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Church and Autism

WhitewaterWoman said:
Edward Abbey! We need a few more like him these days. His "church" was alone in the desert.
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Now there is a name to conjure with - Ed Abbey. I read quite a bit by him and enjoyed what I read.

Being in nature and being able to appreciate the environment is one way of honouring the creator, through the creation. However, I do need to meet other people and to interact with them and receive correction and encouragement from them.

As I read Ed Abbey - I think of Thomas Merton another person who understood the value of alone.
 
I'm religious and go to church weekly and it's just very uncomfortable. Loud, long socially weird, long.
 
I went to church today. I was hoping to go yesterday but I was so tired today because I have been adjusting to a new situation this year and been trying to find something to do I have to do next in life. I think it has unsettled my sleep as well. I went to church though today. I wasn't sure earlier, but changed my mind. I have mentioned I attend an Anglican church, it is a quiet 30 minutes service. Before this I attended a church and it was 1hrs 30 mins I think. I liked to fellowship with them, but I had to go in later and I felt that is not how I wanted to worship.

As I said I went today and naturally my body just forced me to sit through the entire 30 minutes service. I prefer to be able to be able to stand, but physically I couldn't manage it today and knew my situation was known. But, I found this before in the previous church as well with the standing to sitting unsettled me a bit so I struggled with it years ago before I started to attend this church. I found it easier today to manage seated.

I found it interesting as well though as I read a few weeks ago that some Autistics can find the up and down I think in church difficult. I have been sitting on the end of my row for years like my natural position which they mention in the article. This post is observation, I have to had sit before though for my other issues, but I will see next week hopefully how it goes and don't like to use adaptions I don't need, but if I need it I may take it not just to fit in.

This is what I read.
https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/uploads/files/Welcoming-those-with-autism.pdf
I came across a writer a few weeks ago called Daniel Bowman. I've not read his book, but he has got a chapter on church life. He is mentioned in this article.
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/artic...res/autism-adventures-beyond-the-neurotypical
 
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John Muir is also cited as saying

“I’d rather be in the mountains thinking about God than in church thinking about the mountains.”
 
Alexej said:
Now there is a name to conjure with - Ed Abbey. I read quite a bit by him and enjoyed what I read.

Being in nature and being able to appreciate the environment is one way of honouring the creator, through the creation. However, I do need to meet other people and to interact with them and receive correction and encouragement from them.

As I read Ed Abbey - I think of Thomas Merton another person who understood the value of alone.
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Good to hear of another Abbey fan! (sorry, I just saw your post now)
He wrote many good novels; the one I've considered best is Desert Solitaire. Do you have a favorite?

One of his first novels was "Brave Cowboy" which became a western film starring a solitary Kirk Douglas called "Lonely Are the Brave". Walter Matthau and Carroll O'Conner also. Douglas talks to his horse a lot, which is indearing to me.
The movie is not too easy to find. But one can watch the last 7/8ths of it on Vimeo.com. It has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Kirk Douglas shines in little-known Western – “Lonely are the Brave”
Cheers
 
Jeff T said:
Good to hear of another Abbey fan! (sorry, I just saw your post now)
He wrote many good novels; the one I've considered best is Desert Solitaire. Do you have a favorite?

One of his first novels was "Brave Cowboy" which became a western film starring a solitary Kirk Douglas called "Lonely Are the Brave". Walter Matthau and Carroll O'Conner also. Douglas talks to his horse a lot, which is indearing to me.
The movie is not too easy to find. But one can watch the last 7/8ths of it on Vimeo.com. It has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Kirk Douglas shines in little-known Western – “Lonely are the Brave”
Cheers
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I have only read 2 of his books, "Desert Solitaire" and "A voice Crying in the Wilderness"
 
Jeff T said:
Good to hear of another Abbey fan! (sorry, I just saw your post now)
He wrote many good novels; the one I've considered best is Desert Solitaire. Do you have a favorite?

One of his first novels was "Brave Cowboy" which became a western film starring a solitary Kirk Douglas called "Lonely Are the Brave". Walter Matthau and Carroll O'Conner also. Douglas talks to his horse a lot, which is indearing to me.
The movie is not too easy to find. But one can watch the last 7/8ths of it on Vimeo.com. It has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Kirk Douglas shines in little-known Western – “Lonely are the Brave”
Cheers
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I just watched the movie - not a happy ending. ;-(. But I guess that’s Abbey.
 
