Conducting a Poll

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Hi Everybody.

This is Chris Vulcan. I have read parts of a few blogs by people who say they have Asperger's syndrome where they talk about their experience with religion, especially Christianity (heck, it's the most common religion out there, so more people would have personal experience with that then with, say, Buddhism). Some bloggers had grown up in Christian homes, and some hadn't, some eventually became Christian, and some decided not to. Out of curiosity, I'd like to take this survey and find out some hard data about religion and the autism spectrum. I figure Wrong Planet might be an ideal place to do that. Could you please tell me:

What is your diagnosis? Are you self-diagnosed or not sure?
What was the religious tradition you came from?
What religion do you practice today?
Do you have any experience with Christian churches? If so, what were your experiences like?

I really appreciate feedback!

I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at age 12.


I grew up in a very religious, Baptist family.


I no longer care enough for religion to follow it. I'm not sure if I'm atheist or not, but I have very strong leanings toward atheism.


I had to attend church just about every Sunday until my teen years. Although I hated going to church, I still considered myself Christian


No problem.

I am guessing that this is a semi-formal survey for personal reasons?

1) Diagnosis? I was diagnosed when I was in my teens, however I had an earlier diagnosis of a "Pervasive Developmental Disorder" when I was in elementary school.
2) My parents were nominally Christian, although they don't know much about the religion. We never attended church services or anything like that.
3) I don't practice any religion. My philosophical perspective is evolutionary naturalism, in that I think that based upon our current knowledge, the best explanation of the existence of life is evolution and that this impacts how we can interpret life. I also am skeptical towards things that can be labeled "supernatural" simply because in general there is a lack of evidence for these kinds of things.
4) I have experience. I briefly joined a conservative Presbyterian church mostly seeing religion as a matter of indifference and thinking that there were benefits of joining the dominant religion, I ended up considering myself a genuine convert for awhile, however, this ended up horribly due to communication issues and differences in perspective.

• Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.
• Raised Roman Catholic.
• Atheist.
• Yes, my experience with Christianity is that its dogma and asceticism didn't mesh with my own outlook on life.

Know that your results are not likely to be representative. The Internet is a horrible place to conduct polling.

I am diagnosed Asperger's, was raised Presbyterian and am still Presbyterian.

Corrected.

What is your diagnosis? Are you self-diagnosed or not sure?
Aspergers Syndrome (diagnosed).

My parents are not religious; my mother sent me to Sunday School for a while, although I question the impact this could have had on me as I failed to even ascertain that it was a religious thing until someone told me so when I was in late teens or early twenties.


Yes; boring.

Non-diagnosed; non-sure.


Casual swedish Protestant with a Catholic non-believer mother.


Pokemon Training. Or none.


Too vague. I'll just say that it's inconveniently difficult to get much sleep in there.

What is your diagnosis? Are you self-diagnosed or not sure?
Was born moderately autistic. Now I am mildly autistic.

What was the religious tradition you came from?
Christian family.

What religion do you practice today?
None. Agnostic.

Do you have any experience with Christian churches? If so, what were your experiences like?
Had not visited a church in over 5 years.

hello Chris:+)
i was dx'd in 2004, i was in my mid 40s then. i was raised in a non-religious home, and my parents exhibited much hostility towards religiously-inclined people, not on my part but of my parents who took delight in putting obnoxiously pious folk in their place. when somebody would make the mistake of trying to persuade them of some point of argument by saying, "i am a christian," they would give them the boot out the door express. "life is a b***h, then ya die" was their thinking.

i never have had any need for religion per se, but regarding my spirituality i tend towards the "new age" philosophies, i.e., all religions are but different pathways towards enlightenment. it could be said that i am just not a "joiner" - but i never felt comfortable in church, the few times i have attended. it was all too impersonal for me. i could dig the pipe organ and choirs with the ethereal sunshine streaming through the stained-glass window panoramic ambience, but the words in the hymnal just seemed like piffle. it was solitude among the multitudes in the pews. i have heard hardly any preachers who were able to make the scriptures relevant to modern living - for the most part it sounded like a depressing quasi-historical litany of thou shalt nots. the few so-called christians i have met, turned me away with their exclusion [i'm going to heaven, but your heathen self will barbeque in hell forever!"] and conservative archness. i met precisely one christian person who was non-judgmental towards my non-religiosity. i am not condemning christians [only god can judge] but just the same i have not had the good fortune of meeting more christians who lived-up to the whole tamale and not just "the good parts."

I am diagnosed. My dad is atheistic, my mom is Christian, but I had a mostly non-religious child hood and have always been an atheist. About a year ago I gained interest in Buddhism, read a couple books, did some research, and decided that I agree with the philosophies presented. So I am Buddhist, but I still do not think of myself as a religious person since I do not believe in spirits, gods, or an after life.