More details

I said in my first post I'd let you have some more details about what I'm doing to achieve the purpose of the sabbatical. It happens that the first half will be concerned with people with learning disabilities and people with dementia. The second half will be to do with physical disabilities. That will involve visiting at least one church which has made major changes to its building with the aim of improving access; some reading; and reflection on what I have experienced and observed over the years.

In the first half I'm going to be spending time with people and local groups of Prospects. From their website http://www.prospects.org.uk/: Prospects is a dynamic Christian organisation working together with people with learning disabilities so they live life to the full. The plan is to visit a number of local groups, observe and talk to people. I'm especially interested in issues concerned with worship, communication, and spirituality.

Similarly, I have just started a book which I hope will enable me to explore similar issues in relation to people with dementia. The full title is "Between remembering and forgetting. The spiritual dimensions of dementia". The book is a collection of related essays edited by Canon James Woodward. A short comment in the Introduction will, I hope, give a picture of what is to come: 

The problem is not simply a malfunction in the person's brain, but a malfunction in the philosophy and understanding of society's understanding of personhood.

Hooray to that.

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