tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8151218235669995122.post7535427714149088835..comments2023-08-14T03:27:40.920-07:00Comments on Just Being Me...Who Needs "Normalcy" Anyway?: Why Churches Can Be Hell for Autistic People, Part 2 of 2 (My Easter Post)Morénikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360855353262663284noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8151218235669995122.post-71398988792608613032017-04-16T05:47:49.805-07:002017-04-16T05:47:49.805-07:00A lot of this stuff is why I became an atheist at ...A lot of this stuff is why I became an atheist at the age of 8. Especially the "check your brain at the door" and the bigotry. My school and church both emphasized those aspects of Christianity very heavily.Ettinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12391427859178500937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8151218235669995122.post-35117043346021427312016-04-05T18:37:20.132-07:002016-04-05T18:37:20.132-07:00My biggest pet peeve is flowers, scents, etc. I ca...My biggest pet peeve is flowers, scents, etc. I can't be around lilies without risking my life, but when I try to find a church where I can worship safely it's … awful.kalanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15101028064175605780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8151218235669995122.post-35390364626867920792016-03-29T12:12:28.998-07:002016-03-29T12:12:28.998-07:00Thank you so much for this two-part post!!!! It re...Thank you so much for this two-part post!!!! It reminds me of some of the issues brought up by Thomas E. Reynolds — author of the book _Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality_ — in a seminar he gave at the church I was attending 3 years ago. I haven't actually read the book since I'm dyslexic and legally blind and am waiting for an audiobook version to be produced. But I got the basic gist from his seminar and I think he would appreciate your post immensely. I'm going to try and find out where to contact him to send him the link to your post.<br /><br />As for me, I'm Autistic and chronically ill with dysautonomia (as well as legally blind and dyslexic) and I'm a Jewish Buddhist follower of Jesus, so I'm quite spiritually eclectic. And I've encountered similar problems in all the faiths I've investigated over the years. I've attended and eventually left several congregations, synagogues, and a Hindu community, and Buddhist temple over the years because of various forms of inaccessibility due to reluctance on their part to accommodate one or more of my disabilities. I refuse to play at being a part of a community that I clearly don't really belong to in the minds of the other members of that community.<br /><br />These days, I belong to an accepting spiritual community where I really do feel like I belong and am accepted the way I am. And it has been a profoundly liberating experience, since I'm finally rid of the anxiety of whether my needs are going to be met or not. Yes, it took a few months of them getting to know me and me getting to know them, but in the end, everyone seems to have opened up — including me — to my presence in the community. <br /><br />I hope other communities learn from reading your post and similar writings like Reynolds' book. Access to spiritual community ought never to be limited to only the abled.Vlad Drăculeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03242340650477740456noreply@blogger.com