Aspergers/autism

[Thy Geekdom Come]

What also may help, in some situations at least, is to ponder if someone else acted like that around you, how you would feel and think about their behavior. What if someone talked about nothing but a subject that you had no interest in? More likely than not, you'd find that annoying and want to talk about other things.

 

I've had that happen. I taught a couple Asperger's kids. They were great and I related to them better than most of my peers, but they still had different interests from mine, and sometimes they were very unappealing.

[SilentJoy]

We sometimes meditate on the life of Jesus (and Mary). This is hard for people with asperger?

 

I think meditation can be hard for anyone, whether they're on the spectrum or not.

 

With the rosary mysteries, occasionally I feel like I understand things more deeply when I picture the events, but usually it's like I'm trying to replay the same movie over and over and each time it gets a little less meaningful and more annoying. I do better when I'm trying to unite my experience to theirs; for example, when I'm afraid, I remember that Christ was more afraid than I've ever been in Gethsemane, and He was alone. Even though I am still afraid I try to offer comfort at the time when He needed it more than I do. It's an eternal event; in some sense, it really is possible for me to be there.
 

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I think meditation can be hard for anyone, whether they're on the spectrum or not.
 

 

True.

 

 

With the rosary mysteries, occasionally I feel like I understand things more deeply when I picture the events, but usually it's like I'm trying to replay the same movie over and over and each time it gets a little less meaningful and more annoying. I do better when I'm trying to unite my experience to theirs; for example, when I'm afraid, I remember that Christ was more afraid than I've ever been in Gethsemane, and He was alone. Even though I am still afraid I try to offer comfort at the time when He needed it more than I do. It's an eternal event; in some sense, it really is possible for me to be there.

 

:like2:

[ithinkjesusiscool]

Are we supposed to make the rosary something intelectual? Summa Theologica is fine but I want to understand religion not like that all the time
Anyway, people with asperger have problems with emotions (on a psychological level). Knowing what they feel or feeling to much can be a problem. Sometimes they have feelings but just can't express it with words. How does this affect their practice of religion?

[beatitude]

Ithinkjesusiscool, everyone prays differently and no one is saying what you're 'supposed' to do with a rosary. :) I choose a Scripture verse for each Mystery and begin by thinking about that, offering each decade for a particular person or intention. My attention will often wander, in which case I don't beat myself up about it, I gently carry on - everyone has this problem. Other people pray the rosary differently, some without using the Mysteries at all. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for the questions you are asking. There is also no 'autistic' way to pray as opposed to some 'non-autistic' way. Autism is complex and we need to be careful about generalisations. It's also important to remember that we don't learn about Jesus just from imagining how he might have felt - He is present in all of us and He knows how to introduce Himself to every person in the way we understand. One of the kindest and most compassionate friends I have is a severely autistic woman with no speech, and she has very strong faith in Jesus. In fact sometimes she reminds me more than a little of St Therese.

 

My own experience with ASD has been that it has taught me how very easy it is to make mistakes in judgment about people, so it is better to remember how much I don't know about them and to respect that. I think this helps me to be more respectful than I would otherwise be, and it helps me with developing humility. I think that many non-autistic people would also benefit from doing this; they don't have perfect insight into other people's thoughts and feelings either. No one has. There are many things that get in the way of that, and the biggest is the fact that we are not God - only God completely knows another person. No matter what degree of social awareness you have, no matter what cognitive difficulties, you are still capable of fulfilling "the last and greatest commandment" and ultimately that's all that matters. Christianity isn't an intellectual club that you need a certain brain to be part of and understand. It is also about far more than feelings - St Paul writes about having feelings too deep for words, which the Holy Spirit then expresses for us. Many people have problems with identifying emotion, for a variety of different reasons, but that is no obstacle: prayer isn't some sort of psychological test.

Edited October 16, 2014 by beatitude

[brandelynmarie]

Someone once said pray as you can, not as you cannot...

[SilentJoy]

 It's also important to remember that we don't learn about Jesus just from imagining how he might have felt - He is present in all of us and He knows how to introduce Himself to every person in the way we understand. 

 

Christianity isn't an intellectual club that you need a certain brain to be part of and understand. It is also about far more than feelings - St Paul writes about having feelings too deep for words, which the Holy Spirit then expresses for us. Many people have problems with identifying emotion, for a variety of different reasons, but that is no obstacle: prayer isn't some sort of psychological test.

 

Excellent reminder.

 

Juliana of Norwich said something about God giving each of us a weakness of some sort, which served both to help us to be humble, but also endeared us in a special way to God. The things I might most wish I didn't struggle with are things that have special claim on God's mercy and love; Asperger's is not something that "went wrong" for me, and it certainly isn't able to separate me from God. If He is satisfied, I am satisfied. He knows better than I do how to have a relationship with me; I don't have to worry that some physical problem will interfere.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

My own experience with ASD has been that it has taught me how very easy it is to make mistakes in judgment about people, so it is better to remember how much I don't know about them and to respect that. I think this helps me to be more respectful than I would otherwise be, and it helps me with developing humility.

I can relate to that.

[brandelynmarie]

Excellent reminder.

 

Juliana of Norwich said something about God giving each of us a weakness of some sort, which served both to help us to be humble, but also endeared us in a special way to God. The things I might most wish I didn't struggle with are things that have special claim on God's mercy and love; Asperger's is not something that "went wrong" for me, and it certainly isn't able to separate me from God. If He is satisfied, I am satisfied. He knows better than I do how to have a relationship with me; I don't have to worry that some physical problem will interfere.

 

Omgoodness, that's beautiful! I have things that I struggle with...just, thank you :blush:

 

 

:secret: I'm printing this out to remind me

[Jaime]

I think meditation can be hard for anyone, whether they're on the spectrum or not.

 

With the rosary mysteries, occasionally I feel like I understand things more deeply when I picture the events, but usually it's like I'm trying to replay the same movie over and over and each time it gets a little less meaningful and more annoying. I do better when I'm trying to unite my experience to theirs; for example, when I'm afraid, I remember that Christ was more afraid than I've ever been in Gethsemane, and He was alone. Even though I am still afraid I try to offer comfort at the time when He needed it more than I do. It's an eternal event; in some sense, it really is possible for me to be there.
 

 

I think if you look hard enough you can put anyone on the spectrum

 

 

definitely 

 

anybody

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I think if you look hard enough you can put anyone on the spectrum

 

 

definitely 

 

anybody

 

This may well be true. It's an interesting comment. I'm pretty certain I'm on it. My list of symptoms that fit the DSM-V is around 75+ now. Yet most people in regular interaction with me won't notice anything is odd, unless we hit on one of my special topics or if I open up around them and don't shut up or if I find a tangent or make a bad joke. I think a large part of that is that my parents taught me good manners, so I say please and thank you, respond to small talk (even if I don't see the point of it), smile at people (which is uncomfortable), etc. I wonder how many others would fit perfectly on the spectrum but go unnoticed because they don't remind anyone of Rain Man.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Raphael

[ithinkjesusiscool]

So a neurotypical and an aspie went to see a saintly Priest. After seeing the Priest they both went to the chapel and knelt saying: God, help...
I hope you get the point

[EmilyAnn]

This may well be true. It's an interesting comment. I'm pretty certain I'm on it. My list of symptoms that fit the DSM-V is around 75+ now. Yet most people in regular interaction with me won't notice anything is odd, unless we hit on one of my special topics or if I open up around them and don't shut up or if I find a tangent or make a bad joke. I think a large part of that is that my parents taught me good manners, so I say please and thank you, respond to small talk (even if I don't see the point of it), smile at people (which is uncomfortable), etc. I wonder how many others would fit perfectly on the spectrum but go unnoticed because they don't remind anyone of Rain Man.

 

There are a lot of stereotypes associated with ASD that do prevent at least high-functioning sufferers from proper diagnosis as well as the opposite problem of having people without ASD labelled as such because they fit a stereotype. People with ASD aren't just super-smart but awkward in a charming way like you see on TV.

 

Another issue is parental denial - my sister is a teacher and when she was training she was in a school for ASD kids and she said so many parents simply refused to see that their child had a problem and so failed to get them the necessary help. 

 

It has been suggested that I am on the spectrum - I had a mildly amusing incident when I acted as the first test subject for a friend's research and he very awkwardly asked me if I was autistic because I scored the way he expected someone on the spectrum to. I personally choose to ignore my own field and just get on with life because if I am, I can't say it affects my life too drastically (bad psychologist....). 

[ithinkjesusiscool]

If you google autism and religion you will find something interesting. You will find articles about autism and atheism.
Is it really true that autistic people are more prone to be atheists? I have actually heard the opposite being argued.
Thomas Aquinas, who may have had aspergers, wrote his beautiful texts about God, eg quinqae viae.

[Tony]

I forgot one big symptom: I'm incredibly technical. I'm like Marlin on Finding Nemo, when he tries to tell a joke. It takes me forever to tell a story because I have to be precise. I interrupt myself to go back and correct things that I'd said, to be more clear.

 

I'm like that too.. even on social media! lol. I'm always deleting, editing things as I type

[Tony]

If you google autism and religion you will find something interesting. You will find articles about autism and atheism.
Is it really true that autistic people are more prone to be atheists? I have actually heard the opposite being argued.
Thomas Aquinas, who may have had aspergers, wrote his beautiful texts about God, eg quinqae viae.

 

sadly, I think a lot of Aspies are athiests. but those that do believe, are very devoted. For some their faith may even be a "Special Interest". Which  I don't think is a bad thing at all :)

[beatitude]

I'm getting a bit uncomfortable with all the anecdotal evidence that's piling up around here. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects certain areas of cognition. It isn't something that makes you more likely to be atheist, Catholic, vegetarian, or a blueberry pancake fan. There has not been any conclusive research on autism and spirituality to say - the main study on this was done based on a sample of posts taken from the wrongplanet website, where a.) there is no way to tell if study participants are autistic or not (self-diagnosing on the Internet and deciding that you must be 'Aspie' because you don't like crowds doesn't mean you have autism) and b.) website users are highly likely to come from a certain cultural and social demographic. None of the studies have controlled for extraneous factors.

 

Regarding the above post, I have ASD and also had a very strong obsessive autistic interest in religion. That interest is no longer obsessive or 'special', because such interests wax and wane and aren't usually within the person's choice/control. That doesn't mean I'm not devoted any longer and it doesn't mean that I was somehow more devoted when my interest was at its strongest. Memorising thousands of tiny details about early medieval spirituality didn't make me any more devoted than any other Catholic. Faith is more than knowledge, as St Paul makes very clear. I think we really need to avoid the pop psychology view of autism where 'being Aspie' (I hate that phrase - I have autism, not a pet snake :P ) is made up of a bunch of anecdotal characteristics taken mostly from the Internet.

[ithinkjesusiscool]

Yeah exactly! That is a really strange study!
Why do you think people say that people with AS/HFA are more prone to being atheists than those whom some people call NT? There must be at least one reason?

[Tony]

Yeah exactly! That is a really strange study!
Why do you think people say that people with AS/HFA are more prone to being atheists than those whom some people call NT? There must be at least one reason?

 

I think it's something to do with being so analytical. So it makes it more difficult for them to have  any sort of faith.

[ithinkjesusiscool]

I think it's something to do with being so analytical. So it makes it more difficult for them to have any sort of faith.

How would being analytic make having a faith difficult? Thomas Aquinas was analytic and you know his faith...