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Hello
I'm here to introduce to you the concept of Puzzle Praise, an internet-born ministry specially designed with those on Autism Spectrum in mind.
below is a paragraph taken from my own website about the said ministry:
Puzzle Praise
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. "-Jeremiah 29:11
Welcome to the Puzzle Praise web blog!
The goal for this page is to encourage inclusion for christian families living with a son or daughter or loved one in the autism spectrum.
Too often we hear of individuals being excluded based on various reasons.
In the case of one family, it was because the son had autism.
Minnesota-In 2008, A catholic priest filed a restraining order against the family of a severely autistic 13-year-old young man in an effort to keep him from attending Mass on Sundays.
The Rev. Daniel Walz said that Adam Race's unruly behavior endangers others who attend services at The Church of St. Joseph.
"He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church," Carol Race said. "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Carol Race said it all started last June, when Walz and a church trustee visited the Races at their home address the behavior of Adam, who stands taller than six feet and weighs more than 225 pounds.
In an affidavit, Walz said the church "explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation."
Carol Race said the family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in the back pew to keep avoid disrupting the services and did not hear a complaint from the parishioners until Walz showed up at their home in June.
The Diocese of St. Cloud issued a statement saying the petition was filed "as a last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child."
Walz said the boy's behavior worsened over time, telling authorities that Adam has been "extremely disruptive and dangerous" since last summer.
According to Walz, Adam struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits the church, spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights when he is being restrained.
He also one time assaulted a girl by pulling her onto his lap and, during Easter mass, ran to the parking lot and got into two vehicles, starting them and revving the engine, Walz alleged.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear," Walz wrote.
Adam's parents have to sit on him and sometimes tie his hands and feet to get control of him, Walz wrote.
Carol Race has an answer to each complaint.
She said her son makes spitting faces but doesn't spit and acknowledged he has occasional problems with incontinence. She says that she and her husband sit on Adam because their weight calms him down, which is why he pulled the girl onto him.
She also said they do use soft straps to bind Adam's hands and feet on occasion because it calms him, as does the revving sound of engines, which is why he started the cars.
Some disability advocates are getting behind the Races.
"It's unfathomable and concerns me that we've taken a situation with special needs and we're making it into the criminal matter," said Brad Trahan, the founder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in Rochester, who has asked the bishop of St. Cloud to rescind the restraining order.
Carol Race just hopes the ugly back-and-forth doesn't tarnish the image of the church.
"The church isn't bad," she said. "But it's what some individuals do within the church."
(source: the associated press via abcnews.com)
My question is if things got this bad as Reverand Walz says they were, why couldn't the Race family take their son home and have a private bible study there instead of exposing Adam to all sorts of uncomfortable things.
The answer is simple. The Races simply wanted to include their autistic son even if the other parishoners were going to judge him based on the behavior caused by a disability that is simply out of his control.
it isn't in our will to judge (or for the most part ban from a church) someone with a disability. That's not what our Father in Heaven wants. He is the only one who can do that whether we like it or not.
Autism and the lack of a religion...What's the meaning?
Not too long ago, I was browsing the forums of wrongplanet.net (a site for people on the autism spectrum, mainly users with Asperger's Syndrome) when I came across a couple of polls posted by users wanting to know if anyone on this site practiced a certain religion.
One poll called "Religion (or lack thereof) and Autism/Asperger's" counted 39% (150 surveyed) of users as being atheist (those without a religion) and 9% of users (36 surveyed) as being "Very religious" while in another poll called "Has religion helped your autism?", only 20% of users (7 surveyed) said they were Christians while 8% of users (3 surveyed) said they were Jewish. But 50% of users (17 surveyed) said they were Atheists.
So why does there seem to be a lack of faith within the Autism community?
Does it have to do with a lack of understanding of spirituality?
Does it come from a strong desire to seek proof?
Or does it come from what I call the "Why me?" complex?
It may be any or none of these things but just to educate you, I'll give you more information on the "Why me?" complex.
What is the "Why Me?" complex?
When we go through a stage in our lives where we just want to break down and ask "Why did this happen to me?" or "If only I (fill in the blank here)" or even going so far as to blame God for a certain unfortunate situation, This is what I'd like to call the "Why me?" complex.
It's an unhealthy way of dealing with your problems but most of all, if you're a Christian, it can put a pretty big hole in your walk with God.
Part of my goal for this new ministry is to let those who have special needs who want to have that connection with the Lord know that there are others in this world who feel rejected just as they do.
On the day Jesus Christ died, people shouted, mocked, ridiculed, spit on him and even beat him up. And he asked God to forgive them. And because of that act of mercy, we now live under grace.
There is hope. You just need the faith.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching (Matthew 7:28 ASV)
The goal I hope to reach with this idea is to teach those who don't know about Christ and his many teachings just what being a Christian really means (despite what some folks want us to think) from an Autistic point of view. Too many times, we get a complicated view of God's word and this leads a lot of Aspies (and many Autistics) wondering just what everyone is talking about. Another problem is there are so many different translations of the bible these days, too many of us get confused with the language.
I heard somewhere about this God's word translation of the bible from a youtube video that endorses it to be "easy to read" and "Relevant to today's language" While I don't yet know if this would be a good fit for any Christian on the spectrum. For now, I'll take Andy Chrisman's (the guy endorsing this translation. I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1998 back when he was a member of the christian group 4him) word because maybe it DOES seem like a good translation
Another thing is (and maybe this is a myth) some people want proof that God exists (this is where you get the arguement that most aspies are atheists)
And maybe it's something totally unrelated.
Whatever the reason, this new ministry (which is still under construction btw) will help answer some questions.
