Teaching an Autistic Child the Faith

[RinoaHeartilly]

I’m currently trying to educate my pre-teen autistic cousin the faith so that he can finally have his first communion (he’s been baptized obviously). First of all, I’d like to know if I am qualified to teach him (I’m a confirmed and practicing Catholic). Second of all I’d like some advice on how to explain things to my cousin if I am qualified. His level of understanding of the faith is rather low. He reads a page out of the children’s catechism book (those colorful books you get from the church that bring the teachings to a level kids can understand) every weekday, but I can tell the message isn’t really getting through to him. I often get blank/impatient/distant looks from him when I try to explain Bible stories or parables. I’ve tried my best to explain to him who God and Jesus are, but I think all he’s getting is that Jesus loves him and that saying his bedtime prayers is a way to talk to God (he gets a happy smile on his face every time I tell him Jesus loves him and that he must love Jesus). How do I bring things to a level a moderately-functioning autistic child can understand? And does invincible ignorance apply to him? I dread the idea of my cousin unable to be saved because he mentally cannot accept Jesus as his Savior.
Prayers would also be greatly appreciated. God bless.

 

[EasterJoy]

First off, no one is going to miss out on salvation because they lack intellectual attainment. If anything, the reverse is true, because the Lord cautioned, ““Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18:2-3 Remember: He was talking within a culture that tended to see those with scholarly attainment as being the most advanced spiritually.

Having said that, many parishes need help when it comes to preparing children with special educational needs to the receive the sacraments. The sacraments and preparation to receive them are the right of all the baptized who are properly disposed, and parishes are usually eager to prepare every parishioner to do so (unless there is a serious reason, such as a handicap that make sacrilege a concern, for example).

The child’s parents have the primary responsibility in this regard, however. If you can get a meeting set up between the director of religious education, the child’s parents, and yourself, then IMHO it is very likely that a course of study outside the typical “catechism classes” offered by the parish can be worked out. It will be advantageous to everyone, and your help as a one-on-one catechist will probably be welcomed.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

First off, no one is going to miss out on salvation because they lack intellectual attainment. If anything, the reverse is true, because the Lord cautioned, ““Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18:2-3 Remember: He was talking within a culture that tended to see those with scholarly attainment as being the most advanced spiritually.

Having said that, many parishes need help when it comes to preparing children with special educational needs to the receive the sacraments. The sacraments and preparation to receive them are the right of all the baptized who are properly disposed, and parishes are usually eager to prepare every parishioner to do so (unless there is a serious reason, such as a handicap that make sacrilege a concern, for example).

The child’s parents have the primary responsibility in this regard, however. If you can get a meeting set up between the director of religious education, the child’s parents, and yourself, then IMHO it is very likely that a course of study outside the typical “catechism classes” offered by the parish can be worked out. It will be advantageous to everyone, and your help as a one-on-one catechist will probably be welcomed.

Beautiful response, thank you. It makes me feel a whole lot better! I’ll definitely speak with my aunt in the near future regarding this to see if we can have a meeting set up like you mentioned. There are several mentally challenged children in my town, so maybe we can get a separate class just for them set up.
God bless, you’ve helped me out a lot!

 

[Annie39]

First off, no one is going to miss out on salvation because they lack intellectual attainment. If anything, the reverse is true, because the Lord cautioned, ““Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18:2-3 Remember: He was talking within a culture that tended to see those with scholarly attainment as being the most advanced spiritually.

Having said that, many parishes need help when it comes to preparing children with special educational needs to the receive the sacraments. The sacraments and preparation to receive them are the right of all the baptized who are properly disposed, and parishes are usually eager to prepare every parishioner to do so (unless there is a serious reason, such as a handicap that make sacrilege a concern, for example).

The child’s parents have the primary responsibility in this regard, however. If you can get a meeting set up between the director of religious education, the child’s parents, and yourself, then IMHO it is very likely that a course of study outside the typical “catechism classes” offered by the parish can be worked out. It will be advantageous to everyone, and your help as a one-on-one catechist will probably be welcomed.

That is very good advice Easter joy. I would just add that Catholics are not saved by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We must of course live out our faith to the best of our abilities but if the autistic child has been baptized that is what saves him see for example Acts 22:16 as well as other verses. I am the grandmother of a severely autistic child who will soon be 13. Her understanding seems to be on par with the boy who is called moderately autistic here so it’s possible that the boy is more severely autistic than his cousin believes. The parents of course would know best.

Annie

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

God bless you and please be assured of my prayers for what you are trying to do! The minimal requirement for being able to receive the Eucharist is that the one preparing to receive shows that they know there is a difference between the Eucharist and ordinary bread. For people who are non-verbal this can be shown by something as simple as a smile, the person does not have to explain Transubstantiation.

Here is a link to the National Catholic Partnership on disability and their Autism resources. Hopefully they will have some good information and materials you can either download or that your parish can purchase for you. The NCPD is actually a branch of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. They are an excellent group of people and do a fine job! God bless you hope this helps a little.

ncpd.org/ministries-programs/specific/autism

Thank you Monicad for your prayers, advice and the link you provided. This is great information.

