Wednesday, July 13, 2016: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
Studio 6 (New Orleans Marriott)
Pre-Conference Community Training - Autism Society Inclusive Faith Initiative
(FREE- for Faith Leaders)
Join internationally-known experts Elaine Hall and Shelly Christensen as they take you on an empowering journey that will give you the tools to engage people with autism and other disabilities and those who love them in all the activities your faith community provides.
Recently invited by the White House to join a discussion on Disability and Inclusion, Elaine and Shelly are eager to share their cutting edge methodologies.
You don’t want to miss the opportunity to learn from them, both mothers of adult sons on the autism spectrum, and innovators in the field of faith community inclusion. This session is geared toward individuals with autism, family members, and clergy, educators, professionals and lay leaders in faith-based organizations. You will learn a new and highly successful approach to inclusion that focuses on developing your skills as a leader and on organizational strategies that engage, include and celebrate the diversity of all members.
Shelly and Elaine’s work as both individual practitioners and now as collaborators brings experience and insights along with innovative practices that promote belonging and contribution to your community. They are excited to share their work with you and to support your faith community’s journey.
Track: Public Policy/Advocacy
Content Area: Long Term Services and Support
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.
