5 steps to help Christian young people with additional needs once they hit 18

When young people with additional needs reach 18 church life can get tough - Lynn McCann thinks there are easy steps to take that help

When inclusion suddenly stops

A question appeared recently in the Additional Needs Alliance Facebook group:

“How do we accommodate an 18-year-old with additional needs who still fits best with the 8–11s group? Now he’s 18, leadership says it’s a safeguarding issue and he can’t stay.”

Inclusion isn’t a programme or a trend, it’s discipleship

It’s a question that reveals several worrying assumptions. First, that this young man suddenly became a safeguarding risk the moment he turned 18. Second, that he should now be able to cope in adult church services when nothing about his developmental needs has changed overnight. And third, that he has nothing to offer his church community.

Safeguarding is essential, but equating disability or developmental delay with risk is not safeguarding — it’s ableism. It shows how unprepared many churches are to support young people with additional needs once they age out of children’s ministry.

The inclusion journey so far

Many congregations are becoming more aware of children with additional needs. I hear from families who are joining churches where ……