Dennis Hall likes to say he's like any other member of the Church. He has the scriptures right at his fingertips. Except he gets a good chuckle out of the "fingertips" part. For Brother Hall, reading his scriptures for this year's Sunday School course of study literally means running his fingertips over the Church's braille version of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Photo by Scott G. Winterton

Dennis Hall of the Rose Park 6th Ward, Rose Park Utah North Stake, reads his braille version of the Doctrine and Covenants. He receives a Special Curriculum catalog every year.

"I can read the scriptures like everybody else," Brother Hall of the Rose Park 6th Ward, Rose Park Utah North Stake, told the Church News. He also prepares to visit his home teaching families by reading the monthly First Presidency message, and he studies his Sunday School lessons weekly by lightly running his fingertips over the raised marks in the Church's braille Sunday School study guide.

Having been blind essentially his entire life, he is as familiar with braille as others are familiar with the printed word. And he makes sure he has access to any other materials the Church provides for the blind. "In fact, I've got a catalog of the materials available. I get one every year. It lists the scriptures available to go with our Sunday School class. I've got Our Heritage [Church history book]. If a person is blind and wants to get involved, there's no reason not to. Everything is available just the same as for anybody else."

The same is true for Church members who have any one or a number of disabilities. The special curriculum division of the Church's Curriculum Department offers members braille and/or audio materials of scriptures, priesthood and auxiliary manuals, family history information, hymn books, Church literature, even the Church's Handbook of Instructions. For members who are hearing-impaired, there are scriptures and other materials on video in American Sign Language. In addition, all Church videos and satellite broadcasts are provided with closed captioning. There are suggested materials for members with developmental disabilities. (Please see accompanying box for a sample of Church materials for members with disabilities, and how to get catalogs or more information.)

For 17 years now, Doug Hind has been manager of special curriculum/members with disabilities in the Church's Curriculum Department. It's much more than a job to Brother Hind, whose parents are deaf. Hanging on his office wall on the 24th floor of the Church Office Building is a sign: "All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement." He lives by these words from the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Members with disabilities, he said, "need materials in a format they can learn from. Every ward has several people within it who have some form of disability, especially hidden disabilities like learning disabilities. Those types of disabilities people don't realize or understand."

This understanding develops, he said, as parents and others work with teachers and priesthood leaders and help them become aware of the needs and what the Church has to offer. "It's one of those things that if we learned more about a disability, it makes it possible to help that person with the disability. If we shy away from it or do not make the effort to learn about that disability, we are unable to help that person."

He said many leaders and even members with the disabilities are unaware of Church special curriculum. "People will call and they're surprised that the Ensign is on audio for the visually impaired. More information can be disseminated and more leaders can be more aware that there are materials to assist those with disabilities."

Once you have access to these materials, the next step is to listen to the Spirit in adapting them to your needs, said Debbie Fredrickson, special needs coordinator for the Huntsville Alabama Stake. "The Church is unable to come out with curriculum that can meet every special need of individuals in the Church. It would be impossible. What we have to do is take the materials we have and look at the individual needs and learn how to work with and teach the individual."

For example, Sister Fredrickson teaches a Sunday School for members with developmental disabilities in the Decatur (Ala.) Ward. She takes the scripture readers and uses cutouts to teach basic concepts and to tell scripture stories. She ensures her students have copies of the large-print LDS scriptures. Every week, the students mark the verses that coincide with the lesson. "They felt like they were reading their scriptures like everybody else. In a sense, they had gone through the whole book," she added, speaking of last year's Book of Mormon studies.

She has seen other successes in adapting curriculum to special needs. A friend in her ward, Michele Grisham, has two children with disabilities. "She has used the Church's reading program to teach her disabled children to read. She shared with me how she has searched and tried different reading programs, but when she came upon this program she felt it was truly inspired."

Sister Fredrickson emphasized: "By following the Spirit, the Lord will teach you how to adapt the Church curriculum to individuals."