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mom3aut1not
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| Posted: Oct 15 2008 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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I'm hoping that my little guy will be able to receive Communion in the next year. Right now I am trying to do some brainstorming about preparing him. Right now he is enjoying the first book in the Learning My Religion series and selections from Catholic Mosaic. I guess I am thinking about a lapbook, but most lapbooks for FHC are probably too advanced for him. So now I am thinking about what we could do. Anyone have recommendations for a severely disabled child? (My older ASD kids were much more advanced in their language skills by this point.)
In Christ,
Deborah
a lapbook newbie
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tntreefarm
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Hi Deborah,
I have an almost 18 year old son who has Down Syndrome. We felt he was rather clueless about it all when he was 8, and waited until he started asking about receiving. The priest felt that if he was asking to receive that he should be allowed to recieve. Confession was not required in the "strictest" sense. Only speaking to the priest about reconcilliation was needed. Apparently reconcilliation requirements vary with dioceses. The decision to his readiness was left to us- possibly because we were so concerned that he needed to have some idea of what was happening.
My husband and I finally wrote our own little book with illustrations from a 4-5 year old series - I think it was "Image of God". It was probably more like a social story. It laid out what we felt was the most basic 'need to know' in short phrases/sentences (3-4 words worked best for him at that point).
Hope this was helpful. You can ask me further questions if you like.
Cathy
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mom3aut1not
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Cathy,
Thanks for your response. Joseph has been really interested in God recently and has told me when asked that when the priest say "This is My body," the little white circles becomes Jesus. His religion primer is one of his favorite school things. I will think on this some more. How much does desire factor in? How accurately can I discern his desire? Does he realize that he can in fact receive Jesus? I need to ask him when he is not tootling around the room at high speed while mentally absorbed in an incomprehensible (to us) story of his own making (with lots of sound effects).
As for reconciliation, the requirement for First Reconciliation before FHC is not applicable; people with special needs are "the" exception as some will never reach an understanding of sin but want to receive Jesus. (One of my older ASD children had a delayed First Reconciliation because she wanted Jesus but did not understand sin. The other older ASD child had things in the traditional order.)
I like the idea of a little book. Hhhmmm. He likes to draw. I might have him illustrate it. Thanks!
In Christ,
Deborah
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Willa
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I'm bumping up this thread from last year.
My 10 year old son functions as a 6 year old. I want to prepare him for First Holy Communion in the next year or so. He is a very concrete thinker, has a good verbal memory, but does not grasp abstract concepts very well. Any ideas on making the Real Presence real to him? What do you think is most essential for him to grasp fully?
As with Deborah's son, my child will not be able to make a true confession at least for a few more years. I would, however, like to introduce him to some of the basic ideas of moral responsibility.
I'm not very good at this type of thing even with my TDKs. Any help would be appreciated!
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Willa
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Here are some past threads on the subject:
Sacraments
CHC 2nd grade religion
Putting them in for the sake of having an easy source for future questions!
Now taking off my mod hat and putting the newbie special needs mom one back on 
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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hylabrook1
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I was an Atrium catechist the year we had a boy with Down syndrome make his FHC. We gave him the presentations on the Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd; I think most of his responses were agreeing with what the other children said about what they thought. But, you never know what a child really understands, especially with God's grace. We knew he *got it* when he pantomimed the gestures of the priest and of himself receiving, made the sign of the cross and said, "Jesus". His first reconciliation went well, also, with our pastor talking with him briefly face to face, not following the usual formula for confession, concluding with the idea that the child understood he sometimes does things he shouldn't, a general conversation about what those kinds of things might be, that he was sorry and would try to do better, followed by absolution. (Of course I don't know the particulars of what was said, but was given to understand that this was the gist of it). According to our pastor, this was a licit sacramental confession for a person with special needs such as this little boy's. It was a real act of faith and of accepting God's mercy to go ahead with the sacraments without really being able to measure what exactly this little boy had absorbed, but we all had such a sense of peace that it was all right with God. It was really a beautiful experience for everyone who took part.
Peace,
Nancy
ETA: This boy was almost 9 at the time
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Taffy
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I wish I'd caught this thread earlier!
What I did with my ASD son who has a lot of difficulty with language is make a First Communion book with him. Our parish has everyone do their FHC prep at home with an assigned text. I basically re-wrote the text in terms that my son would understand. We also did some activities to show comprehension such as SIMPLE narrations and drawings. My main emphasis was on understanding who Jesus is and what the holy bread and wine truly are. Interestingly, I needn't have worried, our priest wasn't at all. It seems that, in the case of those with special needs, the church will give the benefit of the doubt and pray that grace will be bestowed through communion even without understanding of what it represents.
As for first Reconciliation, my son did do this but it was face-to-face with our priest and I'm pretty sure that it was very simplified, similar to what Nancy describes. Of course, I don't know this for sure but our priest told me he did fine.
I do wonder about how much he comprehends about it all, especially as he's not always very reverent when he receives. I can be reminding him as we walk up to receive communion and he will have his hands in front and ready to receive but as soon as he arrives he seems to forget everything. He's very definite about wanting to receive and has been making a HUGE effort to participate in the Mass which at times is very difficult for him due to his sensory issues. I can only attribute this to the grace he receives at communion.
As for bestowing a sense of moral responsibility, this is a lot harder. In essence, you're teaching this everyday by teaching him proper behaviour. But, it may be a very long time before he understands the why's of moral and responsible behaviour. I always insist that my kids apologize for bad behaviour at home and this seems to have taught moral responsibility on the basic level. Exaggerating how hurt or offended you are by poor actions may help?
