October 24, 2025 • 11 mins
We share how a simple hello can open doors for people with disabilities and how respect, kindness, and assuming competence reshape church culture. We outline training, practical first steps, and a Gospel-centered vision for true belonging.
• the top question: how to interact with people with disabilities
• start with hello as a practical, human first step
• reading cues and adjusting communication with care
• Alyssa’s guidance: respect, kindness, and asking preferences
• moving from stereotypes to person-to-person treatment
• assuming competence and creating pathways to serve
• image of God, fellowship, and Gospel accessibility
• concrete ideas for greeters, spaces, and service design
For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books, The Indispensable Kids and Gospel Accessibility and Indispensable People
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hi, my name is Tracy Coral and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor, and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in him, and servehim with the gifts that he is
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans have adisability.
(00:24):
That's 25% of the population.
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics, biblical foundations,
perceptions, and world-changingideas.
(00:49):
Hey, hey, and welcome to thisepisode of Indispensable People.
These next few episodes, we'regoing to be tackling some
questions.
Hard questions, easy questions,everyday questions, somewhat
seemingly confusing questions,reasonable questions.
And for some, it's going to seemlike, well, that's a little
(01:14):
common sense, I think, but it'sa whole mixed bag.
And here's the deal (01:18):
there truly is no wrong question.
Because if you're askingquestions, that means that you
are trying to improve, you'retrying to grow, you're trying to
figure things out, you're tryingto put answers to problems or
finding solutions to making yourchurch accessible, more open,
(01:40):
more welcoming to individualswith disabilities.
And so there truly is not a badquestion.
And likely, if one person askedit, more and more have the same
question.
So we, when I say we is the teamwhere I live that works in the
disability ministry, and when Isay works, they volunteer as a
(02:04):
part of serving at my localchurch.
And I have shared before that Iserve with a national ministry.
And one of the biggest thingsthat I get to do is trainings.
And so every year we put on afree training in Youngstown,
Ohio at my home church.
And we make sure that churchesfrom anywhere and a part of
(02:28):
anything, and volunteers arethat are interested in any way
in serving individuals withdisabilities that they can
attend this.
That's why we do it for free.
That's why there is minimalrequirements for anyone to
attend.
And when I say requirements toattend, you sign up, you come,
and we get to talk to you aboutsome of the most incredible
(02:50):
people in the world.
And so one of the things that wedo when we do this training is a
part of the registration, we askpeople to indicate a question
that they have about people withdisabilities or about disability
ministry in general or howchurches can interact, all kinds
(03:11):
of different things.
And so we have compiled a facts,questions, and answers sheet and
we share it every year as a partof the training.
And we have a team of people, apanel that answers these
questions.
And one of our most fun thingsto do is to sit around a table
(03:33):
and ask these questions ofourselves and then discuss them
as a team so that we can gauge,you know, where people are, what
they're thinking, what are theirbiggest concerns, all of those
different kinds of things.
And so that's what we're gonnado on the next couple of weeks
of the podcast.
We are going to jump into thesequestions and really look into
(03:59):
what does scripture say?
What is the world telling us?
How do we approach these things?
What are some just permissionsthat you need as you engage this
population of people?
And so the number one question,the number one question across
the board has been, so this isthe most frequently asked
(04:23):
question, how do you interactwith people with special needs?
And there is another disabilityministry out there, and I
absolutely love their sloganbecause it's as simple as start
with hello.
That is that is that disabilityministry.
That is their encouragement.
Because here's what here's whatyou need to know.
(04:45):
They're the vast diagnoses thatexist, okay?
You will never be able to knowsomeone immediately without
speaking to them or understandtheir disability, their
communication needs, those kindsof things without a start,
(05:07):
right?
And we don't know what thatstart's gonna look like because
we don't know them.
But here's the thing start theconversation.
If you start with hello, you'regoing to be able to gauge that
person's interaction and then beable to respond accordingly.
It may not be right, it may bewrong.
(05:30):
Maybe when you say hello tosomeone and they can't say hello
back.
So your initial might be Do theydid they hear me?
Do they understand?
Do they know?
Maybe they use a communicationdevice.
Maybe they use ASL, AmericanSign Language.
Maybe they like to use picturesto communicate, or maybe they
(05:55):
use gestures.
So there are all different kindsof waves, but it has to start
somewhere.
Okay.
And when you meet any person,doesn't matter who they are,
disability or not, when youfirst meet them and you begin to
talk to them, you start toadjust your interaction based on
(06:16):
their response, right?
If you walked up to someone andthey then you said hello and
then they backed off, you'regonna make a few assumptions.
Maybe they need more personalspace.
Maybe you forgot to take ashower this morning.
Maybe you took them by surprise,right?
(06:36):
So you might give them a littlebit more space, readjust how
you're talking.
Maybe you realize, oh, my level,my voice level was too high.
All different kinds of things.
We make adjustments based onwhat we notice from that person.
You do that in your everydayinteractions, and it's no
different when speaking tosomeone with a disability.
