Episode 124: With Laura Wifler: People with Disabilities: Seeing What’s Different, Seeing What’s the Same

All Things

The conversation surrounding disabilities and people with disabilities is evolving and confusing in the West. On the one hand, we see record numbers of abortions due to parents being afraid or unwilling to bring a child with disabilities into the world. For example 67% of children who *may* have down syndrome are aborted in the United States. On the other hand, conversations about inclusion and access are at an all time high. Do we as a culture value and want to include people with disabilities or are we more eager to end their lives and exclude them from our narratives?

This is a complex conversation and I’m so glad my friend and author Laura Wifler joined me for it. Laura is known for her role at Risen Motherhood, which she founded along with her sister-in-law Emily Jensen, as well as their book and podcast by the same name. Most recently, though, Laura wrote a children’s book called “Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person.”

As a culture, and even as Christian churches and individual followers of Jesus, it seems we are wrestling with whether we are an inclusive or exclusive people. Do we embrace difference or reject it? Do we truly value people with disabilities or do we see serving them as a good deed to accomplish?

Laura helps us to think through all of this, as well as God’s sovereignty, his goodness in the way he makes each person, what it’s like to receive a disability diagnosis as a parent, how to genuinely care for families that include members with disabilities, how to take life one day at a time, what’s waiting for us in heaven, and more. We even discuss whether we should be saying “person with special needs” or “person with disabilities.”

This is a rich conversation including personal stories colliding with cultural trends. I hope you’ll listen and share it with others.

Resources:

Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person by Laura Wifler: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736985758/like-me

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736976220/risen-motherhood-hardback

You can keep in touch with Laura here: https://laurawifler.com/

Heaven by Randy Alcorn: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780842379427/heaven-hardback