God Loves the Autistic Mind: Irreligion among autistics

Fr. Matthew Schneider talks about some reasons autistics are statistically less likely to belong to any particular religion. He also shares a bit about his book, God Loves the Autistic Mind: Prayer Guide for Those on the Spectrum and Those Who Love Us, and who might benefit from reading.

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[jennakaufman]

I’m autistic and I’m Christian, I don’t go to church anymore but I still love God.

[DJR]

Im autistic too, and i love god, but i dont follow religion. To be honest, when your a person with this kind of spectrum, i say you are absolutely RIGHT! Its just way too much for me.

[barbaragraver]

Thank you for a great video! I'm a late diagnosed autistic still working to come to an understanding of how autism has affected me over the course of my life. But this is the first time I thought about how being autistic might have led me to have a different relationship with the faith than others.

I left the Church for a number of years after a family tragedy, and I have always felt that if I'd had a deeper understanding of that faith that might not have happened. It's interesting to think decreased theory of mind might have had an influence.

Also interesting to think that the fact that so many autistic people aren't religious could have more to do with simple honesty than anything else. I agree! When my faith was undermined I couldn't pretend otherwise. The "mediocre center" has never been a good fit for me.

Anyway have already preordered Father's book and am looking forward to reading it. And will definitely be reviewing it on my blog!

[adelinereacts]

One huge way my autism presented itself when I was younger, especially a teenager, is that I took the Catholic Church very seriously and couldn’t understand why other people didn’t. I couldn’t handle contradictions or explanations that weren’t thorough and got very distressed whenever I was presented with a teaching that I didn’t fully agree with- my thinking was the Church is the only way and that if I deviated from the institution’s rules at all or didn’t actively try to pray more I was choosing to go against God. It was extremely inflexible thinking. Now I have a much healthier relationship with Catholicism- I’m still involved in the Church but at a level that I’m comfortable with from my own autonomy, and have a unique and personal faith that has evolved since then. My only problem is I don’t know how to get closer to God like I was before because I’m scared I’m going to slip into that legalistic mindset again, and especially after realizing the impact autism had on my faith I really think God wants me to be healthy and find ways of connecting to him that doesn’t harm me spiritually or emotionally. I guess it’s a journey and I will continue to figure it out as I learn to love myself and understand my strengths/ weaknesses

[michaellemmen]

0:20

I suspect I am on the spectrum however a big reason that I have left the church is exactly the opposite of what you are saying… I feel most people are only ‘worshipping’ once a week, at church. And that’s that. (I am coming from a Protestant viewpoint, for clarity). Whereas I worship every moment in spirit and in truth.

at church I was so distracted/ preoccupied with everyone else.

‘What am I going to say to this person? What type of relationship is this? Is this person even Christian? Are they going to make fun of me if I unmask and sing praises to our Lord/ talk about Jesus non stop?’

So much anxiety. I could barely worship. I worship in spirit and in truth, as Jesus proclaims. I worship when I look at the sunset that our Lord has painted. I worship when I observe how the Lord animates those around me. So amazing. I worship by reading his word and praying all the time. I worship him by singing and writing spiritual songs.

I find it most difficult to worship in the church. Where social hierarchy still exists, where social status still matters (it shouldn’t), etc. I feel so suffocated at church. I feel such a pressure to maintain relationships, which is something I don’t know how to do. And at this point, don’t really have an interest in doing (at least in the NT sense). I’ve been alone for a long time. I don’t know if I will ever go back to church. A lot of it seems like it has become church ‘culture’ rather than living and walking as a Christian. And I am not interested in Christian ‘culture.’

[Wolffur]

I am autistic (Aspurger's to be more precise) adult who is currently in RCIA.

[Zopicloned]

If someone with autism is athiest due to lacking the brain capacity for faith, will they go to hell, or will God forgive them?

[wickjezek]

Theory of mind can be developed. How would anyone know what God is thinking? You can't know what a nonexistent being thinks.

Most autistic people become atheist because they actually read the Bible and see the contradictions, hypocrisy, and the fact that God is NOT a loving God.

I can see how mass would be comforting regardless of your belief. It's ritual and routine. I appreciate you making the church more welcoming for those autistics who do believe.