Resources for Making Attending Church with Your Child Who Has Autism Enjoyable and Enriching

Attending church can be both challenging and stressful when you are accompanied by a child or young adult with autism who may be anxious, fidgety or have maladaptive behaviors. Neither you nor your child with autism should have to avoid going to religious services because of a fear of not being accepted. Although you will, no doubt, experience some challenges (after all, every parent who has ever attended a religious service with a child  has had at least a few cringe-able moments), you should not let that deter you from attending worship services and  participating in a community of faith.

These resources can help you make going to a place of worship with your child who has autism an enjoyable aspect of practicing your faith.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/your-religious-community

Autism Speaks has compiled resources for parents to help their children with autism participate in religious services, as well as resources to help religious leaders make places of worship more accessible to people who have autism

https://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/17-ways-to-make-your-church-autism-friendly
These tips for making churches autism-friendly are from a woman who has autism.

https://www.mcleanbible.org/sites/default/files/pdf/access/resources/Including%20Persons%20with%20Autism-web-R3.pdf

McLean Bible Church, which is ahead of the curve on creating a welcoming church environment for people with disabilities, has published a guide for including people with autism in the church community as part of its Access ministry for people with disabilities. The church also has an impressive list of special needs resources on a variety of relevant topics, including how to start a special needs ministry and ways to calm a child down.