Friday, July 15, 2016: 3:00 PM-4:15 PM
Studio 6 (New Orleans Marriott)
This interactive discussion will examine why inclusion initiatives, programs and committees are not enough to engage and support meaningful participation in a faith community. Shelly and Elaine will lead this session on how to create permanent internal changes in your faith community that will naturally lead to a place where we all belong.
Track: Lifespan 4 - Adulthood
Content Area: Self-Determination and Independence
Presenters:
Shelly Christensen, MA
Executive Director, Inclusion Innovations
Shelly Christensen, MA literally wrote the book on inclusion of people with disabilities, the Jewish Community Guide to Inclusion of People with Disabilities. Her award-winning work as Program Manager of the Minneapolis Jewish Community Inclusion Program for People with Disabilities at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis led her to co-found Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month with the Jewish Special Education Consortium. She is co-founder and faculty of the Jewish Leadership Institute on Disabilities and Inclusion funded by the Ruderman Family Foundation and is the Inclusion Specialist of the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative. Shelly is a renown expert on faith community inclusion, working with interfaith initiatives, as well as with community and congregational efforts. She is the Immediate Past President of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Religion and Spirituality Division and was recently awarded Fellow status.
Elaine Hall
Speaker, Coach, Founder, Creative Director The Miracle Project
The Miracle Project
International Workshop leader and Keynote Speaker; Media Personality; Pioneer in the field of Inclusion, Autism and the Arts; Consultant to and featured speaker at The United Nations; Created the groundbreaking program Inclusion from WithIn (I Win) for faith-based communities; Founder of The Miracle Project featured in the HBO film Autism: The Musical.
The United Nations selected her memoir, "Now I See the Moon" for World Autism Awareness Day. Her text book "Seven Keys to Unlock Autism" is used in universities across the US including Brown University.
