Autistic people are indispensable members of the body of Christ

I am autistic. Routine and predictability can bring a lot of comfort and peace in a world that sometimes feels difficult to navigate. I love church – and not just for the routine! I would say that church is one of the places in which I am most truly myself and feel surrounded by people who love and care for me. There is so much that is brilliant about church, and so much that is difficult as an autistic person.

One of my biggest sensitivities is to noise. For some autistic people our brain doesn’t distinguish which auditory information is most important, so we hear all sounds at the same volume. In contrast, someone who has a typically developed brain will hear the important information with background noise reduced. When you can’t differentiate between the multiple sounds and voices in a room, it takes a lot more time to understand what someone is saying, as well as feeling physically painful. 

This makes conversation in a noisy environment such as pre or post church service challenging and exhausting. It’s not just at church itself; I was in a café with friends after church and had to ask them to repeat themselves several times until I ended up just smiling and hoping that fitted with whatever they were telling me. The same day I stared blankly at someone who asked how I was, and then carried on with what I was doing. My brain had not turned the sounds that left their mouth into comprehensible words, and so there was a long delay between their question and my response.

I have also been known to think that someone is speaking another language to me, when in fact it is just that my auditory processing has been completely overwhelmed in that moment. The first time this happened I raised my frustration at this rudeness, much to the other person’s confusion! Now I understand what is happening and can usually explain that I am struggling to process sound.

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There is also so much socialising involved in church life – another area that is a challenge for autistic people. It’s a myth that autistic people don’t want social interaction; though some of us prefer time alone, we are all humans and made for relationships by a relational God. This doesn’t mean that socialising is always easy. It is part of the diagnostic criteria for autism that we have social communication difficulties.

I have learned ways to manage over the years, as well as becoming increasingly confident that, with my core identity firmly rooted in Christ, I have the freedom to appear different to others at times, and I don’t need to mask (hide my autistic traits in order to appear neurotypical).

This means that there may be times when I politely explain that I am hitting the end of my capacity and I am going to move to a more practical or less conversational task such as packing down chairs. It also means that if I misunderstand a joke, take something too literally or forget to use the correct tone of voice (very easy to do when you are tired and there’s a lot of sensory input all around you) I know this does not affect my status as part of the church family or, more importantly, as a child of God. My moments of weakness allow others to show grace and make it very obvious that all I do is done in God’s strength and not my own. 

If you are looking to make your church a place that autistic people can feel safe, welcomed and loved, begin with these tips:

• Get to know us individually. Our diagnosis might communicate some key information, but it can’t possibly tell you everything about who we are.
• Think about our sensory needs. You might not be aware of it but the sensory environment could be a barrier to our worship and belonging.
• Be aware of our social needs. We are made for relationships just like you.
• Be aware of our spiritual needs. Teach us, disciple us and pray for us.
• Show grace. Like you, we need it.

These tips apply to autistic people with all levels of support needs, which is why they are a brilliant springboard to get you thinking. My experience will be different to the experiences of others, and it is so important to remember that every autistic person bears the image of God and is an indispensable member of the body of Christ.

If you would like to know more, organisations like Through the Roof are great sources of information and support. As a Roofbreaker disability champion, I have released some autism and neurodiversity videos to support churches in understanding and supporting autistic individuals.