Resources

An estimated 76 million people worldwide are affected by autism--current figures suggest that 1 in 100 people live somewhere along the autism spectrum, though many remain undiagnosed. Frequently, autism occurs alongside other conditions, such as anxiety or depression. Yet despite autism’s prevalence and impact, the church remains slow to adapt, with responses that are often poorly informed and irresponsible. In  Autism and the Church Grant Macaskill provides a careful, attentive, and sustained analysis of the reality of autism within the church and how this should be approached theologically.

Macaskill demonstrates that attempts to read the Bible with reference to autism are often deficient because they move too quickly from the study of particular texts to claims about the condition and how it should be viewed. This leads some Christians to see autism as something that should be healed or even exorcised. Macaskill instead invites readers to struggle with the biblical canon, in ways shaped by the traditions of the early church, to a process of interpretation that calls upon the church, following Christ’s teaching, to cherish those who experience autism as part of the diverse gifting of Christ’s body. Accordingly, he calls churches to consider the implications of autism in their congregations and to explore how best to accommodate the particular needs of autistic people in public worship and pastoral care, while valuing their distinctive contribution. In short, Macaskill challenges the church to "think biblically" about autism.

Autism and the Church teaches readers that those with autism belong to the church, demonstrating that, if responsibly read, the Bible provides a resource that enables the church to recognize the value of those with autism. Macaskill shows how the Bible can help both individuals and church bodies flourish, even as the church deals faithfully with the opportunities and challenges that come with understanding autism. He writes as a biblical scholar intimately familiar with the experience of autism, dealing honestly with the real difficulties that can accompany the condition, while challenging misconceptions.

In churches today, those on the autism spectrum are often at best overlooked by neurotypical church members or at worst infantilized. Viewed as "other," autistic people who feel excluded from the church community abound, and statistics show that they are less likely to attend church than others. Other autistic people do participate in worship but testify to being dismissed when asking for "reasonable accommodations," and they are routinely given fewer formal roles in the liturgy.

In Autism and Worship, Armand Léon van Ommen offers an in-depth analysis of the absence and ignoring of, but also the presence of, autistic people in worship. Van Ommen recounts the experiences of autistic people and considers how those experiences might reframe liturgical theology and the worship practices of the church. He identifies the "cult of normalcy" as the root of the marginalization of autistic people. Normalcy is boundary keeping, the protective set of dynamics that determines who belongs to the community and who is excluded. The answer to absence and ignoring is found in presence and availability, rooted in kenosis. Through the act of making himself available to humankind by becoming human, Christ participated in humanity. Believers are invited to participate in the life and prayer of Christ in turn and accordingly make themselves available to one another.

The new identity in Christ redefines what is deemed normal and redefines who is "in" or "out." Van Ommen argues that this redefinition results from a kenotic liturgical theology of availability. He illustrates this fresh vision by analyzing the Chapel of Christ Our Hope, a church in Singapore that is centered on autism and provides a paradigm for a renewal of Christian worship. Autism and Worship contributes to liturgical theology and the emerging field of autism theology as well as the practices of worshiping communities.