equipped 53 ministry leaders with immediate tools to reach out and embrace families affected by autism.

Jessica, who holds a Master's Degree in Special Education and a graduate certificate in Autism Intervention, emphasized the "PAIILS" strategy: Person-centered, Age appropriate, Integrated, Individualized biblical teaching, Low student/teacher ratio and Structured and predictable routine."

As a mother of an adult son with autism, Jessica understands the plight of parents affected by autism. With 90 percent of these families unchurched, Jessica armed the ministry leaders with ways to reach out and provide meaningful classes through sessions on "Autism 101: The Many Faces of Autism," "Effective Autism Program," and "ABCs of Behavior."

Future workshops are in the planning stages, and may include a special needs curriculum, hands-on methods for dealing with specific situations, helping parents cope and accept reality, teacher/parent panels and roundtable discussions of churches with similar ministries. For more information, click here.

The Autism Creed: To equip church leadership to confidently teach the Word of God to all persons, believing that all can learn in spite of differing abilities such as autism and other special needs, therefore significantly improving their lives