Autism and Faith
A couple of weeks ago, Kristina Chew mentioned a booklet called Autism and Faith in her blog. After reading it, I almost feel ready to try bringing our family back to church.
We used to go to a Unitarian church when the children were very small, but as Gus got older, it was harder for the child minder to keep him in the nursery. He was chronologically old enough for the religious education program, but we were never comfortable putting him into a room with a bunch of kids and one teacher unless they fully understood all his needs. Eventually we just stopped going.
From what I’ve just read in Autism and Faith, this isn’t an uncommon experience. What the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community has tried to do with this compilation of essays is to provide strategies for including autistic individuals into their respective religious communities. The booklet also includes stories from families about how they’ve fared in their religious communities. The stories felt real and easy to relate to, not saccharine in any way. I came away feeling like, yes, I could do this too.
There is a Unitarian Church about half an hour away from us. We’ve been meaning to go all year (they break over the summer) and perhaps if I can actually get a Sunday off, we’ll get there before the year ends. But now at least I feel I can go in to talk to the Reverend, ask the right questions and perhaps find a place where Gus will be accepted for who he is.
”Communities of faith can mitigate the isolation that autism often brings. They can provide a place of solace and refuge. They can become a haven of acceptance and belonging for individuals with autism and their families.”
Mary Beth Walsh, Ph.D.
Autism and Faith, page 12
I hope she’s right in her assessment.
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