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Parish Councillor & YA coordinator at the Parish of Freshwater and Equitable Access Working Group intern

Melissa Maddox

About Melissa -

Melissa Maddox is a Parish Councillor and YA coordinator at the Parish of Freshwater and an Equitable Access Working Group intern. She is a speech pathologist with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology from ACU

Melissa writes on -

Articles by Melissa

Books & Guides Disability advocate Mel Maddox Books & Guides

My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church

“I stopped disclosing my disabilities after one conversation when I said I was autistic and had been having a hard time with sensory issues, and the person responded by saying that this was happening to me because I wasn’t praying enough. I saw this book, and my immediate thought was, ‘Yes! Someone gets it!’,” says Mel Maddox, Parish of Freshwater Synod Representative and Equitable Access Working Group member

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How to create a safe and welcoming space for autistic people to worship and serve

“As an autistic person, I experience many sensory sensitivities on a daily basis. Difficulties with sensory processing are a common occurrence for autistic people. Every autistic person I’ve met has sensory processing difficulties. And, as a speech pathologist working with autistic clients, I’ve met a lot of autistic people,” says Parish of Freshwater member, Mel Maddox, while offering tips for creating a safe space for autistic people to worship and serve