Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to "Joni and Friends".
And welcome to April, National Autism Awareness Month. And with the numbers of children being born with autism nowadays – one in every 150 births – we need to be more aware. And sometimes awareness is best raised through a real-life story. I'm thinking of little Connor and his parents, Denise and Tom…
This little family had just moved to the area; Tom’s job had changed and they were new to the community. They wanted to find a good church and a few Christians at work told Tom of a welcoming church not far from where he lived. So Sunday morning, Tom and Denise (with 9-year-old Connor) pulled up into the parking lot of the church… and there they sat in the car in the parking lot, a little nervous, and slightly uneasy. They looked at the people getting out of their cars and walking up to the front door – they wondered if this congregation would be like so many others. You see, their son Connor had autism and they never could be sure when or if he would have a meltdown. Having autism, Connor could only handle so many people in a crowd… he could only bear so much noise, then watch out… he’d go ballistic. Tom and Denise looked at each other, took a deep breath, got out of the car and headed toward church holding Connor by the hand.
When they walked inside, they asked about Sunday school and described that Connor had special needs. The usher pointed them in the direction of a special needs classroom. The teacher welcomed him in and, after a few questions about his needs, she assured the parents that Connor with his autism would be just fine. Tom and Denise went into the worship service, still a little uneasy. They decided they should sit near the back of the church – that way they could hear if Connor started screaming and Denise or Tom could go and help. Ten minutes passed and then twenty – still, they didn’t hear any noise coming from the hallway. Should Denise get up to see what was going on? Tom grabbed her arm and whispered, “Let’s relax. For the first time, let’s not get up and leave.” And so they did just that.
When Sunday services were over, Tom and Denise quickly headed to the classroom, but Connor wasn’t there. “Oh, but your son is doing just great,” the Sunday school teacher assured them, “here, just look out the window.” And there, in the church playground area, were a couple of young college students sitting in the sand with Connor, singing songs about the Bible. The teacher went on to explain that these two young men were what she called “trained buddies” – “and whenever a child becomes over stimulated,” she went on to say, “our college class has trained volunteers (buddies we call them) to walk that child up and down the hallway, or around the church campus or focus his attention on the playground. And the whole time, they make it a point to pray for him. It’s a special needs ministry of prayer for children with autism.” Tom and Denise couldn’t believe their eyes, they were so relieved. They had finally found a church who could fully embrace them as a family. And all it took was just a little creative thinking, just a little understanding and a few college kids who wanted to help and pray.
Friend, there are all kinds of ways you can help families like Connor’s and I'm convinced your church can and should embrace children with autism. Need some ideas to get started? Well, just visit joniandfriends.org today and download our Autism Inclusion Strategies to get you going. And, of course, we provide lots of training at our Disability Ministry Training Summits held every year. You can find out all about it at joniandfriends.org during this National Autism Awareness Month. Until next time I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and you are listening to Joni and Friends.
Used by permission of
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