Neurodiversity and the Church Part 4: Autism
by Maci Sepp
For over ten years, my mother taught autistic students at the local middle school. Similar to my experience, many of her students split their time between the regular classrooms and her classroom depending on what subjects were being taught. They also had access to a sensory room next door. The autism program was something that had been created during my mother’s tenure, and it was exciting to watch the program grow with her help over the years. Many of those years, I remember visiting her classroom during school hours and getting to know the students and what they were learning. As far as I could tell, my mother’s classroom was the most colorful one in the entire building. Between the name tags on the desks, the seasonal window adhesives, the displayed artwork and projects on the wall, the games and puzzles on the floor, and the random stuffed animals and throw pillows in the rocking chairs, I almost felt as though I was being thrown back into my early elementary school days whenever I stepped through the door. However, this was not an infantilizing feeling. It was, instead, a feeling of nostalgia and desire for the same type of colorful and interactive components in my own learning environments. For me, this reinforces the fact that what we learn about education with autistic students can have a positive influence on all learners, including teachers.
Autism is usually defined by a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders related to social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.[1] As a condition that affects an increasing percentage of the population, it comes as no surprise that adhering to the spectrum of needs, characteristics, and strengths associated with autism are becoming more of a priority among churches, and making autism-friendly spaces can work to the advantage of many different types of people and not just autistic children.[2] This is the first thing that Linnea Peterson, an autistic adult involved in Christian education, asserts in her list of tips for making Sunday school autism-friendly. Linnea goes on to explain several other tips along with helpful background information and reasons as to why they matter. They consist of making physical touch always an option, treating people in a dignified manner in accordance with their disabilities and preferences, understanding that people have different strategies for paying attention, and respecting a student’s desires to work in groups or independently.
One of the tips that stood out to me and that I only learned about in the last couple of years was using identity-first language. For so long, I have been told to always use person-first language, particularly when talking about disabilities. For the autism community, however, this is not the case. The use of identity-first language is rooted in the knowledge that being autistic is inherent to one’s identity. At the same time, Jordan Kamnitzer, a man with Asperger’s syndrome, wishes to be referred to using person-first language.[3] This difference in language use does not signify that he is any more or less invested in equality and advocacy or in accepting parts of his identity. Rather, Jordan and Linnea demonstrate to us the diversity of experiences of contexts even within the autism community. What we learn from this is, perhaps, to never assume someone’s preferred language and to go about our ministry knowing such multiplicities exist.
Maci Sepp is an M.Div. graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include disability studies and disability theology, adoption ethics, and intersectionality.
[1] Thomas Armstrong, Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life (Alexandria: ASCD, 2012), 71.
[2] Peterson, Linnea. “10 Tips to Make Sunday School Autism-Friendly.” Spark House, Dec. 9, 2019, https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/10-tips-sunday-school-autism-friendly.
[3] Joris Debeij, “Perfectly Normal,” featuring Jordan Kamnitzer, The New York Times Op-Docs, Apr. 19, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDXo83OtzgE.