(06:57):
You're going to engage thatstart with hello, and you're
going to see how that personreacts or interacts with you.
And then you can continue basedon that.
And again, you might not get itright.
You might have to take some timeto get to know that person.
(07:19):
And one of my friends, her nameis Alyssa.
Alyssa is diagnosed with autism.
She has epilepsy, a multitude ofher mom says they should write a
book about her because a lot ofthe things that she's dealt with
health-wise have been medicalmysteries.
And I asked her and her mom tosit down with me one day.
(07:41):
And I said to them, you know,when you first meet someone, how
do you want them to interactwith you?
How do you want them to talk toyou?
And Alyssa said, number one,like obviously she wants people
to reach out to her.
She doesn't want to be ignored,but also she said that respect
(08:03):
and kindness was the number onethings that were important to
her.
And she also suggested that asyou get to know that person,
that you ask them how they wantto be treated.
There are lots of disabilityetiquette things that exist.
There are all kinds of differentthings that we can tell you, but
(08:27):
each person is absolutelydifferent.
And what is offensive to one isnot offensive to another and
actually might be endearing orenjoyed.
And so we have to be reallycautious in kind of giving that
stereotypical treatment.
We want to give person-to-persontreatment.
(08:47):
We want to respect them, likeAlyssa said, treat them with
kindness.
Obviously, we want to interact.
And so just go for it, right?
Don't be afraid of it.
Be a part of someone else'slife.
Take a chance, step out of yourcomfort zone and step into their
(09:09):
world and get to know thembecause that's really going to
be your number one thing.
And remembering what Alyssasaid, respect, kindness, and ask
them how they want to betreated.
All of those things are key.
And you can all almost alwaysguarantee that when you have
(09:30):
respect for someone else and youmaintain their dignity and the
way you speak to them and theway that you interact with them
and your expectations.
Another way of saying that isassuming competence.
Oftentimes we just assume thatcertain people with disabilities
can't or won't or don't knowhow, but we always want to
(09:54):
assume competence and umapproach from that area.
Also considering each person ismade in the image of God.
They are created, designed,purposed by God.
And we were made for fellowship.
So when we approach and engage,we create a welcoming,
(10:16):
inclusive, accessibleenvironment, not only to our
church buildings, but to a Godwho created them, loves them.
And they need to know that justas much as you and I.
Not because it's a frou fru nicething to do, but because their
salvation may be something thathasn't been secured.
(10:40):
And we want to be able topresent the gospel to every
person, making the gospelaccessible through starting with
hello.
I've absolutely not.
But we are going to continuethis conversation so that people
(11:04):
of all abilities can have theopportunity to know Christ, grow
in him, and serve him with thegifts that he has given them.
For deeper dives into thesetopics and more, check out
indispensablepeople.com andvisit Amazon to purchase the
books, The Indispensable Kidsand Gospel Accessibility and the
(11:26):
Indispensable People.
Hi, my name is Tracy Coral and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor, and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in him, and servehim with the gifts that he is
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans have adisability.
(00:24):
That's 25% of the population.
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics, biblical foundations,
perceptions, and world-changingideas.
(00:49):
Hey, hey, and welcome to thisepisode of Indispensable People.
These next few episodes, we'regoing to be tackling some
questions.
Hard questions, easy questions,everyday questions, somewhat
seemingly confusing questions,reasonable questions.
And for some, it's going to seemlike, well, that's a little
(01:14):
common sense, I think, but it'sa whole mixed bag.
And here's the deal (01:18):
there truly is no wrong question.
Because if you're askingquestions, that means that you
are trying to improve, you'retrying to grow, you're trying to
figure things out, you're tryingto put answers to problems or
finding solutions to making yourchurch accessible, more open,
(01:40):
more welcoming to individualswith disabilities.
And so there truly is not a badquestion.
And likely, if one person askedit, more and more have the same
question.
So we, when I say we is the teamwhere I live that works in the
disability ministry, and when Isay works, they volunteer as a
(02:04):
part of serving at my localchurch.
And I have shared before that Iserve with a national ministry.
And one of the biggest thingsthat I get to do is trainings.
And so every year we put on afree training in Youngstown,
Ohio at my home church.
And we make sure that churchesfrom anywhere and a part of
(02:28):
anything, and volunteers arethat are interested in any way
in serving individuals withdisabilities that they can
attend this.
That's why we do it for free.
That's why there is minimalrequirements for anyone to
attend.
And when I say requirements toattend, you sign up, you come,
and we get to talk to you aboutsome of the most incredible
(02:50):
people in the world.
And so one of the things that wedo when we do this training is a
part of the registration, we askpeople to indicate a question
that they have about people withdisabilities or about disability
ministry in general or howchurches can interact, all kinds
(03:11):
of different things.
And so we have compiled a facts,questions, and answers sheet and
we share it every year as a partof the training.
And we have a team of people, apanel that answers these
questions.
And one of our most fun thingsto do is to sit around a table
(03:33):
and ask these questions ofourselves and then discuss them
as a team so that we can gauge,you know, where people are, what
they're thinking, what are theirbiggest concerns, all of those
different kinds of things.
