Learn about inclusion and accessibility, and the importance of providing captions or sign language interpreters. Discover ways to promote the rights of deaf people and access to education and technologies. Understand that deaf and hard of hearing individuals are just as capable and able.

In honor Deaf Awareness Month may you consider all the many blessings and gifts that we receive from the deaf community and be mindful of deaf inclusion in your congregation and all spaces every day of the year.

The ADA is a civil rights law that provides broad, legal protections for disabled Americans. Signed by president George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, it was the culmination of decades of steadfast advocacy by thousands of disabled activists, including leaders like Judy Heumann and Brad Lomax.

The seventh in our Skill Up series was a BIPOC panel with Rev. Marisol Caballero, Ayanna Kafi, and Mackenzie MacDade in June 2023. The webinar explored the intersectionality of being BIPOC and neurodivergent. Both of these identities require navigating systems that were not meant for them....

Treating zoom participants equitably and caringly in multiplatform worship is an expression of love and justice that can transform the community. Includes discussion questions for a self-led workshop.

Read and suscribe to UPLIFT Action, our newsletter uplifting accessibility in and beyond Unitarian Universalism.

UPLIFT Access blog is for “Uplifting Accessibility In and Beyond Unitarian Universalism.” UPLIFT Access is a platform for the UUA to highlight LGBTQ accessibility and disability justice featuring related programming, reflections, and content circulated in our quarterly email newsletter.

In March of 2023 we were joined by Mackenzie McDade who shared her experience of ADHD as a person and Religious Educator. This presentation will highlighted the assumptions that people make about ADHD and how those assumptions prevent us from providing meaningful lifelong ministry to those with...

We welcomed Rev. Leela Sinha (ze/zim/zir) to share about zir Sinha Intensive/Expansive Framework to describe a variety of ways people’s brains, energy patterns, and work and play styles differ. Ze uses this framework in coaching individuals and teams in embracing their strengths and...

This panel presentation focused on supporting neurodivergent children and youth. Tie Resendiz, Rev. Sierra-Marie Gerfao, April Rosario, and Meredith Plummer joined us. Between them they have extensive experience across many kinds of neurodivergence and decades of experience with...

Meredith Plummer's presentation is titled "Trapdoors and Treasures: The Undiagnosed Autistic in Congregational Leadership." She has served as the Director of Lifespan Faith Development at the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati since 2009. Please find the talk and Q&A session...

Dr. Ramon Selove discusses his experience in congregational life, with direct applications for neurodiversity inclusion.

In our first interview with Heather Petit we talked about everything from a definition of neurodivergence, models of disability, communication, and much more.

A memorandum of understanding building on the historic partnership between EqUUal Access and the UUA ensures more resources and staff to address ableism within Unitarian Universalism and to support equity in the engagement of disabled people in society as a whole.

Disability advocates remind us that multiplatform worship in real time, with the chance for some interaction, creates a meaningful experience for those participating online.

The five of us have all known for some time that we, collectively, need to learn how to do a better job welcoming and fully including neurodivergent people in our congregations. As UUA and UUMA staff, we haven’t known how to do this or how we should help.

Links to EqUUal Access resources to help make your congregation accessible to people with disabilities.

Between 2022 and the 2023, the The Unitarian Universalist Association and Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association presented a series of events and learning on neurodivergence for religious professionals; this series drew on the experiences of neurodivergent folx and fostered conversation...

I was tremendously grateful to learn more recently about the vigils that now mark March 1 as a Disability Day of Mourning.  This is a great way for the people who understand the horrors of this most clearly to gather and to share collective strength and grief.

As we mourn the disabled lives lost to caregiver and family-member violence, may we attend to the lives of those we don't yet understand.