Autism and Religion: How Autism Influences Spirituality

today i have an interesting video kind of surprised to be shooting it actually but it's in response to a video request from matt s this was a while ago but i put it on my list because it intrigued me and that topic is religion and autism stick around and i'm going to share my thoughts on how these two things are related [Music] if you're new to the channel i'm taylor i was diagnosed as an autistic female at age 31 i'm a mom with two kids i created my channel as a way to share resources with other autistic adults especially autistic females and mothers but i've been very surprised to connect with many other people in the autistic community in different walks of life and if you are watching today for the first time welcome to the mom on the spectrum community if you enjoyed this video if you could give it a thumbs up and also subscribe to the channel that helps my videos show up for more people like you and me who are looking for resources to help support us in this challenging world of navigating autism so religion and autism i'm going to ask for some grace as i have done in other videos this is a difficult subject to talk about because there are many different opinions and potentially a lot of controversy talking about religion can bring up a lot of feelings a lot of deeply seated beliefs i'm not asking anybody to change any of their ideas or beliefs today i just wanted to explore a little bit of what i have observed as someone in the autistic community and how autism can affect religion or at least how it has in my experience and in some of those that i have observed i personally come from a conservative evangelical christian background that's how i was raised it has been a complicated journey that has involved a lot of learning and a lot of deconstruction a lot of relearning and then learning that every day i live the less i feel like i actually know or understand i'm not here to share about my own personal faith experience at least in this video but i do want to share that i have seen some really neat correlations between religion and autism first of all our brains are wired differently speaking for myself i feel like i spend a lot of time on the outside looking in even just this past week i was at a social event for a friend's birthday and i spent the car ride home crying because i didn't understand how to be a part of the conversations that were happening so i've spent a lot of time on the outside a lot of time watching other people learning from other people listening less talking as i feel can be a common experience for people on the spectrum you also may be aware there tends to be a higher percentage of people in the lgbtqia plus community when we're looking at people on the spectrum so you see greater variation and expression of sexuality and also gender if i'm using any terms or phrases that are upsetting or you feel are misrepresentative please comment below i really want to make sure that my communication in regards to sexuality and gender is respectful and informed and i'll be the first to admit that i still have a long ways to go there so thank you for your patience as i am learning how to talk about these issues so there tends to be a greater representation of both sexuality and gender for people on the spectrum not only in those two areas but also just in general i feel like we spend a lot of time on the outside looking in so i feel like that general feeling of having these experiences where we're on the outside looking in when we're spending a lot of time listening trying to learn trying to understand i think we feel a lot of the frustration of being different and i also think i know i may be speaking in generalizations but i think many of us have come to see that there are so many different ways to live life there are so many different expressions of life and creativity and gender and sexuality and religion and artistic expression and education there's so many different ways that life is lived and it's a really beautiful thing and i think in general people on the spectrum tend to be pretty skilled in recognizing other people's uniqueness i've seen that a lot on my channel in the comments and just interacting with you all in emails things that i say are just taken at face value like a lot of people on the spectrum have taken me at my word and not looked for hidden meaning they just make me feel seen and valued in a way that makes me feel like my beliefs are accepted they don't have to be shared with the other person i'm communicating with but they're accepted there's this mutual respect there of your experience is different than mine and i respect that again generalization this isn't 100 of the autistic community but to reiterate because of the higher prevalence of different experiences of life whether that be gender sexuality social differences i feel like the autistic community is more prone to be able to see different sides of any situation and i think that also extends to religion i have noticed a great deal more acceptance of various religions in the autistic community i have seen how particular people can practice one religion learn from another religion and use some of those same practices to enhance their own spiritual life i read a quote this morning i've been reading out of the tao tao which has been a really wonderful journey learning more mindfulness and cultivating more inner peace if that's something you're looking for the tao is a really wonderful and beautiful collection of wisdom i'm not even sure how to communicate about it because one of the tenets is once you name the towel it's no longer the towel anyways if you're interested in learning more about it you can easily find a copy of it there are so many different versions but in studying it today i came across a quote this is not from the towel but just as a reflection on the towel wayne dyer connected this poem from hoffe's so this is a a poem that hoffe's wrote that i felt like was applicable to this conversation that we're having today would you think it odd if hafiz said i am in love with every church and mosque and temple and any kind of shrine because i know it is there that people say the different names of the one god i thought that was so beautiful and i feel like that's a really beautiful representation of how i have seen in my limited experience many people in the autistic community approach religion i've seen people finding beauty in all different facets of religion because it's a way that we can all connect to our one true source we're all coming from the same place whether or not god is a mystical being in the sky or if it's just our breath and our chest we're all made of the same stuff we're all breathing the same air and i really love that the autistic community for me has been a safe place where i feel like i can explore religion and i can explore other ideas and beliefs without this feeling of being wrong or evil for believing something different than someone else maybe that hasn't been your experience maybe you have had a completely different experience i would love to hear about that in the comments i enjoy having these types of discussions this is a very unique topic for this channel i've never covered religion before but i do really enjoy talking about religion so i decided to branch out and make this video today again i hope you'll give me some grace i'm not trying to poke anyone or make anybody upset i just kind of wanted to explore some observations that i've made as an autistic person and how that can relate to religion so let me know your experiences below let me know if any of this stuff resonated with you today thank you matt s for the suggestion if anybody else has a suggestion for future videos please drop that in the comments below make sure you check out my resources at taylorheaton.gumroad.com i'll be sure to put that link in the description and again if this video was meaningful or helpful to you if you could give it a thumbs up and make sure you've subscribed to the channel that really helps connect other people like you and me to resources like this when they need it most thank you so much for watching and i will see you in the next video bye [Music]

Channel: Mom on the Spectrum

Views: 20,628

Keywords: autistic, aspergers, autism, adhd, autistic female, autism spectrum disorder, asd, mental health, asperger, autism in females, sensory processing, high functioning, yt:cc=on, religion, autism and religion, autism spirituality, autistic mom, actually autistic, red instead, autistic creator, autistic youtuber, paige layle, yo samdy sam, purple ella, social anxiety, sensory processing disorder, spd, highly sensitive person, hsp, autism and hsp, neurodivergent spirituality, autism god

Id: 6E2ndu7UWSE

Length: 7min 42sec (462 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 11 2022