7 Things Churches Need to Know About Autism

This post originally appeared here.

One of my goals is to equip churches to minister to families dealing with disabilities, especially autism. I have an ebook planned on this very topic.

This post is aimed at the mid-sized to small church that suddenly has a family with a child with autism attending. What is it that the church needs to know?

1. Not every child with autism is the same. You may have known a child or had a family member with autism. Do not assume that the child attending your church is the same. It would be safer to assume that the child is different.

2. Anticipate safety concerns. Not every child with autism has safety concerns but it is better to be prepared. Find out if they can be aggressive to others or if they tend to run. If so, put a plan into place.

3. Do not assume that non-verbal means unintelligent. Some children with autism do not communicate with verbal language (either by ability or choice). That does not mean that they are incapable of learning.

4. The siblings need ministry. Often it is the child with autism that gets the attention. If that child has siblings, this is an opportunity for the church to minister. Make the effort to give them the attention they need.

5. The parents need ministry. It is exhausting (physically, mentally, spiritually) to parent a child with autism. Try to arrange date nights for the parents. Look for practical ways to make their life easier.

6. Children with autism make noise. I know that people like a nice peaceful and tranquil worship service but children with autism make noise. The glare you give during the service will not make a difference. The child will not notice or will not care.

7. The family did not come to find a cure for autism. There are dozens of “cures” for autism floating around the internet. There is no need to pass these on to the family. They are much more informed about autism than you are. The family came to worship God and have fellowship with people.

If a family with autism has started attending your church that is a great thing because it is much easier to stay home. The best thing to do is welcome them and love them. They have made themselves vulnerable to the church, please respect that trust.

Hugh Ross and Asperger's Syndrome

Astrophysicist and founder/President of Reasons To Believe, Hugh Ross, is interviewed by Opportunity Schools' Executive Director Louise Ukleja about Hugh's life and his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.

The One Thing

If you read this blog, I assume that you have some interest in making your church autism-friendly. There are all sorts of steps that should be taken, but if you had to do only one thing, what should it be?

Image by pixaby

Ban "stink-eye" therapy.

You know what I mean. A person with a disability, adult or child, makes a sound during a worship service and people in the congregation give the individual a dirty look.

Besides being totally inappropriate, what do people think this will achieve? Do they think the dirty look will make the child or adult be quieter? Do they think they are informing the parent or caregiver that a sound was just made? I promise you that they are very much aware.

The dirty look will only make families feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. It may even increase the stress level, causing the person to be louder.

If you do only one thing, get rid of the stink-eye.

What is Autism?

This video by the National Autistic Society in the UK gives you information about autism along with some of the work they do.

Autism and the Church: How to make a difference

I recently had the opportunity to write a post for Christian Week. While I am thankful for the chance to write for them, the occasion for the article was very unfortunate. The post was born out of our son running away from his group home. We really feared that we had lost him this time. It was a horrible experience. But out of that came this post where I try to offer some practical suggestions for keeping children with autism safe.

Here is a preview of the post:

“Your son with autism has gone missing.”

 Our 13-year-old son lives in a group home, is non-verbal and is on the severe end of the autism spectrum. We had seen enough news stories with unhappy endings to know it was time to panic.

When we arrived at the group home, the street was lined with police cars and news trucks. Neither the group home nor the police had any idea where he was.

You can read the rest of the Christian Week post here.

Why Autism is Important to Me

In this video, I share a little about my experience as a father of two children with autism. I also share about why I wrote the book How to Make Your Church-Autism Friendly.

Making Your Church Autism-Friendly

Some time ago I merged my multiple blogs into one website at www.stephenjbedard.com. I am happy with that decision but at the same time I felt as if promoting autism resources was getting left out. I wrote How to Make Your Church-Autism Friendly because I strongly believe, both as a former pastor and an autism dad, that churches need to be equipped to minister to families with disabilities in general and autism in particular.

While it may seem like a step backward, I have decided to start this new blog. I intend it to look a bit different than my discipleship blog, but there will be some overlap. I have plans for plenty of guest bloggers as well as links to practical resources that churches can do.

So please pass on the word about this blog and let's see if we can improve the way churches minister to families with special needs.