As many of you know church’s can be overwhelming to people, even more so those with Autism. A few years ago I was really active at volunteering in the sound booth at church, until I had a melt down due to get overwhelmed…. earlier this week I returned.
Me In The Sound booth
Working in the sound booth at church offered me a way to distance myself from the overwhelming aspects of socializing with a large number of people, but still remain active in the church – and it also offered me a chance to further develop skills on one of my big passions, technology – which is basically a win – win for everyone involved.
Looking back over the years I’ve had some great times, and some rough times. I’ve met many people, screwed up many times socially, made an occasional feedback during worship, but most of all I noticed I have grown up – as a person and spiritually from my little corner of the church.
The church is where I feel the safest, I’ve had two IEP Meetings in my church – just because I felt safer there to say what I needed to say. My church is like my family to me – and that includes the occasional arguments that the normal family has, but they accept me, encourage me to grow, and I’m very blessed to be part of the church I’m in.
Now that I’m getting ready to get married in the church, I’m having an even more difficult time – picking which pastor I want to officiate, one is more of a friend – and the other is more of a pastor, but its such a huge blessing to having to pick a pastor between two awesome friends of yours.
Sorry I’m rambling a bit, and its a bit of a brain dump – but here’s a question for you all. For people with Autism Spectrum Disorders, or their friends/families: Has your experiences in church been positive or negative – and why?
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Mostly positive. I love my church. I’m heavily involved in the organization and have made a lot of progress in overcoming AS traits. Every once in awhile I have a setback (see my post on one such incident here: http://savedaspie.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-forgot-i-had-blog.html). And, sometimes I’m so overwhelmed or too tired to “act right” but for the most part people accept me as I am, and when I do something that’s borderline (or just plain not) socially acceptable, they let me know in a loving way.