WhitewaterWoman said:
I just watched the movie - not a happy ending. ;-(. But I guess that’s Abbey.
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Being something of a simpleton, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but:

Yeah. The movie is a template in how the modern, mechanical New West, was obliterating the Old West. The protagonist and his horse are the symbols of the Old West, therefore they must go to oblivion as well. It does ends on a dark note. But it shows us what we were giving up when we embraced the shiny new future. We were exchanging the old set of evils for the new, different, shiny evils.

I apologize for veering off the this thread's topic of church and autism. I should have started a new thread.
 
Jeff T said:
Being something of a simpleton, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but:

Yeah. The movie is a template in how the modern, mechanical New West, was obliterating the Old West. The protagonist and his horse are the symbols of the Old West, therefore they must go to oblivion as well. It does ends on a dark note. But it shows us what we were giving up when we embraced the shiny new future. We were exchanging the old set of evils for the new, different, shiny evils.

I apologize for veering off the this thread's topic of church and autism. I should have started a new thread.
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Yes. I got the message. Apologies to the OP
 
AutisticMilly said:
I’m an atheist, but I was raised Christian, and I go to church with my family on holidays to avoid scrutiny from my family. I remember as a kid I always hated church, and I still do. In retrospect, it’s an autistic nightmare: people wanting to shake your hand and making eye contact you as soon as you get in the door, loud music, not being able to stim through a service. I want to know if other people, atheist or not, feel the same way that I do about church.
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After reading your post, it brought back clear memories of my son having reaction to people wanting to shake his hand at the door or after he sat down and claimed "his space". I tried to go to bat for him and educate the church leaders of this but it fell on deaf ears. I am so sorry that you have had to endure those experiences. He is now also an atheist.
 
Jumpinbare said:
Christian means Christ-like, and I fall very short of that standard. While I have fully accepted Christ's teachings (love God, love others as myself), I have great difficulty being physically present in most churches for the same reasons mentioned above (handshakes, loudness, etc).
I tried wearing my t shirt that says "Don't touch me, I'm autistic" to two different churches recently. I kept my hands in my pockets entering and leaving. Still, people would look right at my shirt, then put a hand on my arm or shoulder. Two ladies actually hugged me. To be fair, I think they were trying to be kind and show me being touched wasn't bad.
As a kid and young adult, I found ways to slip in and out of the services unnoticed, and feigned distraction when I was noticed, but as I got older I saw that those techniques didn't work as well.
I began doing my own Bible study and worship time alone.
Since covid, so many churches now stream online services. That's probably the best option for many of us autistics.
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There is a need for education of church leaders. I would encourage families of Autism to come together and meet with the leaders and give them information about the REAL needs of our loved ones; how to observe and pick up on individuals needing their autonomy and space. The freedom to stim without judgment. THAT is love, even though someone may think it is hugging. I hope you can sense the love God tries to convey to you personally in specific ways, tailored just for you!
 
I listen to Sunday service online. I can pace or use my fidget spinner as much as I need to while still hearing the sermon.
 
That has worked best for me. No hugs or handshakes, and I don't even have to dress.
 
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Love Church history, Catholic essays and 17th century sermons. It's so rich, and the Church had and has such a huge impact on the world. I found modern-day churches to be underwhelming social clubs. Maybe I should try an Orthodox or Catholic church though.
 
Thank you so much Alexej with for the link for I saw an additional e with my glasses on as well. This is quite a serious matter. It can be hard to recall which exactly journal you opened and read. I have read certainly at a good few. Luckily my writing has now come to and end and I am no longer looking for information on this again.
Well almost to pathologise me into the end row where I always sit. In other NHS hospitals other patients liked "their" seats as well and not of the autistic type usually.
I was wondering there must be a reason they wrote and came up with that finding that most autistics sit on the end pew and if you attend some church's on a Sunday you will certainly ususually most people sat on the end as well. I give a benefit of doubt especially when and time has gone into this as well.
"People with an autism spectrum condition will
usually prefer to sit at the end of a pew/row, and
not somewhere busy."
When I saw myself on the end row I happily accepted it at first, but I saw too many others just there to as well.

https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/uploads/files/Welcoming-those-with-autism.pdf

There are things in documents that I am sure if does not apply to someone else it may benefit. I like the idea about the quiet areas, perhaps the sensory really for parents with children who may be seen as rather loud. I don't like to see complaints about them on the forums about what to do about them at church.
 

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