Creating and Nurturing an Inclusive Church Environment for Autistic Adults

In this episode of the neurodivergent Bible teaching podcast, I go over some practical ways to create and nurture and inclusive church environment for autistic adults. I have found that in my conversations with other autistic adults and neurodivergent adults there is a common theme of us, not feeling as though we belong in church. While we may be welcomed, we often feel as though we have to mask our neurodivergent needs in order to be accepted in church. Feel free to send this episode to a pastor, church, leader, ministry, leader, volunteer leader or church member so that they can receive ideas on how to create and nurture inclusive environments within their church for autistic adults or pray about which idea you’d like to discuss with someone wiwithin your church. While I mention these ideas are for autistic adults, they can be utilized to create and nurture inclusive environments of belonging for Christian neurodivergent adults. I’d love to hear your experience about what’s reminded you that you belong in church. Message me: @deneamarable on instagram. Transcript: 0:01 - 0:58Hello, it's Denea, your host of the Neurodivergent Bible Teaching Podcast. This podcast is dedicated to helping you understand how to study the Bible. I'm Denea, I'm neurodivergent, I'm autistic, I have ADHD and OCD, and I know what it's like to struggle to understand how to study the Bible, let alone also honoring my brain while doing it. I've learned a few things through seminary, um, through life, and I want to share those things with you. In this podcast, you will hear all about, um, studying techniques, some Bible studies so you can understand how to apply those techniques, some neurodivergent encouragement, and just some ways that I'm learning to honor the way that God has created my brain I'm so happy that you're here. 1:00 - 1:00Let's get started. 1:05 - 1:34Hello, hello, it's Denea, host of the Neurodivergent Bible Teaching Podcast. I hope that wherever you are, you are able to just for a moment be where your feet are. And what I mean by that is, okay, so, you know, I can't just tell you a story. I have to give you context. Is anybody else like that? 1:35 - 2:13I have to, I have to kind of preface the story before I tell it to you. So last week I was out of town. I was actually doing two presentations at the Disability in the Church Conference. It's put on by the Shine Foundation and also Key Ministry. It's for church leaders, pastors, uh, volunteers, just advocates of change for disability to talk about, um, what we can do, what we are doing that can grow disability ministries all over the world. 2:13 - 2:29That was one of the cool things about it. It wasn't just in the United States. It was all over the world, and y'all had a great time. I felt so anxious. I felt, I felt so anxious the whole week because I was out of my routine. 2:30 - 3:01Um, I felt anxious because I am most likely gonna have to have surgery for endometriosis. Um, we're trying to figure out like the date for that, and I felt anxious for other things that are— that I'm thinking about, like, in the future, right? And they're good things. I feel like a lot of times when we talk about what we're— what we're feeling anxious about, like, we try to downplay them, um, but some— like, sometimes those things are valid, right? And the things I was feeling very, very anxious about, they were all about in the future. 3:01 - 3:30were, They um, very valid things. But I had to remind myself, and I really feel like this was like God, um, because he didn't like shame me, or he, you know, he didn't tell me, um, that those things I wasn't worried— that I was worried about— he wasn't like, oh, Danae, those things aren't important. He was like, Danae, just be where your feet are, like right, right, right here for, for this moment. Can you focus? Can you work at being present where you are? 3:31 - 4:03Um, you know, that might be like a grounding technique, or that might be a brea