Pope urged to act on autism after Minnesota church ban
Posted: Monday, May 26, 2008, 12:24 (BST)
Autism campaigners are calling on Pope Bendict to act on autism in the wake of a church ban on a 13-year-old boy with autism in Bertha, Minnesota in the US.
Adam Race, who has severe autism, and his mother Carol have worshipped for a number of years at the Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph in Bertha.
Last week, controversy erupted when Rev Daniel Walz of the Church of St Joseph obtained a restraining order against the mother and autistic boy on the grounds of 'disruptive behaviour,' out of "a growing concern for the safety of parishioners".
According to Autism Awareness Campaign UK, the church alleged that Adam had urinated in the church, had bumped into parishoners, and had also made sounds during the service.
The Sheriff of Todd County had told Carol Race that if she took her son to Mass and entered the church, they would be arrested. The controversy has stirred debate in light of the 60 million people with autism around the world.
Around 1 in 150 children is on the autism spectrum in the US, whilst in the UK 1 in 100 children has autism - over 500,000 people are on the spectrum, says Autism Awareness.
"Numbers are rising all the time, probarbly due to better diagnosis so many children and young people with autism will be entering churches," the charity said.
"Autism is a 24 hour job and it is a daily struggle for parents and carers. Some have to fight for public services for their children. Others are desperate for access to education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care," it added.
Recently the United Nations General Assembly in New York launched the first ever United Nations World Autism Awareness Day. The UN hopes to highlight the complex needs of parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome.
At the time, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the need to build enabling environments for children with disabilities so they can prosper as future members of their communities, citizens of their countries and as fully-fledged members of the global community.
Autism campaigners are now calling on Pope Bendeict to issue guidelines to Roman Catholic churches on how to deal with children and adults with disabilities like autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Other Church leaders around the world have been urged to do the same.
No pope has ever talked publicly over autism and Pope Benedict has been asked to address this issue in the wake of the controversy in Minnesota.
Churches are being asked to understand the complex needs of children and adults with autism.
The Autism Awareness Campaign UK is urging churches in the UK to have sensory rooms or a quiet area for 'time out' if things get too much for a child or adult with autism, training for clergy and staff on autism, the use of a communication system like PECs (Picture Exchange Communication systems) in churches and other resources for autism.
Above all, campaigners are calling for a partnership between religious organisations and parents and carers in order to address issues that may arise.
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 14:18 (BST)
WWJD-- Shame on you!
Scott B, Phoenix New York
Added: Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 18:06 (BST)
What an unchristian attitude of rejection and intolerance. Instead of a loving church family reaching out to the less fortunate they just choose to shut them away out of sight and mind. Could no one find compassion in their soul to reach out to this boy to help him and his family rather than just get rid of them? Why if the mother can care for him 24/7 can no one at this church help facilitate a mere 2 hours of mass a week at the church. Providing an appropriate space - a cry room or trusted people that could compassionately help calm the child. These are not animals they are just as much children of God as anyone else.
McLaird, duluth mn
Added: Friday, June 6, 2008, 15:56 (BST)
in regards to the AUTISTIC boy and church. If you don't live with someone who has autism then SHUT UP. this woman it trying to teach her child.
I have twin boys , 17 years old, and know first hand what a chore she is dealing with.
joseph a wiley , yuba city California
Added: Friday, May 30, 2008, 5:55 (BST)
I keep wondering about the actual details of this situation - it sounds very strange. Did the pastor talk to the mom first & she refused to work with him? Did the mom talk to the pastor about a reasonable solution (ie. did she expect him to provide a form of support that was untenable?) Why on earth don't any of these articles provide us with reasonable details of this situation? Seems like they are more interested in stirring up outrage.
I have a son with Tourette's & another son with high-functioning autism - while I have sympathy for this mum, if my boys were unable to sit reverently & politely during Mass, I can't imagine allowing them to disturb the meditation, contemplation & worship of others.
At its essence, this situation does not sound substantially different than my toddler acting out & being a distraction at Mass. I would not dream of allowing him to distract & upset others because I wanted to be Mary when my vocation requires me to be Martha.
Whatever our opinions of the situation, however, let us remember to pray for all involved.
QuoVadis, Katy, TX - USA
Added: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 20:18 (BST)
If you view the video about this situation in Minnesota with the autistic youngster, but leave the SOUND OFF, you will perhaps appreciate the reality of the situation a bit better, not having to listen to the HYPE of the announcers, or the mother’s self-serving remarks.
Notice the overgrown teenaged autistic kid in the swing: He rocks back and forth mindlessly. His face is full of scabs and scars from banging it against all sorts of objects in his fits of rage. He dashes across the yard and jerks his head to and fro with no rhyme or reason to any of his actions. This is a BIG kid, weighing 225+ pounds. He is dangerous.
This autistic kid is severely RETARDED and probably has NO LANGUAGE SKILLS AT ALL; he cannot speak or understand others. He may not even be TOILET TRAINED. He lives on a farm. He is not accustomed to being in a church where he’s expected to be quiet and attentive; he’s out of his element and he has no way to communicate other than to maraud the place.
WHY are these parents parading this kid down the aisle with a DOG COLLAR around his neck, leading him by leash?
