The Inclusive Atrium

Neurodiversity in the Church

Aimée O’Connell ‘s Thought of Prayer and Neurodiversity

She began the Mission of Saint Thorlak, now known as Autism Consecrated, in 2017 with the goal of discussing autism and spirituality via the example of its namesake, St. Thorlak of Iceland. 

Her writing draws from contemplative (primarily Carmelite) spirituality, her master’s degree in school psychology and perspective as an autistic individual. Aimée has authored the Novena in Honor of Saint Thorlak, approved in 2018 by Bishop David B. Tencer of Reykjavik.

It is has been slightly modified for clarity.

The manner in which any person prays, autistic or non autistic, is always going to be an extension and expression of how much that person processes information, approaches relationships, and experiences emotion. 

I feel this is especially relevant for autistic people. The manner in which we have experienced trust over the course of our development is very important to understand autistic people’s trust in God – the central anchor of prayer.

How well a person feels able to trust themselves and how the person feels safe and able to trust others. 

A huge number of autistic people hear from a very young age that our ways of processing are wrong, that our emotions are incorrect, that our communication style is inadequate, and that our interpretations are off.

These messages typically come from the people we turn to when we’re most vulnerable. 

If we consistently hear that what we say, need, and ask for is wrong, we learn to doubt ourselves, mistrust our own wisdom, and expect that our best efforts are never quite enough. 

Yet, we simultaneously know on some level that our thoughts, needs, and feelings are true, which means that the people we trust are perhaps not trustworthy at all.

If they don’t believe us, then why should we relate to them as our unmasked “true” selves. 

This dynamic is probably the biggest obstacle for autistic people. 

Why? 

Because the act of praying requires us to first be vulnerable and then to engage with a power greater than ourselves, both of which we have become conditioned to dread.

How can we expect God to love us unconditionally when we are rarely accepted as who we are? 

How can we expect God to hear us when the people around us do not? 

How can we expect God to take our needs seriously when the people we trust don’t? 

When people say God is truth, do they mean truth like we tell it?

Simple. 

Unspun.

Blunt? 

Or do they mean that God works like people do, tripping us up with unstated rules or withholding help and approval until we say and do the right combination of things to be pleased enough? 

What Neurodivergent people have to overcome is that neuro-normative social rules do not define God, or how he relates to us, or how we relate to him, autistic or not. 

Yet the majority of literature and instruction surrounding prayer has been created by and taught by neurotypical people for neurotypical people. 

So, in short, the ways which people of any neurotype interpret and express prayer are highly variable and dependent on their individual manner of processing information, language, relationships, emotion, and communication.

When an autistic person feels disconnected from prayer, Any or all of the factors need to be considered in terms of how safe that person feels in being vulnerable and needy before God. 

We’ve often had a great deal of healing to be addressed before we can even start thriving in our eternal lives, let alone begin to be, begin to consider the manner in which we best connect to God in prayer.

Offering Pathways to Success for Neurodiverse Children in Christian Formation

ADHD

  • Pull Stick Jars (work, ponderings, and practical life) – this helps unstick the child from too many options. often they pull a stick and look at it and say that they really wanted to make a map. And they are off to the races.
    • Work – “choose an infancy narrative,” “set up the walls of Jerusalem,” “set up the model altar”
    • Ponderings – “using clay, make your own annunciation characters,” “go to the prayer table and sing to God about the lesson you just had,” “make a 3D model of the cenacle”
    • Practical Life – “dust a shelf,” “organize the folders,” “using wood polish, polish the prayer table”
  • Minimize distractions
    • Lower the lights
    • Have ear defenders available
    • provide tables facing the wall
  • Encourage students to take time
    • It does help to say that there is no pressure to rush.
    • Remind the child how happy they have been in the past when they have been able to keep their slower pace.
  • Allow movement:
    • Create a pacing path around the edge of the room
    • Have a rocking board or balance board (I’ve found you have to rotate them. People have them and will donate them.)
  • Things to do with their hands: finger chaining, carding wool, brushing a sheepskin rug (use half of a carder or this style of dog brush to brush the rug, sanding wood, rolling the perfect ball of yarn etc. You want things which are easy to learn and repetitious. Children can bring these things to the circle and do them without distracting their classmates. While at circle, they can pay attention to the lesson and not the project. Note: have a small pouch like an unused climbing chalk bag, a yarn bowl, or some other way to contain the ball of yarn.
  • Ask the child before they enter the room: “What will you begin with today?”

Autism

  • Routine
    • Have a pattern the class follows – first we wash our hands, then we …..
    • Have a photo schedule of the pattern that child can check – taking shoes off, washing hands, choosing work, cleaning something, coming to circle
  • Solo work 
    • Help the child defend not having others with them on their very creative journey
  • Help with literalism
    • With parables: define that you are using a metaphor
    • Interpret other children’s comments as needed to help the child understand the idiom or meaning to what they are saying
  • Quite corner
    • A space where any child may go to re-calibrate – it’s a bit like the Montessori peace table without the peace part.
    • Your prayer table may serve this function. However, if a child is loosing it in circle, the child has no place to go to calm
    • Possibly: a cushion, ear defenders, emotions chart, items from the calming basket

Dyslexia/Dyscalculia

  • Use assistive technology (headphones with the scripture passages on an mp3)
  • Larger and dyslexic-friendly font in your scripture booklets
  • An illustrator role for narratives and parables
  • Track journeys on a map,
  • Things that don’t involve writing or drawing as a response – Clay as a response
  • Avoid overt memorizing
  • Shorten lessons
  • Do not do round Robbin readings.
  • Large Print Bibles
  • Bible App – like this one
  • Dyslexic Bible. (It just came out. I expect more Bible translations to follow.)

Audio Processing and Hearing Loss

  • When speaking, shorten sentences, stop and allow time to “sink in”
  • Write down the I wonders from children on a piece of adding machine tape
    • Have a roll and a sharpie beside you in the lesson
    • Write down the scripture reference and title of the lesson.
    • Write down key things children say or questions they ask. (Children like to tape these into the prayer journals or keep them in their folders.)

Color Blindness

  • Lots of CGS materials are the same strength of Red and Green and could be problematic to adults and children who are colorblind.

Low Muscle Tone

  • Have work available that requires less fine motor skills
    • Weaving
    • Pin pushing

More fine motor skills: Tracing, Neat shading, Sewing