Pathetical blindness started from biased experts forcefully implanting myths about Aspergers. This ignorance continues to perpetuate. Thank God evidence is finally pouring in to reverse the damage already done. This Asperger Ministry devotes itself to the clean up work. Doing so requires exposing what’s incorrect thinking against what’s correct. Christians need to be meek (teachable, humble) and not gullible. This is not an Aspie pride thing. It is about loving thy neighbor as thyself.
We will begin with this comment by Adam from the post Why Christians Need to Care About Autism (which also needs this ministry’s help):
How would God judge a person with autism, more specifically Asperger’s syndrome? Even though someone with Asperger’s usually has average or above average intelligence and understands the gospel and the fact that he wants to worship God and be a good Christian, but since people with Asperger’s can’t socialize or communicate efficiently with others to share or grow themselves in the faith, will God judge them more lightly than say the average, normal human being?
I’m speaking primarily teenagers and adults with Asperger’s here. They can try and try to be a Christian but what if they can’t progress or get past a certain threshold or barrier because of their disorder, or the inability to see their own shortcomings and usually don’t have a clue on how to fix or rise above them. I’m thinking Christian counseling may be one avenue these people could look towards for help?
The article’s subtitle reads What responsibility do believers have for those with special needs? For starters, we have the responsibility to treat others how we would want them to treat us. How many believers would like to be insulted? Would you feel insulted if you were thought of as being an abnormal human being; a defect? Philippians 2:3 tells us to humbly think of others as being better than ourselves.
It is no one’s business to question how God will judge others. His ways are not our ways. He is sovereign and infinite. We’re not. God is good. We’re not. God is the one who saves us. He is able to do anything He desires. He finishes what He starts. It is a sin to question God’s ability or wisdom.
We will be judged for our faith in God. Do we trust and obey Him? Anything that is not of faith is sin. Sin is what God cares about. To claim Aspies can’t socialize or communicate efficiently with others to share or grow in faith reveals ignorance and pride. God never commands anyone to do something He does not enable them to do.
To ‘try and try to be a Christian’ is the mind-set of a self-righteous person. We are saved by faith; not by works. It is Christ’s righteousness that saves us. The faith to grasp this is a gift from God. God is the potter. We are the clay. Whether one is neurotypical clay or Aspie clay makes no difference. Only God is able to judge the heart.
Let’s not forget Galatians 1:10, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Aspies have no clue on how to fix their “flaws” or “rise” above them? God is not able to clue in Aspies to what He wants them to fix; nor is He able to sanctify them?
Fact: Asperger individuals do not lack empathy. Asperger’s theory does about-face is just the beginning of information long over-due. In the 1980’s, Uta Frith and Simon Baron-Cohen theorized Aspies lack empathy. Their dehumanizing work spread like fire. They were quick to speak and do not like to listen to what others have to say if what’s said crosses their opinion or calls their research into question.
The Boy Whose Brain Could Unlock Autism tells how the Intense World theory could transform our understanding of Aspergers. The article reveals a lot about Henry Markram’s Aspie son Kai. Markram says of his son, “Everybody was looking at it (i.e., Aspergers) as if they (i.e., Aspies) have no empathy, no theory of mind. And actually Kai, as awkward as he was, saw through you. He had a much deeper understanding of what really was your intention.”
Karla McLaren’s article Autism, empathy, and the mind-blindness of everyday people gives a human vision of autistic humanity. True Christians would value her input. She sums up by saying,
Today in 2015, as I watch my autistic friends creating autism-positive spaces and working for social justice for all disabled people, I witness their gorgeous and deep empathy, their boundless sensitivity, and their love for humanity. They have risen above the dehumanization of biomedical vision, and they can teach us more about empathy than we have ever known before.
Autistic people, pathologized and erased for so long by the mind-blindness of researchers and everyday people, are the only people who can help us truly understand autism from the inside out. It is time for us to embrace autistic people as valuable, worthwhile, and fully human beings with valid and hard-won wisdom.
The church should also appreciate Alex Plank’s interview with Henry and Kamila Markram About The Intense World Theory of Autism. It ends with this wisdom:
For autists, they will learn how to nurture rather than lockup the deep insight and how to contribute these insights to society. We will learn how to help the next generation of autists cope and express their individual genius. For society, we will learn how valuable the autistic community is for society.
Glory be to God!