Geistig behinderte Kinder religiös erziehen – Herausforderungen an Pädagogik und Katechese

Special education options are diverse and prepared to meet the needs of children with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities. However, many parents of children with an intellectual disability have a difficult time in organizing the religious educational alternatives for their children. A disabled child needs to be surrounded by catechetical specialist care. In this article, the author points out the pedagogical and catechetical challenges of special education and catechesis. At the beginning, three basic educational environments are presented followed by the major aspects of the Catholic religious education: knowledge of God, prayer, and preparation for the sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist.