Hi everyone, 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 and when it comes to faith also. Some autistics have a need to see evidence/feel the presence of God in order to believe in a faith. 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.
This will help further clarify this issue-
"Theory of mind (ToM) and abstract thinking are intertwined cognitive abilities allowing humans to understand intangible concepts, emotions, and others' mental states, going beyond concrete, immediate reality."
I have highlighted the area that people can struggle to conceive a God as they have a problem going beyond concrete immediate reality and cannot imagine this as well due to a lack of abstract thinking.
Traditional ToM models suggest that belief in God depends on the ability to attribute mental states to an unseen agent. Because autism has historically been associated with differences in mentalising, some researchers concluded that autistic people would be less religious. Some new research has shown how autistic people can have can have a different spiritual experiences, that can help strengthen their faith and belief in a God.
People today can see/feel evidence of God, through healing and miracles still. They can have messages from the Holy Spirit which is God's energy and I have to in my life had such messages sent to my spirit from the Holy Spirit. They may not see the real ones, but images of them like my spirit has sent me one showing Christ sharing a meal with his followers. They may also feel or see some of God's invisible world at times if they are sensory particularly may be. God's sprit is energy at heart and is invisible and at times I have felt it. Some people will be able to experience God's invisible world.
I read these debates and thought about it and knew that in my life through the Holy Spirit that God had allowed me to see that he was there clearly through the Holy Spirit's presence 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 has 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 help 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 other 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.
(Numbers 11)
I want to share with you scripture about God's spirit-
"And the Lord (God the Father) said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy
men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the
people,....And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will
take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and
they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it
not thyself alone"
(Psalm 104)
"Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain"
(2 Corinthians 12:2-4)- Being caught up to God's supernatural realm.
(2 Corinthians 4:18 ) Refers to God's invisible world is unseen by most unbelievers.
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 saw another article by an academic commenting on Ingela Visuri's work and I found it interesting.
The case of High functioning Autism" & spirituality
Dr. Persinger showed that a sense of "presence" of other beings by
people seems to be generated to an extent by the temporal lobe, as I
recall.
I have done some research into neuroscience and without
question the human brain is incredibly complex, however the general
thrust that the peculiar physiology of autistics would likely generate
peculiar spiritual experiences would appear to be a reasonable
proposition. Ingela Visuri, as a result of her intensive study of
spirituality in high functioning autistics stated that "The results also
indicate that distress triggers the participants to seek out
supernatural ascriptions and invisible relations." In reviewing types of
spirituality "distress" appears to be a cause in many different
scenarios of spirituality such as the processes of grieving, recovering
addicts, depression, as well as many others very likely. Tapping into
unconscious spiritual processes which most likely are deeply embedded in
the human unconscious, makes a lot of sense.
https://works.hcommons.org/records/vsmgh-ch441#description-heading
Varieties of Supernatural Experience: the Case of High-Functioning Autism
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
