A
few years ago along the course as I was writing my own lifetime
Christian testimony. I read when I was looking at some research that
some people with autism say they cannot believe in a God without seeing
evidence of God because of a need for logical explanations in life. Some
autistics have a need to see evidence and they may have logical
thinking because of their autism and they say that they need to see God
or evidence of a creator before they will believe in a God. They may
have literal thinking and may struggle with this with autism because
they may have a difficulty with abstract thinking and may struggle to
conceive a reality of there being a God in their minds.
I read
these debates and thought about it and knew that in my life through the
Holy Spirit that God had allowed to see that he was there clearly
through the Holy Spirit in my life. Of course I had my faith first for
some time before he showed me this, but he did after some time and it
helped to support me in life in many ways and I have written about this
on this blog. It helped to also to strengthen my faith by seeing the
Holy Spirit works. I am diagnosed with autism and have level 2 sensory
needs which is moderate and sometimes it seems like level 3 which God
has helped me manage through the Holy Spirit which I have shared on this
blog.
If you do not wish to have a faith or may have a
different one, that is your choice, but factual information needs to be
out there to, that it is very possible for some autistics to be
supported by the Holy Spirit to which could them see the faith in action
more and this can help to support them with the faith.
There is
research out there today by lecturers that state that autistics can
have a different way of spirituality, that some may be more sensory and
have deep spiritual rich experiences through this.
Not everybody
may be sensory, but I think God makes everybody equipped to cope in
life and if somebody may not be sensory, there are others gifts to like
wisdom that may not rely on this but may help some people to cope. There
are 8 gifts of the Holy Spirit which are given to support the church
and members of the church in their faith journey as a believer and this
can be from childhood to adulthood, these are found in (1 Corinthians
12) in the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit has many different
roles like a protector, comforter and advocate. I wrote on this blog
about being baptised with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can also help
you harness your natural talents and generally in your life as well.
I
just wanted to share what motivated me to also focus on this topic
online. I also a main blog with more posts on my faith. This is my main
blog on my faith. https://www.racheltestimony.com/
Here is some research on the subject-
Research
by Ingela Visuri in 2018 found that autistics have increased
somasensory perceptions which lead to increased supernatural
experiences.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2153599X.2018.1548374
“non-autistic
group participants, and current research suggests that unusual
somatosensory experiences are prevalent in the autistic population.
Attribution of invisible agency is understood as a sense-making coping
strategy, and it is argued that esoteric content in fantasy literature,
movies and computer games explain why these young adults prefer to
attribute agency to ghosts, spirits and demons, rather than god(s). The
study thereby extends and challenges the study of autism and religiosity
by exploring the intersection between autistic embodiment and
encultured cognition.”
More research later in Autism and Religion in 2023 found the below-
“We
dispute the assumption that individuals with ASD are inherently less
religious and spiritual than the neurotypical population. Religiosity is
possibly expressed differently in ASD with unique spiritual experiences
and beliefs (“gifted, visionary, and truth-seeker”).
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10453845/
I read one story before of a young man who was autistic who says that
he cannot see God, perhaps he was not very sensory-but however still
believes in God. https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/autism-doesnt-stop-me-believing-in-a-god-i-cant-see/429.article
