#DATC2024 first breakout sessions include full rooms. I am in the session on Reaching and Teaching Our Neurodiverse Kingdom with Aimée Stork, M.Ed. Sr. Manager of Online Education with Joni and Friends. Stork notes right away that many of us are neurodiverse and that the condition need not be considered a “handicap.” Stork also cited the well known phrase that when you meet onr child with autism… you have met one child with autism.

Yet Stork does note “some” common factors. So, kids on the autism spectrum:

• Can have delayed speech or limited language skills • May talk in a flat voice with very little inflection • May have difficulty understanding jokes, sarcasm, or teasing • May have obsessive interests • May flap hands, rock body, or spin in circles • People with ASD often thrive on routine. Disruption in routine can be very unsettling for many people with ASD. • May have unusual eating and sleeping habits. • Can be impulsive or extremely active • People with ASD might have unusual responses to touch, smell, sounds, sights, taste, and feel. For example, they might over- or under- react to pain or to a loud noise.

Still, Stork also notes the gifts of Autism that we often overlook.

*The ability to focus on systems *Strong local analysis (the ability to see details)

*Often exceptional visual-spacial skills

For all the differences, Stork did list some basic resources any church can provide that supports people on the spectrum (see the picture).

Stork included a key statement from Lamar Hardwick (a pastor with autism) early in her presentation that I will use to close this post since it reflects/frames a lot of the sessions:

“The moment we criticize or condemn people for being human is the very moment we send them the message the God is not in control, that God, in fact, did not create them in his image, and that they are incapable of enjoying community with God or the rest of creation.” Lamar Hardwick, Disability and the Church