There is also a new awareness ribbon for Puzzle Praise as well
(which will be shown soon as soon as i get enough posts
I'm here to introduce to you the concept of Puzzle Praise, an internet-born ministry specially designed with those on Autism Spectrum in mind.
below is a paragraph taken from my own website about the said ministry:
Puzzle Praise
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. "-Jeremiah 29:11
Welcome to the Puzzle Praise web blog!
The goal for this page is to encourage inclusion for christian families living with a son or daughter or loved one in the autism spectrum.
Too often we hear of individuals being excluded based on various reasons.
In the case of one family, it was because the son had autism.
Minnesota-In 2008, A catholic priest filed a restraining order against the family of a severely autistic 13-year-old young man in an effort to keep him from attending Mass on Sundays.
The Rev. Daniel Walz said that Adam Race's unruly behavior endangers others who attend services at The Church of St. Joseph.
"He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church," Carol Race said. "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Carol Race said it all started last June, when Walz and a church trustee visited the Races at their home address the behavior of Adam, who stands taller than six feet and weighs more than 225 pounds.
In an affidavit, Walz said the church "explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation."
Carol Race said the family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in the back pew to keep avoid disrupting the services and did not hear a complaint from the parishioners until Walz showed up at their home in June.
The Diocese of St. Cloud issued a statement saying the petition was filed "as a last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child."
Walz said the boy's behavior worsened over time, telling authorities that Adam has been "extremely disruptive and dangerous" since last summer.
According to Walz, Adam struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits the church, spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights when he is being restrained.
He also one time assaulted a girl by pulling her onto his lap and, during Easter mass, ran to the parking lot and got into two vehicles, starting them and revving the engine, Walz alleged.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear," Walz wrote.
Adam's parents have to sit on him and sometimes tie his hands and feet to get control of him, Walz wrote.
Carol Race has an answer to each complaint.
She said her son makes spitting faces but doesn't spit and acknowledged he has occasional problems with incontinence. She says that she and her husband sit on Adam because their weight calms him down, which is why he pulled the girl onto him.
She also said they do use soft straps to bind Adam's hands and feet on occasion because it calms him, as does the revving sound of engines, which is why he started the cars.
Some disability advocates are getting behind the Races.
"It's unfathomable and concerns me that we've taken a situation with special needs and we're making it into the criminal matter," said Brad Trahan, the founder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in Rochester, who has asked the bishop of St. Cloud to rescind the restraining order.
Carol Race just hopes the ugly back-and-forth doesn't tarnish the image of the church.
"The church isn't bad," she said. "But it's what some individuals do within the church."
(source: the associated press via abcnews.com)
My question is if things got this bad as Reverand Walz says they were, why couldn't the Race family take their son home and have a private bible study there instead of exposing Adam to all sorts of uncomfortable things.
The answer is simple. The Races simply wanted to include their autistic son even if the other parishoners were going to judge him based on the behavior caused by a disability that is simply out of his control.
it isn't in our will to judge (or for the most part ban from a church) someone with a disability. That's not what our Father in Heaven wants. He is the only one who can do that whether we like it or not.
Autism and the lack of a religion...What's the meaning?
Not too long ago, I was browsing the forums of wrongplanet.net (a site for people on the autism spectrum, mainly users with Asperger's Syndrome) when I came across a couple of polls posted by users wanting to know if anyone on this site practiced a certain religion.
One poll called "Religion (or lack thereof) and Autism/Asperger's" counted 39% (150 surveyed) of users as being atheist (those without a religion) and 9% of users (36 surveyed) as being "Very religious" while in another poll called "Has religion helped your autism?", only 20% of users (7 surveyed) said they were Christians while 8% of users (3 surveyed) said they were Jewish. But 50% of users (17 surveyed) said they were Atheists.
So why does there seem to be a lack of faith within the Autism community?
Does it have to do with a lack of understanding of spirituality?
Does it come from a strong desire to seek proof?
Or does it come from what I call the "Why me?" complex?
It may be any or none of these things but just to educate you, I'll give you more information on the "Why me?" complex.
What is the "Why Me?" complex?
When we go through a stage in our lives where we just want to break down and ask "Why did this happen to me?" or "If only I (fill in the blank here)" or even going so far as to blame God for a certain unfortunate situation, This is what I'd like to call the "Why me?" complex.
It's an unhealthy way of dealing with your problems but most of all, if you're a Christian, it can put a pretty big hole in your walk with God.
Part of my goal for this new ministry is to let those who have special needs who want to have that connection with the Lord know that there are others in this world who feel rejected just as they do.
On the day Jesus Christ died, people shouted, mocked, ridiculed, spit on him and even beat him up. And he asked God to forgive them. And because of that act of mercy, we now live under grace.
There is hope. You just need the faith.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching (Matthew 7:28 ASV)
The goal I hope to reach with this idea is to teach those who don't know about Christ and his many teachings just what being a Christian really means (despite what some folks want us to think) from an Autistic point of view. Too many times, we get a complicated view of God's word and this leads a lot of Aspies (and many Autistics) wondering just what everyone is talking about. Another problem is there are so many different translations of the bible these days, too many of us get confused with the language.
I heard somewhere about this God's word translation of the bible from a youtube video that endorses it to be "easy to read" and "Relevant to today's language" While I don't yet know if this would be a good fit for any Christian on the spectrum. For now, I'll take Andy Chrisman's (the guy endorsing this translation. I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1998 back when he was a member of the christian group 4him) word because maybe it DOES seem like a good translation
Another thing is (and maybe this is a myth) some people want proof that God exists (this is where you get the arguement that most aspies are atheists)
And maybe it's something totally unrelated.
Whatever the reason, this new ministry (which is still under construction btw) will help answer some questions.
There is also a new awareness ribbon for Puzzle Praise as well
(which will be shown soon as soon as i get enough posts