As many of you may know, I am the president of the board of Autistic Catholics. Our wider goal is autistic inclusion in the Church. Our initial short to medium-term goal is promoting small groups of autistic individuals. Towards this end, we are working on compiling a small group guidebook for parishes, dioceses, etc. Several of us on the board are working on this: I’m reading up on autistic psychology and small-group dynamics along with my extensive knowledge of Catholic spirituality and theology.
However, I want to know what autistics want in a Christian small group with fellow autistics. Please reply below. I moderate comments, so if you prefer anonymity, say that in the first line, and I’ll share the comment with the team anonymously.
“Small group” refers to a group of about 4 and 18 Christians who meet regularly to discuss faith. Pray groups would also be included. This would include groups like Bible study or Christian book study, along with groups of more open discussion or more like support groups for living as an autistic Christian in this neurotypical normative unchristian world. I hope to write general principles and also list different modalities in the guidebook.
We are looking at both autism-specific small groups and including autistics in other small groups. So feel free to comment on both.
Feel free to share any ideas. I want individual experiences, things you wish small groups you were involved with had, or hopes you would have for such groups. At this point, I am more looking to brainstorm than to write the specific text. We will edit it later.
I hope we at Autistic Catholics can have at least a first draft this year. I also hope to present this to a more general Christian audience at the Institute for Theology and Disability this year. We might see each other there.
If It’s Bible study, I want to be in a group with an expert, maybe a priest. If I have questions, I want to have faith in the answers. I’m worried about listening to other people’s misinterpretations of important things.
Carved out time to discuss awkward social interactions. As someone with aspergers, I frequently (and this was worse when I was younger) have interactions where things don’t go well. One time, my dad pulled me aside after a family Christmas party and said “You mad a serious mistake with how you talked to your grandmother.” I kinda understood what he said, but I also didn’t.
The best way autistics can learn social skills is when people sit them down and explicitly explain the rules of what is acceptable and what isn’t, especially the “unwritten” ones. Very often this feels “unrelated” to Catholic/faith-based things.
Also how to set boundaries and not let criticism that isn’t warranted “in” EVEN when it’s from Catholic leaders — How to speak truth to power when Catholic leadership is wrong.