Oh well, I'm having a harder time expressing myself so I'll leave it there. Good luck with your son's FHC prep, Willa, and don't forget to keep praying. I sometimes forget that praying together is the best preparation of all. 
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Susan
Mom to 5 on earth and 1 in heaven
Susan's Soliloquy
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mom3aut1not
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Susan,
I am planning to make a FHC notebook -- an extended project -- this fall. I plan to work on it once a week in the beginning and more often in December. Ideas I am mulling around.....
Picture of "Hidden Jesus" (My son spontaneously drew the cutest picture of Jesus hiding behind a beam while holding a chalice last year)
Picture of Chalice and Host -- crafty if possible
Page about patron saint
Page about the Last Supper with emphasis on it as the first Mass and first FHC
Page about the Trinity
Page about Christmas because his FHC will be right around Christmas
more if I can think of something. I'm using some materials from Nippert Artworks, but I haven't gotten them yet.
He is also making a Mass poster from Jody's Hands On Learning and will make a banner from Illuminated Ink.
In Christ,
Deborah
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guitarnan
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One thing my daughter did during her FHC prep was to paint a simple wooden cross (from Michael's) to hang on her wall. It's just a nice light blue - no fancy stuff. She treasures it. I know they still sell these crosses because dd points them out practically every time we hit Michael's!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Taffy
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| Posted: Aug 11 2009 at 9:25pm | IP Logged
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mom3aut1not wrote:
I am planning to make a FHC notebook -- an extended project -- this fall. I plan to work on it once a week in the beginning and more often in December. Ideas I am mulling around.....
Picture of "Hidden Jesus" (My son spontaneously drew the cutest picture of Jesus hiding behind a beam while holding a chalice last year)
Picture of Chalice and Host -- crafty if possible
Page about patron saint
Page about the Last Supper with emphasis on it as the first Mass and first FHC
Page about the Trinity
Page about Christmas because his FHC will be right around Christmas
more if I can think of something. I'm using some materials from Nippert Artworks, but I haven't gotten them yet.
He is also making a Mass poster from Jody's Hands On Learning and will make a banner from Illuminated Ink.
In Christ,
Deborah
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Sounds awesome! Your post brought me down memory lane as I went to review LB's FHC notebook. I wish I'd had some of your ideas at that time! Of course, I may not have gotten them done anyway...
Anyway, I thought I'd share what's in LB's FHC book in case someone might find it helpful. I've been meaning to do this for the past few days but life keeps getting away from me and stopping me from collecting my thoughts enough to post.
What I did was use his FHC prep book (from the parish) as an outline and re-word it in a way where I thought he'd understand it best. It's called We Share in the Eucharist: Preparation for First Communion (On Our Way with Jesus: A Journey of Christian Initiation) if you're interested.
Our notebook contains:
- a page with photos from his baptism along with his written copywork - "I am welcomed into God's family"
- a colouring page of Jesus emerging from the tomb and appearing to Mary Magdalene along with the compywork "Let's Celebrate!"
- a colouring page of the Last Supper. To this picture, I attached a photo of LB sitting at the supper table. It's meant to look as if he's at the table with Jesus and the disciples. It also has the copywork "We are invited to be with Jesus at His table."
- A page with information specific to our parish. LB wrote out the answers to the following:
- - - My church is called: __________.
- - - It is in: __________.
- - - Our priest is: __________.
- - - Some people who come to my church are: __________.
- A page listing the parts of the Mass that LB had to correctly label.
- A page of things we will see at the Mass that he had to label. It includes such things as altar, missal, lectionary...
- A page of the priest's special garments that he had to label: white alb, coloured stole, chasuble
- A page with the opening prayer of the Mass and the proper response (which was copywork)
- a page describing why we pray "I confess, to almighty God...". On this page he wrote out the definitions for sin (any bad thing that we do) and forgive (we are not angry at someone who was bad anymore)
- a copy of the Gloria
- a page telling about the Bible
- - - "Jesus loves to tell us stories about what God is like and how much God loves us"
- - - copywork "The bible has the stories about how much God loves us and wants to help us"
- a page describing what happens during the Liturgy of the Word
- - - First Reading: are stories from the Old Testament and are stories that tell about the time before Jesus came to earth.
- - - Psalm: are prayers and songs written to God
- - - Second Reading: is from the New Testament and are stories that tell about the time after Jesus returned to heaven.
- - - Gospel: is from the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and are stories that tell about when Jesus was here on earth with us.
- - - Homily: the priest explains what God is trying to tell us in the Bible readings
- a copy of the Apostles Creed
- we have a page with a script describing how we feel hungry before supper and how when we eat it makes the hunger go away.
- a colouring page of Jesus with the woman at the well along with the verse: Jesus tells the woman at the well, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." - John 4:1-42
- a page showing how physical food fills our stomach but communion feed our hearts
- a page talking about why we go to confession
- a page with an "if, then" chart to help him discern what to say at his First Reconciliation. He took his written list with him but I've no idea if he used it. LB tends to freeze up in social situations and in talking to others.
- a page of illustrations highlighting the true presence in the eucharist
And a few pages about the importance of giving thanks and sharing with others.
So, there you are, now you know that you really don't need to worry much at all! I hope someone finds this helpful. Even if not, it was nice to re-visit this book. It makes me wish I'd done for his younger brother, BB, when it was his turn but I simply stuck with the text. I do have two more to prepare for FHC at some point though, maybe I can do this again soon...
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Susan
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Susan's Soliloquy
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Preparation for FHC
