Preface: How this Booklet Came to Be!
At a Sunday service several years ago, as the congregation was chanting an ancient and haunting invocation to the Holy Spirit, I heard a loud and clear and very distinctive voice above the song. I knew immediately there was a child with autism in the church. And my first thought was, “We are not alone.” My younger son had been diagnosed with autism just a year before, and I had not told many people in my faith community, and had no idea there were other families of children with autism in the congregation. I had assumed we were the only ones. But that Pentecost morning, as we invoked the Spirit of God who acts in human history and who sustains our life together, I began to realize that this community, like faith communities of all kinds, could and did welcome individuals with autism. This resource for including individuals with autism in faith communities is written so that others will not feel alone. Parents and families of individuals with autism, congregations struggling to become better at being inclusive, and individuals with autism themselves all need to know that they are not alone.
This booklet has its roots in a panel presentation given at the 2005 annual conference of The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC) on including individuals with autism in faith communities. The work has been carried on by The Autism and Faith Task Force of The Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities and COSAC. The Task Force’s first action was to survey parents, family members, and professionals in faith communities, to determine the most
“...as we invoked the Spirit of God who acts in human history and who sustains our life together, I began to realize that this community, like faith communities of all kinds, could and did welcome those with autism.”
pressing issues regarding inclusion so that this resource could be as useful as possible. Alice Walsh, during her Traineeship at The Boggs Center, did much of the coordinating and organizing work on the questionnaire and the first versions of this booklet.
Many parents, religious educators, and other religious professionals completed our survey, and we would like to thank them. We especially want to thank all the families who took the time to write down and share their stories; this booklet is much richer for those many varied voices. We also want to thank all the members of The Autism and Faith Task Force, who have gathered for numerous brainstorming and editorial meetings during the past two years. Thank you also to all of our contributing authors - your words will make a difference in the lives of others. We remain especially grateful to The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation for funding support and for believing in the purpose and value of this resource.
Finally, we’d like to thank all the individuals with autism spectrum disorders whose lives and dignity have inspired all involved. You are not alone.
Mary Beth Walsh, with Alice Walsh and Bill Gaventa, Editors
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Autism and Faith
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