How Autism friendly is your church?
I ask this because I'm not sure I've ever thought about it, so I'm sure there are many others who haven't too. Being a young woman with Aspergers who has a brother with Autism too, this topic really should've occurred to me before.
I think there are two main areas to think about here, the first is easier to address. Many people with Autism/Aspergers have sensory difficulties, in that many of us find things like loud noises (eg.balloons), bright lights, certain textures of food or materials, may really distress us. There is a huge difference between the non-ASD 'I really don't like that' and the ASD 'I really cannot cope with that'. Things like balloons bursting can actually hurt our ears. So imagine if we get stuck with the seat next to the loudspeaker - we're not going to stick around long.
I don't think the response to these things is to necessarily provide -Autism friendly alternatives to everything, or make special 'Autism seats' (!) or anything like that. However I think there needs to be an awareness within churches that if someone seems overly fussy, or just plain difficult - just accommodate them lovingly, without judging them. I think unseen disabilities as well as mental health issues need to be talked about more. See the Mind and Soul website for brilliant info on mental health & Christianity. Mental illness is not due to a lack of faith - I think this needs to be clear in sermons where a pastor might be talking about worry, for instance, to make a clear distinction between worry that every human experiences and, for instance an Anxiety Disorder. I wonder how many churches have mental health support groups? A small group/ meeting for those with special needs?
Anyway, back to topic, the second issue with Churches and Autism, is more difficult to tackle. I personally have been brought up in the Church, so I have found many things easier to understand than a lot of other Aspies. However the whole issue of community, for example, still gets me. When someone says 'God made you for community' - a lot of Aspies would think 'no, He definitely didn't!!' I think what we really mean is - 'it doesn't look like it'. Our minds work so differently from others, we know we are different and we find it hard to mix with large volumes of people, it doesn't look like we're made for community at all! Some of us tend to get along with other Aspies or people who share the same interests better - but if you want to get to know us, just one or two at a time though!
The point I'm trying to get at is the way Christianity is presented - in terms of abstract concepts and emotions - can often be very difficult for us to understand.
'Imagine how the Father felt as he watched his son die' might be a helpful thing for most people, but for someone who has great difficulty imagining things from others' points of view, probably not so much. Our brains are actually wired differently and this imagining the emotions of others thing is not something that naturally tends to happen (unless, I find, something very similar has happened to me, then I can transfer my emotions to that person once I've thought about it long enough). Obviously we get that the Father would feel distraught, because we have learnt that's how people feel when their child dies, but actually imagining that emotion - for most of us - is next to impossible due to our neurological wiring. Clearly these things have no easy answer. I thought in the past maybe an 'alpha for aspies' might be a good idea, but most Aspie adults probably don't have any idea they have Aspergers.
The thing is, our brains work with facts, many of us are good at maths, equations, numbers, or our thinking is very black and white. Maybe an additional written resource to complement alpha would be an idea? Christianity presented with less emotion - although love is the heart of the Christian message! I think there are some probably very subtle things - wording - for example which could make it a lot easier for us.
So, after a lot of my rambling thoughts, what are yours? Are there things your church could do to include those of us who have neurological diversity?
If anyone wants to find out more about living with Autism or being an Aspie Christian, you can visit the NAS website, (for Autism info) or you can contact me.
Emma x
