Student with Asperger's in a Religious Education Setting

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Hello,
I am in a position where I coordinate teachers who work with students with disabilities in religious education settings. Recently a teacher approached me with an interesting scenario-
A teacher met with the parent of one of his students and was informed by the parent that her daughter had Asperger's Syndrome and she was concerned about here being in the religious education class because she took meanings of statements too literal when not intended. As an example, she cited an instance where a religious leader spoke about the importance of modesty and the daughter then wore only clothes that went up to her chin and down to her wrists, she also gave other examples where the daughter took a 'suggestion' and carried it out to an extreme.

Another complicating factor is that this mother, for reasons I don't understand, has not informed her daughter that she has Asperger's Syndrome- I'm sure that is an entire discussion in and of itself, but I offer it only to add understanding to the situation.

The question that this teacher had of me is what he can do in this education setting to help this student and not cause her significant problems? Are there things he can avoid saying or additional supports he can setup that will help her to have a successful experience?

While the parent wants to have her daughter take this class, the mother is considering taking her out of the class because of these concerns- any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

If her main problem is that she talke things too literally, the teacher might need to be more specific. General statements can sometimes cause misunderstandings.

I agree. It probably wouldn't have done any of the students any harm if the teacher had been a little clearer on what modesty meant for the purposes of the context. There are fairly large cultures, here in the US, where the girl's response would have seemed pretty appropriate.

How old is the girl? How does the mother view AS? If she views it as some dread disease that will destroy her daughter unless cured, I suspect that she is the one in need of education prior to her discussing it with her daughter.

One thing I LEARNED in religious studies /catachism class was to examine writings critically and make my own choices.

The techniques the teacher used for logical analysis were especially useful. One of the techniques was to take statements to a literal extreame and then analyze the consequences to see if the statement was at all valid.

Is the girl perhaps misunderstanding this thought process?

By the way what does modesty (not braging about yourself) have to do with long sleeves? and what do cultural ephemera like clothes have to do with a diety?

Apologize if this offends anyone - I'm trying to use religion neutral language since what faith one belongs to influences the terms used a lot

Thank you for the thoughts- I'll answer the questions the best that I can as I have not had direct contact with the mother or her daughter- the girl is a teenager- probably about 13 or 14, and I'm not sure how the mother views AS, but it sounds like she may have some problems/fears with it because she has obviously gone to great lengths to hide it from her daughter- I would agree that she could definitely have a better attitude about it, but I am making that assumption without actually speaking with her.

julieme- it sounds like the girl may be misunderstanding the thought process of how how to think through things critically and evaluate their validity- and I think getting into more specifics in the classroom would be a good idea. The issue of modesty was perhaps a poor example to use, but to answer the question- in this religious context it is a belief that our bodies our a gift from diety and it sounds like their was a discussion on modesty about having respect for our bodies and not wearing immodest clothing- the girl then took this statement and ran with it. Another example the teacher gave that may give more insight into what I am talking about is a teacher talking about how chocolate can be bad for you and since that discussion 4 years ago the girl hasn't eaten any chocolate- does that make sense?

I guess I should step back and ask the larger question- is taking verbal statement too literally a characteristic of AS? If so, how do people handle that- what could others do to make it easier?

My autistic son did the same thing with hot dogs. A teacher said that they weren't that good for you, and he wouldn't eat one for a couple of years. He has since gone back to them.

I think I'd side with the others here, and say that things need to be explicitly explained, not generalized statements.

I was in a religious education setting a couple of times, and I want to add something here: I wound up with an absolutely paralyzing fear of hell. ((That was not the only sourse, mind you, but it didn't help.)) I mean, I can't even think very much about religion now except in the abstract without having a panic attack; I've only stopped being clinically depressed and wanting my own annihilation since I got an objective opinion (from a nun, no less) that I needed to stay away from religion till I got my head screwed on right. This is not to say religion is a bad thing AT ALL, but to say that if she has problems with the obsessive aspects of AS, precautions might be taken so she doesn't go nuts with worry about tiny rules and regs. It can be more consuming than you can imagine. Again, explicit explanations, grains of salt, etc. I'm probably one of a very few people who would be that obsessive about religion in such a negative way, though, so it probably won't be an issue.

When I was a child, even into my early teen years, sometimes when left alone in the house, I woiuld become afraid that I might have a religious apparition (I am Catholic). The thought made me momentarily afraid of the dark.

Today, I again am a Catholic (I returned to the church at about the age of 27), have no such fears or obsessions, and am raising my children in it.