As a note about the structure of the survey, the first question was multiple choice, and the other two were open-ended questions (no possible choices suggested).
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Question 1: Do you think your church or place of worship is autism-friendly?
Key:
1 (Blue) = No (22%)
2 (Red) = Somewhat (32%)
3 (Green) = Yes (46%)
Comments: I was encouraged by the responses to this question. Almost half of the people who responded indicated that their church or place of worship was autism-friendly, with about another third saying it was somewhat autism-friendly. Of course, it shows we still have more work to do in this area, but that many churches are doing a good job in creating an inclusive worship environment.
Question 2: If yes, what do they do to make it welcoming to families of children with autism?
Key:
A = Tolerance, respect, and acceptance from the church community, including tolerance for children making sounds or needing to move around.
B = Church has a special needs ministry and/or classes specifically designed for individuals with disabilities.
C = Church provides a "buddy system" or aide to help individuals with autism participate in religious classes.
D = Church staff and volunteers have training about autism.
E = Church provides a quiet area for families to go if their children get overwhelmed, where they can still hear the sermon.
F = Church allows children/adults with autism to have accommodations, such as using headphones/iPads, moving around during the service, and lowering the lights and music volume.
G = A church staff member has a family member with autism.
H = Church provides a respite program for families.
I = Sunday school teachers use computers and/or video modeling to teach.
Comments: The above graph shows the number of people who suggested each item on this list. As an example, item "A" has the highest number of votes (35 people stated that their church does this). I think it is interesting that the number one item on the list is tolerance, respect, and acceptance from the church community. This is something we can work towards in our churches and communities, and it costs nothing to incorporate. I'd love for any of you to leave a comment with your thoughts on how we can make this happen.
Question 3: If no, what would you like them to do to make it more welcoming?
Key:
A = Church congregation to be more accepting, understanding, and aware of autism.
B = Provide a quiet area for families to go if their children get overwhelmed, where they can still hear the sermon.
C = Offer a special needs ministry or classes for all ages (adults and children).
D = Train church staff and volunteers about autism.
E = Provide a "buddy system" or aide to help individuals with autism participate in religious classes.
F = Offer a separate service on a different day with less crowds, no loud music, and no bright lights.
G = Have more inclusion in age-appropriate regular religious classes.
Comments: This question addresses things that families would like to see their churches do. Again, we see that an accepting attitude is number one on the list. This and the rest of the items on the list can be taken into consideration when planning church services and special needs ministries. Of course, some are easier to implement than others, but I hope this provides an idea of some things families might appreciate.
DR WILLIAMS CURED 7 YEARS AUTISM
ReplyDeleteI am sharing this testimony for my daughter who suffered autism for 7 years. I am doing this, because I was her mother and caregiver during her dark days and am very happy to share it so that others can be helped through DR WILLIAMS HERBAL MEDICINE. It was a tough a battle for her; I was not actually the one who hard autism, but bearing the burden makes me understand what parents whose children and love with autism go through.
Lesia now 19 and was diagnosed with autism at the age of twelve, for seven years, she fought against her diagnosis. I must admit it was never easy for us as a family; we had to constantly watch her, and answer questions that we couldn’t explain. On several occasions, she asked if she will ever stop having speech delay and get well like her school mates and be the best swimmer she dreamt of becoming. She was a very happy child; and had a ‘normal’ childhood and there was no suggestion that she would later on develop autism.
She refused to accept defeat and fought autism. She religiously kept to her medications in spite of their side effects. We all wanted a cure, so that she can chase her dream and live a normal life like every other child. But the more she takes these medications, the more her school grade drop. She couldn’t concentrate and we noticed that her memory was being severely adversely affected. Each time we went back to the hospital, her medicines were changed to a different one. Seems like, each change of drug brings about change in side effects. After about 6 years on Abilify , Geodon , and other medicines, it seemed the autism started to increase in frequency. I had to make effort to reduce her medicines with plans to eventually stop it all. We found an alternative treatment in homeopathy, which was better than her English drugs. Gradually, I reduced her drugs, and her autism were no longer as frequent as it was as when she was on conventional drugs.
With our little breakthrough with homeopathy treatment, we made further search for natural cure. Fortunately we saw testimonies about herbal medicines which cure autism. We saw a lot of claims though, contacted them and didn’t get a useful reply. Lucky for us, we finally got a reply from Doctor Williams, he directed us to his blog where we saw a lot of information about his herbal medicine . Without further delay I made a purchase for her, I switched her over to it. We had great breakthrough, that in 3 weeks, her autism reduced. After 1 months as Doctor Williams promised , all autism symptoms stopped. It was like a miracle for us. since all this days now Lesia became autism free. Her story is quite lengthy, I hope it also help someone out there.for more information you can email Dr Williams on drwilliams098675@gmail.com