Greetings from Autismland continued
part of the legal repertoire now enjoyed by persons with autism in educational settings, much work remains to be done in communal settings with their own (often ancient) traditions and rituals of participation and belonging. Persons with autism are becoming increasingly present in communal spaces that were once marked by their absence even when this absence went unacknowledged. The presence of persons with autism might at times be construed as “disruptive” to the values of order and decorum, but this response should be balanced by the recognition of a legacy of exclusion, which rendered human communities of all kinds incomplete. The “difference” of autism is indeed different and need not be dismissed or minimized, but just as differences of gender, ethnicity, or human sexuality are recognized as elements of human identity not composing the whole person, so too does the difference of autism not compose the whole autistic person. The difference a cognitively “disabled” person represents simply by her or his presence is an occasion for mutual understanding and perhaps an occasion of grace as understood in some faith traditions. Justice grounded in any faith surely demands that the person in community is to be known in and for oneself and as a member of community. Rabbi Geoffrey Haber has spoken often of his son’s bar mitzvah experience as an exemplar of Judaism’s traditional injunction to know that person who stands before you. The experience of autism may offer an opportunity for deeper engagement with the questions: how are we to know and be known? How do we know the person who stands before us and who is the person who stands before us?
about the only places where we can go and socialize with friends, meet new people, work for social justice, do the work of the community and still bring Brendan along for the work and the fun without worrying too much that the behaviors he sometimes exhibits will cause misunderstanding. Being actively involved in this community as a family has kept us open to the world and aware that we have a lot to give this world, and not just to our son. From playing computer games with other kids in the lounge to playing with homeless kids while dad helps make dinner for Interfaith Hospitality Network families, Brendan gets the chance to experience the wider world through our involvement at church.” Kassiane Alexandra Sibley, Autism and Advocacy conference (October 27, 2006) www.fordham.edu/cs/media “I’m not broke and don’t need fixing.” By this simple declaration, Ms. Sibley not only revealed a self-perception but suggested—in an act of autism self-advocacy--that even the most earnest expressions of solidarity are problematic when rendered unilaterally. We sometimes proclaim our “broken” condition as an element of our common humanity with all those that suffer, but in so doing we may subtly, unintentionally discount the ways solidarity is sometimes proffered on our terms. Ms. Sibley’s invitation to examine our language, our images and our theological assumptions is but one example of mutuality in action, a model for engagement that will enrich the experience of all persons in community.
Persons with autism are required to change and to constantly adapt to sensory environments they may find uncongenial. Persons with autism may be especially challenged to adapt to the reverential tone and sensory environment of worship spaces, yet experience shows that many autistic persons do adapt, often as part of an educational process that enhances their freedom and human dignity by empowering them to surmount some of their sensory/behavioral challenges. At the same time, the value of mutuality that is integral to so many spiritual traditions calls us to consider ways we might adapt to the presence of autistic persons; such adaptations may in fact enrich the faith foundation of communities for helping us understand our traditions, our liturgies as living not static. Many persons with autism have testified they do not wish to “recover” from a human condition they see as intrinsic if not God- given. On the other hand, family members, caregivers and loved ones often do hope and pray for profound change within the autistic persons in their lives. A primary challenge and opportunity for faith communities is to find ways to honor these potentially
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A Journey Into Community
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