Caring for all of God's kids

Every church has children and teens that are on the autism spectrum, yet we often see very little action plans being developed.  We don’t hear about it too much—even though the rates of kids with autism has gone up over 78% in the last decade.    

In 2000 and 2002, the autism estimate from the CDC was about 1 in 150 children. Two years later 1 in 125 8-year-olds had autism. In 2006, the number was 1 in 110, and the newest data -- from 2008 -- suggests 1 in 88 children have autism.  Boys with autism continue to outnumber girls 5-to-1, according to the CDC report. It estimates that 1 in 54 boys in the United States have autism.

Bekah Miller—the Associate Director of Youth Ministry at my home church has been working on this issue over the past few years.  I have seen her be intentional about caring for students with autism—and she shares these thoughts as we prepare for a Youth Leadership seminar on April 8.

 

“I never really thought about students with Autism and how it affected my ministry. Then, I met Lisa and her son Ben. I learned from them the reality that most families with Autism don’t feel welcomed in churches. They also don’t feel like church is a safe place for their students to be a part of youth group. This broke my heart. I am in the business of trying to make ALL students feel safe and to create a welcoming environment that ALL students can be a part of.

At that moment I had a decision to make – I could keep ignoring this increasing issue, or I could choose to deal with it head-on, even when no one else was willing to.

I chose the latter, and I continue to choose it each week.

It is not easy. It often times takes extra time, extra meetings, and extra love. These choices though are creating a place, an environment, and a community for students that struggle to find them anywhere else.

Consider joining me and Lisa for a conversation about what this looks like to integrate students into your ministry that have Autism; where they can be successful and where they find a place to belong.  I look forward to continuing the conversation with you.”

Let’s talk.