 

[EasterJoy]

Beautiful response, thank you. It makes me feel a whole lot better! I’ll definitely speak with my aunt in the near future regarding this to see if we can have a meeting set up like you mentioned. There are several mentally challenged children in my town, so maybe we can get a separate class just for them set up.
God bless, you’ve helped me out a lot!

They may each need private lessons, each geared to the mental and emotional energy they have available on a given day. When it is possible for the ones who need private or semi-private lessons to join in what the rest of the children in the parish are doing, though, or when a less-overwhelming version can be made available for those who are easily overwhelmed, that would probably be something the children would like very much. Most of us want to be able to do as much as we can of what “everyone” is doing, after all, stopping short of what is beyond us.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

That is very good advice Easter joy. I would just add that Catholics are not saved by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We must of course live out our faith to the best of our abilities but if the autistic child has been baptized that is what saves him see for example Acts 22:16 as well as other verses. I am the grandmother of a severely autistic child who will soon be 13. Her understanding seems to be on par with the boy who is called moderately autistic here so it’s possible that the boy is more severely autistic than his cousin believes. The parents of course would know best.

Annie

Thank you, Annie. You and your grandchild are in my prayers I also agree that his mother would know him better than anyone, especially considering I don’t see my cousin every day.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

They may each need private lessons, each geared to the mental and emotional energy they have available on a given day. When it is possible for the ones who need private or semi-private lessons to join in what the rest of the children in the parish are doing, though, or when a less-overwhelming version can be made available for those who are easily overwhelmed, that would probably be something the children would like very much. Most of us want to be able to do as much as we can of what “everyone” is doing, after all, stopping short of what is beyond us.

You make a very good point, no two kids are alike and would likely need private lessons for each of them before they can learn with the other kids. I will first discuss this with my aunt and the catechism director of our parish the first chance I get, and work on getting something set up for my cousin at our parish like you mentioned in your first post before I start getting ahead of myself.

 

[the_phoenix]

He reads a page out of the children’s catechism book (those colorful books you get from the church that bring the teachings to a level kids can understand) every weekday, but I can tell the message isn’t really getting through to him. I often get blank/impatient/distant looks from him when I try to explain Bible stories or parables.

Can he write? Maybe he understands what he reads but would prefer expressing himself by communicating in writing rather than speaking? Maybe he understands what he reads better than what he hears?

~~ the phoenix

 

[ClearWater]

Wish you could PM Esieffe about this. I know he’s worked with autistic kids and seemed to really love it.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

Can he write? Maybe he understands what he reads but would prefer expressing himself by communicating in writing rather than speaking? Maybe he understands what he reads better than what he hears?

~~ the phoenix

He can write quite a bit, so maybe I might try that out. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Kal2012]

That is very good advice Easter joy. I would just add that Catholics are not saved by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We must of course live out our faith to the best of our abilities but if the autistic child has been baptized that is what saves him.

 

[RedSoxWife]

I’d second the writing suggestion above and add that I think sometimes it’s good not to assume we know how much a person with autism understands about what they’re learning, even when it doesn’t seem like they’re paying attention. My daughter is autistic (she is younger) and is showing us more and more frequently that she understands and has been paying attention to things when she gave absolutely no sign of interest and wouldn’t even glance in our direction. He may not be, but he also may be understanding much more than his responses show.

 

[Hail_Linus]

My autistic son had his First Communion back in May (he was 8).

I was able to find a parish that had classes for special needs kids. So maybe you can ask around to find another parish that could accommodate his needs.

He can tell you the three persons of the Trinity and he knows his prayers but I don’t think he has a very deep understanding of Salvation. These are very abstract concepts that can be difficult for an autistic child to understand.

However, he does believe the Eucharist is the Body of Christ. He use to get upset when he could not receive it. He is so happy he can now finally receive it. So maybe try focusing on the Eucharist and the real presence.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

I’d second the writing suggestion above and add that I think sometimes it’s good not to assume we know how much a person with autism understands about what they’re learning, even when it doesn’t seem like they’re paying attention. My daughter is autistic (she is younger) and is showing us more and more frequently that she understands and has been paying attention to things when she gave absolutely no sign of interest and wouldn’t even glance in our direction. He may not be, but he also may be understanding much more than his responses show.

Very true, it’s very possible that he’s grasping a lot of what I’m saying, you never know what’s going through someone’s head. And great to hear about your daughter, it’s always nice to now a child (autistic or not) is listening to what you’re saying.

 

[RinoaHeartilly]

My autistic son had his First Communion back in May (he was 8).

I was able to find a parish that had classes for special needs kids. So maybe you can ask around to find another parish that could accommodate his needs.

He can tell you the three persons of the Trinity and he knows his prayers but I don’t think he has a very deep understanding of Salvation. These are very abstract concepts that can be difficult for an autistic child to understand.

However, he does believe the Eucharist is the Body of Christ. He use to get upset when he could not receive it. He is so happy he can now finally receive it. So maybe try focusing on the Eucharist and the real presence.

I’m happy for your son. It’s true that things such as Salvation are very hard to grasp for an autistic child, but it sounds like your son can understand other difficult concepts such as the Eucharist and the Trinity. You and your son are in my prayers.