Asperger's Revisited: Input
I'm doing research on teaching Asperger's students in communication classes. I found this post on the Christianity Today website blog Hermeneutics, which has a good article about the church and persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I found this post from a person with AS very important; I hope I am not breaking any copyright laws here.
Without exception, every discussion I've seen of autistics in church is about low-functioning autistic children and teenagers, and is directed at their parents or at other adults in their lives. What happens to these autistics when they grow up--do they grow out of it? Do they die? Or are they institutionalized, never to darken a church door again?
And what about high-functioning autistics? I am an adult with Asperger's syndrome, i.e. a high-functioning autistic adult. I go to church, humanly speaking, of my own accord. I have yet to see anything, in books or the Christian media, that addresses the problems faced by Christian Aspies.
We hear all the time that family and friends are everything, the only thing in life of real value. We as Christians know that Christ is everything, but we are still told that it is in our personal relationships that the Christian life is lived out. But what if you don't have any social skills or social life to speak of? And what if you have a pretty good idea of what you're missing, and are lonely? Has anyone thought about that? And has anyone thought of speaking to us, rather than our relatives?
In asking if your church is open to autism, please ask if it is open to Asperger's syndrome.
Without exception, every discussion I've seen of autistics in church is about low-functioning autistic children and teenagers, and is directed at their parents or at other adults in their lives. What happens to these autistics when they grow up--do they grow out of it? Do they die? Or are they institutionalized, never to darken a church door again?
And what about high-functioning autistics? I am an adult with Asperger's syndrome, i.e. a high-functioning autistic adult. I go to church, humanly speaking, of my own accord. I have yet to see anything, in books or the Christian media, that addresses the problems faced by Christian Aspies.
We hear all the time that family and friends are everything, the only thing in life of real value. We as Christians know that Christ is everything, but we are still told that it is in our personal relationships that the Christian life is lived out. But what if you don't have any social skills or social life to speak of? And what if you have a pretty good idea of what you're missing, and are lonely? Has anyone thought about that? And has anyone thought of speaking to us, rather than our relatives?
In asking if your church is open to autism, please ask if it is open to Asperger's syndrome.
Comments
Post a Comment