I HAVE TO BE HONEST —AUTISTIC KIDS HAVE JUST NOT BEEN ON MY RADAR FOR THE MOST PART. It was only in the last few years when I began to realize how spiritually sensitive and how many have supernatural experiences, that I took notice.
One mother wrote, “Many people don’t care about autism, unless they are faced with ‘dealing with it.’ Even in churches, it is like what are we going to do to manage that kid? Ninety percent of families with special needs are unchurched.
They have been hurt and overlooked and have to fight for a lot of things. Fighting to go to church just isn’t worth it oftentimes. I’m counseling a church right now on setting up special needs assistance in their programs. It’s fun to see a staff go from ‘this is a problem we need to address’ to ‘we want our church to reflect the kingdom, and that includes all people.’ This is a learning curve.” ~Tahni Cullen, author of Josiah’s Fire.
Another mother, blogger at Thinking Moms’ Revolution
“I am troubled by a church that seems to be oblivious to what is happening to our children. I’m not talking about my church specifically, but all churches. Much like the rest of society, most people in church do not think much about autism, unless it has happened to one of their children.
The obliviousness that I am talking about is that the church as a whole fails to see what is happening to our children – the decline in health of not only our children, but children who suffer from a myriad of disorders: allergies, asthma, learning disabilities, ADHD, asthma, sensory processing disorders, etc. We are seeing God’s precious children presenting with a host of health issues that did not exist two to three decades ago, yet no one in the church seems to be asking, “Why?”
My [Becky speaking] concern is if 90% of these people never go to church, how in the world are these children ever going to hear about Jesus and be discipled? They are “in there!” They think. They reason. They listen. They have spirits that are receptive to God, and they too need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
They can and should be filled with the Spirit, learn to hear God’s voice, learn to worship and pray and believe God for miracles—including their own!
I am being stirred by the Holy Spirit to see if these children respond to our style of ministry. By that I mean the teaching, the depth of the word.
If these kids can’t or don’t go to traditional churches, how can we help these families teach their children so they too can have encounters with the Holy Spirit and know that He is real?
Please comment and share especially with the parents of autistic children!