And so that's what we're gonnado on the next couple of weeks
of the podcast.
We are going to jump into thesequestions and really look into
(03:59):
what does scripture say?
What is the world telling us?
How do we approach these things?
What are some just permissionsthat you need as you engage this
population of people?
And so the number one question,the number one question across
the board has been, so this isthe most frequently asked
(04:23):
question, how do you interactwith people with special needs?
And there is another disabilityministry out there, and I
absolutely love their sloganbecause it's as simple as start
with hello.
That is that is that disabilityministry.
That is their encouragement.
Because here's what here's whatyou need to know.
(04:45):
They're the vast diagnoses thatexist, okay?
You will never be able to knowsomeone immediately without
speaking to them or understandtheir disability, their
communication needs, those kindsof things without a start,
(05:07):
right?
And we don't know what thatstart's gonna look like because
we don't know them.
But here's the thing start theconversation.
If you start with hello, you'regoing to be able to gauge that
person's interaction and then beable to respond accordingly.
It may not be right, it may bewrong.
(05:30):
Maybe when you say hello tosomeone and they can't say hello
back.
So your initial might be Do theydid they hear me?
Do they understand?
Do they know?
Maybe they use a communicationdevice.
Maybe they use ASL, AmericanSign Language.
Maybe they like to use picturesto communicate, or maybe they
(05:55):
use gestures.
So there are all different kindsof waves, but it has to start
somewhere.
Okay.
And when you meet any person,doesn't matter who they are,
disability or not, when youfirst meet them and you begin to
talk to them, you start toadjust your interaction based on
(06:16):
their response, right?
If you walked up to someone andthey then you said hello and
then they backed off, you'regonna make a few assumptions.
Maybe they need more personalspace.
Maybe you forgot to take ashower this morning.
Maybe you took them by surprise,right?
(06:36):
So you might give them a littlebit more space, readjust how
you're talking.
Maybe you realize, oh, my level,my voice level was too high.
All different kinds of things.
We make adjustments based onwhat we notice from that person.
You do that in your everydayinteractions, and it's no
different when speaking tosomeone with a disability.
(06:57):
You're going to engage thatstart with hello, and you're
going to see how that personreacts or interacts with you.
And then you can continue basedon that.
And again, you might not get itright.
You might have to take some timeto get to know that person.
(07:19):
And one of my friends, her nameis Alyssa.
Alyssa is diagnosed with autism.
She has epilepsy, a multitude ofher mom says they should write a
book about her because a lot ofthe things that she's dealt with
health-wise have been medicalmysteries.
And I asked her and her mom tosit down with me one day.
(07:41):
And I said to them, you know,when you first meet someone, how
do you want them to interactwith you?
How do you want them to talk toyou?
And Alyssa said, number one,like obviously she wants people
to reach out to her.
She doesn't want to be ignored,but also she said that respect
(08:03):
and kindness was the number onethings that were important to
her.
And she also suggested that asyou get to know that person,
that you ask them how they wantto be treated.
There are lots of disabilityetiquette things that exist.
There are all kinds of differentthings that we can tell you, but
(08:27):
each person is absolutelydifferent.
And what is offensive to one isnot offensive to another and
actually might be endearing orenjoyed.
And so we have to be reallycautious in kind of giving that
stereotypical treatment.
We want to give person-to-persontreatment.
(08:47):
We want to respect them, likeAlyssa said, treat them with
kindness.
Obviously, we want to interact.
And so just go for it, right?
Don't be afraid of it.
Be a part of someone else'slife.
Take a chance, step out of yourcomfort zone and step into their
(09:09):
world and get to know thembecause that's really going to
be your number one thing.
And remembering what Alyssasaid, respect, kindness, and ask
them how they want to betreated.
All of those things are key.
And you can all almost alwaysguarantee that when you have
(09:30):
respect for someone else and youmaintain their dignity and the
way you speak to them and theway that you interact with them
and your expectations.
Another way of saying that isassuming competence.
Oftentimes we just assume thatcertain people with disabilities
can't or won't or don't knowhow, but we always want to
(09:54):
assume competence and umapproach from that area.
Also considering each person ismade in the image of God.
They are created, designed,purposed by God.
And we were made for fellowship.
So when we approach and engage,we create a welcoming,
(10:16):
inclusive, accessibleenvironment, not only to our
church buildings, but to a Godwho created them, loves them.
And they need to know that justas much as you and I.
Not because it's a frou fru nicething to do, but because their
salvation may be something thathasn't been secured.
(10:40):
And we want to be able topresent the gospel to every
person, making the gospelaccessible through starting with
hello.
I've absolutely not.
But we are going to continuethis conversation so that people
(11:04):
of all abilities can have theopportunity to know Christ, grow
in him, and serve him with thegifts that he has given them.
For deeper dives into thesetopics and more, check out
indispensablepeople.com andvisit Amazon to purchase the
books, The Indispensable Kidsand Gospel Accessibility and the
(11:26):
Indispensable People.
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