Christian, Faith-Based View of Parenting Kids with Autism

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Hey, I don't know if it's allowed to post something like this, and if it isn't, please flag this for a moderator to take down, (in other words, no harm intended, no offense taken if it's removed).

I've created a blog in hopes of building a community of Christian parents who are parenting kids with autism. It's not meant to be EX-clusive (as in, if you're not a Christian, you shouldn't read or make comments there), only that as a Christian I see my kids as a gift from God and the challenges that autism poses my children, and me as a parent, as challenges that can inspire growth in them and me.

Since my faith is such a strong part of my life, it's kind of impossible for me NOT to see the whole thing through that lens. I've found it difficult to find a "place" (in real life or cyberspace) that sees the whole thing that way too, so I've created a space of my own and I'd like to invite other like-minded (or simply curious) people to visit. The blog is called In the Kiln and can be found at www.nobodyelsethoughtofthis.wordpress.com

At the same time, if you know of other on-line, Christian communities of parents who are raising kids with ASD I would like to hear about those, too.

Thanks!

Expect to spend a lot of time defending your faith as your kids get older. HFAs do not think like other people do, they focus on details, meaning discrepancies and inconsistencies drive them crazy and they will question absolutely everything. If you don't have airtight, logical answers, they're likely to feel that either you don't know what you're talking about, or that you're intentionally trying to deceive them. Because of our social naivete, we are often taken advantage of and humiliated growing up and can easily become cynical and have trust issues.

I grew up in a strictly fundamentalist home and from adolescence on, spent more than twenty years dissecting first the belief system I was raised with, then every other school of thought I could find, to determine whether or not anyone had a rational picture of the truth. Eventually I felt I had assembled a reasonable set of answers, but it does not resemble the faith of my parents in any way. Just an FYI reminder, because our neurology does not allow us to see and comprehend things in the same way that you do. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks for the warning. No worries, my faith can handle that. My God can handle that too. I don't consider myself to be a "fundamentalist" and wouldn't be offended if my kids choose a different way of believing, or if they choose not to believe at all. In my way of thinking, that's God's thing to worry about, not mine.

My kids already ask me a lot of questions about it. A lot of times I just tell them that we don't know....because there are a lot of things we don't know.

My own sense of spirituality has just always been built in to me, and not even because I was raised in a religious home. Just part of how I am wired, I guess.

My parents would loose it if I told them I was an athiest and in some ways I am. I believe in God but not most people's idea of religion. I believe in Christ, but not Christianity. I've known many horrible horrible people who used Christianity as an excuse to justify their cruelty or told me it wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be. Most were just Christians on Sunday only.

Thanks Jonah'smom. I just read your latest article, and it was beautiful. I consider myself a devout Catholic Christian, and I feel that this journey with autism has been the ultimate test of placing all of my worries and fears on the Lord. Sometimes I feel abandoned, but sometimes I am amazed at the blessing of my son and I am so grateful that he is in my life. I know God has a plan for our family in this, and it definitely keeps me clinging to my God to get through the challenges that we face. I would love to keep reading your blog!

Personally, and I mean no offense her. I don't think you should raise your children faith base. Instead parent them normal style and let them discover on their own. No one likes allegories shove down their throat.

PunkyKat, you're by definition a theist if you believe in God. If you don't believe in organized religion, then that's as specific as you can go.

Which is fine. Just study the Bible on your own and don't trust what you're told by Christmas-and-Easter Christians.

Hi Jonahsmom-

I know it is sad, but some people think that Catholics are not Christians, that we are some type of organized cult or something. Funny how Catholicism has been around since shortly after the death of Christ. Anyway, those who do not truly understand Catholicism, really do not know what they are talking about when they say Catholics aren't Christians.

In my view, there are not two categories of autism: Historical autism vs Christian autism. There is only one category: autism. There are not two categories of epilepsy: Historical epilepsy vs Christian epilepsy. There are not two categories of the common cold: Historical common cold vs Christian common cold. There are not two categories of a neurological condition: Buddhist Asperger's vs Mormon Asperger's - and so on. X-ref: Barack Obama Democrat White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (2010). Americans are Americans not American Christian vs American Hindu/American White vs American Black vs American Yellow vs American Red and so on.