Ep27 - Let’s Talk About Autism & Accessibility

Together we’ve been exploring different diagnoses such as anxiety, depression, OCD and bipolar, and seeking to learn more and find encouragement for how those struggles don’t have to keep us from God.

But what about other conditions that might impact our faith—other struggles and diagnoses Christians can wrestle with, including forms of disability or other differences like neurodivergence? The more we share stories and hear from this community, the more we see a need to widen the conversation and start looking at other conditions that can prove it challenging to connect with God or Christian community.

And so, with today being the International Day of Autism Awareness, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to broaden our scope and speak to someone who’s autistic—a familiar voice, actually—and learn a little about how autism and other neurodivergent conditions can impact someone’s engagement with church.

If you’ve been listening along, you’ll know that an integral part of what we do is to share the stories and voices of people with firsthand experiences of each of these issues – we want to talk to them, not about them. And that’s why we’re starting here, on the topic of autism; because it’s something someone our team has firsthand experience with.

Maddy is our team’s Writer & Editor, but you may also recognise her from earlier episodes of the podcast, where she’s shared on her journey with depression and self-harm, and navigating anxiety in a relationship.

Maddy was diagnosed autistic several years ago, and has since been on a mission to explore how that diagnosis interplays with her faith, and the ways in which her brain can be an asset—but also a barrier—when it comes to engaging in church.

In this episode, Maddy leads the conversation with Dr Katy Unwin, a Lecturer in Psychology at La Trobe University. Katy has a PhD in Autism, and has done a lot of research in this area — including a study she’s recently conducted into how autistic people’s sensory differences impact their experiences of church.

Through their conversation, Maddy and Katy hope to help us all learn a bit more about autism, the impact it can have on people’s engagement in church, and how we can work towards becoming churches and communities that are more accommodating for everyone — whether they’re autistic or not.

Maddy has also written two pieces about autism on the blog, titled ‘Navigating Church as an Autistic Person’ and ‘3 Ways the Church Can Love an Autistic Person Like Me’.

It’s important that we’re all on the same page as we engage with this topic, so Dr Katy put together a short video explaining what autism is, which you can watch below: