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Church Involvement of Those on the Autism Spectrum

When it comes to traditional church, I . . .

  • Am involved and happy.

    Votes: 8 25.8%

  • Am involved, but not happy.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Was involved, but am no longer. (please feel free to elaborate below)

    Votes: 15 48.4%

  • Have never been involved.

    Votes: 8 25.8%
  • Total voters
    31
I've been involved in church to varying degrees through the years including being on parish councils as well as being a lector (reader) for years and being a part of sub-committees with specific goals. I've been uncomfortable in all of those roles. More recently (ie in the last 3-4 years or so) I quit all of those things which greatly reduced my stress level while still going to church.

Church to me isn't sensory friendly and that saddens me. I have to wear earplugs in church ("invisible" high fidelity). I've always dreaded shaking people's hands; I can't describe how much I loathe it. My reaction to smells, especially chemical fragrances like perfumes, detergents and "dryer sheets" is extreme. Numerous times our family has sat in a pew only to have people come later sitting in front or behind us reeking of chemical fragrance to where I can even taste it. Once we got up and moved two different times for that same fragrance reason. From a sensory sensitivity perspective, church is an unsafe place for me. That makes it hard to be "disposed" to feeling spiritual.

Since Covid, we haven't been back to church. Neither my wife nor I feel it's safe to do so. In our area masks are not mandated so from what I understand talking to some other people who have been back to church, some people refuse to wear masks out of some principal they have.

I read a flyer on the wall of a gas station once that was in a small town out of the area of where I live. The flyer was for a church function in that town and the flyer said prominently: "Our church is fragrance free". THAT sounded like Heaven to me.
 
Magna said:
I've been involved in church to varying degrees through the years including being on parish councils as well as being a lector (reader) for years and being a part of sub-committees with specific goals. I've been uncomfortable in all of those roles. More recently (ie in the last 3-4 years or so) I quit all of those things which greatly reduced my stress level while still going to church.

Church to me isn't sensory friendly and that saddens me. I have to wear earplugs in church ("invisible" high fidelity). I've always dreaded shaking people's hands; I can't describe how much I loathe it. My reaction to smells, especially chemical fragrances like perfumes, detergents and "dryer sheets" is extreme. Numerous times our family has sat in a pew only to have people come later sitting in front or behind us reeking of chemical fragrance to where I can even taste it. Once we got up and moved two different times for that same fragrance reason. From a sensory sensitivity perspective, church is an unsafe place for me. That makes it hard to be "disposed" to feeling spiritual.

Since Covid, we haven't been back to church. Neither my wife nor I feel it's safe to do so. In our area masks are not mandated so from what I understand talking to some other people who have been back to church, some people refuse to wear masks out of some principal they have.

I read a flyer on the wall of a gas station once that was in a small town out of the area of where I live. The flyer was for a church function in that town and the flyer said prominently: "Our church is fragrance free". THAT sounded like Heaven to me.
Click to expand...

aw that sounds very tough for you. It’s so weird, I’m not a fan of too much noise in fact it’s my worst sensory thing, but when it comes to loud charismatic worship I’m like YESSSS! it does baffle me. I will say I get overloaded even tho I love it, then can’t sleep that night after a big worship gig or conference cos I’ve got endless songs and conversations going round my head, so there’s that....
 
I find church hard. There is so feeling language used and I do not relate to that. People will say that they really felt God there or that the presence of the Spirit was really heavy. I miss it all, without even touching me. No connection with that stuff (possible cause = alexithymia)
 
Got shunned by the Presbyterians at about 9 yrs old! Pilgrims progress/unchurched ever since. Arguably 'fringe Christian'.
 
I relate to these last 2 comments. I hate it when people talk about feeling the spirit. I don't get that. I'm in the UK though, so people aren't usually the demonstrative and it's not too big of an issue.

Someone once told my sister that her faith was way too much based in logic and reasoning and not enough on "faith" and she took it as a huge compliment even though they were dissing her.

I was shunned as a 7 year old too. Totally didn't get on with the other kids. I was weird. As an adult I found a church where I fit right in. Took a lot of moving around, but I've finally found a home in my late 30s.

I was explaining how I was feeling to an older preacher and I expected him to just pat me on the back and tell me to just get on with it. But he actually listened and asked me questions. A couple of years later I find out his grandchildren are on the spectrum. I get treated like a person here, not just that weird girl.
 
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