This story is sickening! These parents are selfish and ignorant. Child protective services should be called in to investigate and try to find some actual HELP for this tragic figure of a “child”– BEFORE SOME REAL HARM IS DONE, to himself and others.
PS I don't think Jesus EVER used the term "radical inclusion"! To try to get the POPE to override this decision of the local church is ludicrous. This youngster desperately needs help, not political hype. He should have received the help when he was much younger; it may be too late for him now.
anon, USA
Added: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 20:12 (BST)
I have heard rumors that the priest *DID* offer options to this family, including that he offered to come to their home for Sunday Masses. Not only does the church need to make allowances for persons with disabilities, their families must do the same. Flexibility works both ways.
jsloan, North Dakota, USA
Added: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 16:31 (BST)
Infants and young children can be loud and disruptive (and on occasion urinate) during mass- does that mean parents with young children be banned from a public mass, or forced to attend a special mass for those going with kids, people with disabilities or anyone else who might "disrupt" the mass on a regular basis?
Lauren, St. Paul, MN
Added: Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 19:06 (BST)
Several years ago I was stopped in the High Street of our local town by a very polite member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (maybe I have a friendly face?). We conversed for a few minutes and I told him that, if his Church wanted to do something really useful, it could use its resources to produce a handbook of moral rights and wrongs, based on Christian principles, that could be easily understood by children (and possibly some adults) on the autistic spectrum. I had already asked in my local religious bookshop but with no success. You see, my autistic child was having great difficulty understanding abstract concepts as found in Christian principles. I haven't followed this up since then but if it doesn't exist then I believe there is room for a book or books suitable for people on the autistic spectrum.
Elizabeth, Guernsey, Channel Islands
Added: Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 11:12 (BST)
The church should be one place children and people with disablities are able to come to. what would jesus say and do? The church needs to wake up regarding disabled people and do more, we should be the leading light not dragging our feet!!
susan, colchester england
Added: Monday, May 26, 2008, 23:59 (BST)
I think it is awful that a Mother should not be able to take her son to church, especially in a religion which supposedly seeks to include all through prayer and spiritual connection. Understandably, it is difficult to deal with a person at any age in a church or liturgical setting who has disabilities. Again, understandably it is difficult when a person urinates where he is not supposed to, or causes a disruption. There are cry rooms available for a reason. the back of the church is available. I assist several disabled people to daily mass and Sunday mass. Laudibly, the priest takes the noise in stride from these people; he continues the mass despite the disruption and greets them after mass with care, concern and Christ's love. This is necessary for them and for those of us who accompany them. I count it as an honor to receive Christ with these people each week.
It is not right to bar someone from the life of religion, just because of disability. The priest who barred this woman and her son most likely does not have a regard for the disabled, nor can he understand them, which is to his discredit. Suppose he should have a stroke and not be able to speak or have difficulty remembering where the bathroom is due to Alzheimer's disease someday. he could get in a car accident and no longer be able to move his body as he used to. Nobody would bar him from being a priest. those with developmental disabilities have just as much right to Christ and the church as he would. And definitely, there was surely a better way to deal with the situation than just to bar the family from attending services. A suggestion: how about the priest brings communion to the home? How about the cry room in the church? how about a private mass is offered for the family on special occasions? Were any of these options offered before he just served the poor woman with a restraining order?
Dawn Lapka, Hastings, USA
Added: Monday, May 26, 2008, 16:55 (BST)
This is far more extreme than my own experiences of going church with an autistic child, but still quite similar.
There are an awful lot of places where autistic children and adults are just not welcome.
Autism is not a 'cute kid in a wheelchair' disability - it is a disability that often comes with challenging behaviour, obnoxious habits and antisocial obsessions.
Gareth, York, UK
Added: Monday, May 26, 2008, 16:28 (BST)
Now that's funny there seems to be and outrage over a very simple problem I am somewhat autistic and i say that if a child is yelling and urinating IN A CHURCH he should not be there, that kind of behaviour is intolerable.
Chris J, Maplewood, USA
Added: Monday, May 26, 2008, 15:07 (BST)
When one considers the meaning of the Mass, it makes little sense to have aseverely disbaled individual attending a mass for the general public. There are many who have severely distracting disabilities. Is there any reason why there couldn't be a Mass somewhere that all of them could, conveniently, attend? Or, ask a prest to come to the home. Sometimes, we go overboard in trying to offer equal opportunity and don't end up doing anything good for anyone. Churches established nursuries for the very reason this article refers to. Asking the opoe to make a decision that differs almost case by case, is terribly unfair all around. I close with this exampple: a few years ago, a family with a down's syndrome child attended Mass every Sunday with the child. When the child started to speak during the Mass, people looked around, unable to respond. The priest stopped, looked at the child and said to the parents that a child's babblings are the greatest worship that can be given to the Almighty. He urged others to bring little ones to Mass and for the adults to interpret the noisemaking as prayer in a separate language. Interestingly, as the subsequent weeks brught in more and more little children, the noise never increased. A few weeks ago, there really was a problem. An old-time parishioner had developed Alzheimer's. Several times during the Mass he made very articulte, loud comments that were peppered with obsenities and vulgarities. Who do you think should be out of the congregation, the old man or the disbaled kid? The Lord DID give us common sense; seems to me like the restraining order started off from that source. THe mother should think this through.
priscilla taylor, syracuse, USA
