TEACHING your child with autism the concept of faith and religion can be a very challenging task. For one, teaching them something that is not concrete can be very difficult for them to understand. Abstract things that one cannot see or touch are hard to teach, even to normal kids.

Secondly, bringing them to the place of worship or the church can be physically demanding. For example, when a child is hyperactive and cannot sit down or becomes noisy during the mass or worship, the parents may find it hard to contain or restrain the child. The tendency is to feel embarrassed that other people may not be able to concentrate on their praying, or the parents themselves cannot focus on their own praying.

Sometimes, the best option is not to bring the child to church.

Despite the difficulties of teaching a child the concept of faith and religion, we all wish that children with autism are able to participate in the religious activities of the family. As a parent, when should you and how can you involve the whole family to develop spirituality in your child with autism?

When my son with ASD was still a year old, we experienced difficulties in bringing him to church. We do know that children under the spectrum have problems with sensory integration. My son cries throughout the mass because the crowd overwhelmed him as well as the sounds all around. We had to take turns in carrying him to pacify him. We had to continue bringing him to church until he got used to the routine and was able to tolerate large crowds and various auditory and visual inputs. The problem did not stop there. When he was already able to walk, we had to deal with his tendency to roam and explore the church surroundings. We had to adjust our seating to the sides or corner of the church so as not to distract other churchgoers. We progressed to the stage when he can already tolerate sitting down for the duration of the mass by allowing him to eat bits of food and to drink. This was understandable for a toddler, but not appropriate for a young boy or a teenager, so we gradually decreased his eating inside the church. Finally, we found a simple miracle that allowed us to hear mass in the most normal way. We discovered that since he likes music, his attention and sitting span was longer when we were seated near the church choir. I cannot forget that day when, for the first time, we were able to join other families in praying The Lords Prayer while holding hands inside the church. It was truly an answered prayer.

Since we belong to the Catholic Church, we guided our son to experience going through catechism and receiving the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. My sons teachers at ILLC Davao also helps in nurturing spiritual well-being by introducing religious concepts in class, complemented with actual visits to the church and facilitating requests of some parents for assistance in receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Today, our son is our familys constant reminder to go to church every Sunday. His attachment to schedules and routines has been put to a great advantage. We had to go to the same church at the same time every Sunday, with variations allowed from time to time.

We cannot discuss how deep his understanding about faith or religion is. What is important to us is that he is mainstreamed with the religious activities of the family and we really feel the meaning of the adage that a family that prays together, stays together.

(Jane Ann S. Gonzales is a mother of a youth with autism. She is an advocate/core member of the Autism Society Philippines and Directress of the Independent Living Learning Centre (ILLC) Davao, a centre for teenagers and adults with special needs. For comments or questions, please email janeanngonzales@yahoo.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on September 17, 2014.

Excerpt from:

Gonzales: Spirituality for persons with autism spectrum disorder