All are welcome?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

I really enjoyed "Tough love" (April). Children with disabilities and the church is a subject I seldom see covered in magazines.

I know many people with handicapped children, and many don't feel welcome in churches of any denomination.

I have seen many mentally handicapped people at Mass who are well behaved. My 27-year-old daughter is not one of them.

People don't always understand that "developmentally delayed" includes not only intelligence but also social skills, behavior, emotional control, and modesty. And some people with developmental disabilities are not afraid to say exactly what they think because it doesn't even enter their minds that they could be hurting someone else's feelings--even though they themselves are often easily hurt.

My experience with my parish has been wonderful, and everyone is very understanding. They are generous in their praise of my daughter coming to church and ask about her when she isn't there.

To all of you who do support us parents and our developmentally handicapped angels, thanks so much.

Kathleen Carter

Lombard, Ill.

We have a child who has a developmental disability. Our experience with the church is, for the most part, as follows: The priests and the older parishioners act as though we parents must have committed some grave sin and that God punished us by giving us a child with a disability. Accordingly, they shun us. What about the younger parishioners? There are not many younger parishioners!

Dennis O'Brien

Lake Forest, Ill.