Special Needs Advocacy, Grief, and Faith

by JoleneApr 4, 2013Grief, Spiritual Support2 comments

Advocacy, grief, and faith are topics parents of kids with special needs grapple with every day. Recently, Gloria Perez-Stewart of GPS Advocacy (now GPS Law) and I talked about those topics, and more, for her BlogTalk Radio series. (Other legal topics relating to special needs are discussed on the GPS Law Blog.)

Meet Gloria Perez-Stewart

Gloria is the mother of a child with special needs and a special education advocate. Gloria Perez-Stewart works with attorneys in several states on special ed and disability cases and has presented at many conferences on disability and community organizing. She hosted a weekly radio show in Austin, Texas for a decade before moving to web and podcasts to be available for audiences nationwide.

Advocacy, Grief, Faith and Special Needs

Our conversation was wide-ranging, based on topics dealt with in depth in A Different Dream for My Child and Different Dream Parenting. We planned to discuss advocacy and grief, but Gloria was very curious about the spiritual aspects of both books. Though her agency is not faith-based, she said many of the parents she works with have spiritual questions, and she has a hard time finding resources that address those issues. She was also curious about the special needs ministry movement, as she’s had personal experience with churches that didn’t welcome her son because they didn’t know how to meet his needs.

GPS Advocacy Podcast

The half-hour interview is available at this GPS Advocacy BlogTalk Radio link. At the same page, you’ll find a link to download the podcast. So have a listen if you like.

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By Jolene

Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregiving community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and Amazon. See Jane Sing!, the second book in the West River cozy mystery series, which features characters affected by disability, was released in November of 2022.

2 Comments

Jolene on April 7, 2013 at 12:08 pm

Ruth,

Thanks for listening to it and for leaving a comment. Gloria’s words show the need for special needs ministry, don’t they?

Jolene
Ruth Stieff on April 6, 2013 at 2:37 pm

Jolene:
This was a very excitin blog post. I love it when the greater special needs community intersects with the Church.