Our two oldest children have autism and live in a group home about an hour and a half away. They normally come for visits every other week. Last weekend they were supposed to come...
Our society has come a long way when it comes to autism awareness. People know more about autism than ever before. But how well do they know people with autism? As a part of...
There has been an increase in autism awareness, both in general and in the church. That is a good thing but more is needed. Autism awareness means that people know what autism is and...
One of the most practical podcasts that I listen to is the 200 Church podcast. I was quite happy when I heard they were doing an episode on special needs. Co-host Jonny Craig has...
Stephen Hawking just recently died. There is much about Hawking that I disagreed with. He denied the existence of God and thought heaven was a fairy tale. I suppose he knows the truth now....
Many churches have embraced the concept of disabilities. Churches want diversity of gender, ethnicities, age, economic status and others. But what about disabilities? I need to confess that I’m biased in this area. In...
I’m grateful to Lamar Hardwick for sharing his experience with autism. Lamar blogs at The Autistic Pastor. Could you share a little about yourself and what you do? My name is Lamar Hardwick. I...
I came across an article from the Charisma magazine website written by Becky Dvorak titled Miraculous Healings for Autism Begin to Manifest. How do I respond to this? When our children were first diagnosed with...
I recently read the book Autism: Explaining the Enigma by Uta Frith. It is an older book, having been published in 1989, but it is still useful. I have read many books on autism...
Our family was able to watch Wonder, a movie that we have wanted to see for sometime. The movie is about August “Auggie” Pullman, a boy with a facial deformity. For the first time, he...
My observation of churches is that there is an increase in awareness and compassion about autism. The media has really brought autism to the forefront and a variety of advocacy groups have promoted autism...
Our family recently moved to a new house. It is not surprising that in the packing and unpacking that long lost items turn up. I recently noticed on the floor something that I hadn’t...
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to teach a module as a part of the Certificate in Accessibility Ministry at Tyndale University College. I teach biblical studies regularly at Tyndale but topics related...
Last night I watched the movie Breathe, directed by Andy Serkis. The movie stars Andrew Garfield (Amazing Spider-Man) and Claire Foy (The Crown). The movie is based on a true story about Robin Cavendish,...
You may or may not know that I used to be the associate editor for Faith Today magazine. Although I have moved on to other endeavours, I’m still very excited about the magazine. I...
One of the outcomes that some special needs families experience is that the children move into a group home. How that takes place depends on the situation. Ideally, the family is aware of the...
This is the first of two-part guest post by Bryan Stoudt. Visit Bryan’s website at the link found in his bio at the end of this post. You can find the first part here. Last...
I speak often on the needs of families who are dealing with disabilities. My prayer to that the church will respond to those special needs. But the challenge is that the needs of each...
This is the first of two-part guest post by Bryan Stoudt. Visit Bryan’s website at the link found in his bio at the end of this post. You can find the second part here. Our...
When you think about an accessible church, what do you think of? Perhaps the installation of an elevator or a wheelchair ramp. Maybe hearing assisting devices or specially designed washrooms. Those are good but...
They say you should never live with regrets. That may be so, but there are certain events that I do regret that I didn’t act differently. I will share one moment that still haunts...
One of the most important reminders about autism is that everyone with autism is different. My mantra is “if you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism.” The...
One of my passions is to help churches be welcoming and safe places for families with disabilities. I come at this both as a pastor and as a father of two children with autism....
What are the things that you celebrate as a parent? It may be your child getting their driver’s licence or graduating from university. We may be looking for the big things to get excited...
Although autism is not a mental illness, there is a connection. The stress of either being on the autism spectrum or caring for someone on the autism spectrum can greatly affect mental health. I...
I was preparing for an upcoming sermon and came across an interesting passage. He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your...
I often say that I blog for myself, that it is it is a way for me to sort through my thoughts and at times vent about what is bugging me. But I must...
Christian Horizons and Tyndale University College have partnered to offer a Certificate in Accessible Ministry. What is this certificate? Here is the description from the website: “Everyone welcome!” many of our church signs proclaim. As...
One of my passions is to equip churches to minister to and with people with disabilities. That is why I’m excited about a new and amazing collaboration between two of my favourite organizations: Tyndale...
CBS recently reported on Iceland and how they have almost “eradicated Down Syndrome. One of the people in the article said: My understanding is that we have basically eradicated, almost, Down syndrome from our...
We had an interesting conversation the other day. Our three youngest children are aged 9-11. We were talking about what it will be like when they get their driver’s license. Our youngest, Faith (aged...
I recently shared about taking our son with autism out to the park. While we see Logan regularly, it had been a long time since he had been out in public. That is other...
Today it is seven years since our daughter went to live in a group home. She was seven years-old at that time. That means that she has now lived half her life away from...
One of the hardest hitting parables that Jesus ever taught was the parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25. There is a danger of protestants passing over this parable out of...
My oldest daughter is 14 years-old and has autism. And I like to tease her. Don’t worry, I don’t tease her about having autism. I’m not that much of a jerk. Abby doesn’t like...
I have listened to a number of podcasts and read some books that have argued for increased diversity within the church. I am all for this. One of the things that I love about...
Today may have been one of the most amazing mornings at church in my life. I shared a couple of weeks ago about how we brought our son with autism to church for the...
When it comes to being parents of children with disabilities, there is a connection that goes deep. Even if we have never met or our circumstances are different, there is a commonality and emotional...
I was at the hospital today visiting someone. As we walked into the hospital, we saw someone with a service dog waiting to pay for parking. I also the person in front of us...
Last weekend, our children with autism were visiting from their group home. It is always great to have them with us. At one point, Our daughter Abby was playing in the backyard. I grabbed...
Perhaps one of the first Christian “celebrities” that I ever heard of was Joni Eareckson Tada. She has an amazing story and has accomplished much more than many people without a disability. However, early...
Today was one of the happiest Sundays in my life. Many people take it for granted that they can go to church as a family. In our case, our two oldest children have autism...
The CDC has said that 1 in 68 children are born with autism. In Canada, the numbers are about 1 in 94. Those are some pretty significant numbers. My question to you is: Do...
I recently encountered a series of books called The Adventures of SuperCaptainBraveMan. While I haven’t read the first book, I was sent a copy of the second book called A Spectrum of Love. The...
It is common for parents to share their wisdom with each other. Experience provides little tips that we can share with others. This is completely natural and a good thing. But be careful with...
Our son Logan turned sixteen just the other day. On his birthday, we gathered the family together and went to a used car lot. We looked around, found a car at a reasonable price...
About fourteen years ago, when our son Logan was diagnosed with autism, I was pretty ignorant about autism. I only knew what I saw in Rainman and St. Elsewhere. Many of our friends and...
Our two oldest children have autism and our experience with them has shaped our entire family. Although there have been some hard days, we have also had some great times as well. I may...
April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness Month. But why should the church care about autism awareness? Shouldn’t we just leave autism awareness to secular social programs? I would...
What do you think of when you think of autism? Nonverbal children rocking back and forth, perhaps banging their head? Autism includes that but also is so much more. What if I told you...
I was recently watching the Netflix series, Luke Cage. Throughout the series, I was bothered by the generous use of the N-word, even by the residents of Harlem. I have learned to have an...
The CDC has reported that 1 in 68 children are born with autism. Your church needs decide if you want to include or exclude people with autism. Most churches take the steps to be...
Autism awareness has come a long way but there is still far to go. I have two children with autism. They are both on the severe end and are considered nonverbal. If you met...
If the church is going to minister effectively in the area of disabilities, it is important to develop a theology of disability. This video is by Hans Reinders on ‘Disability and Meaning’ from the 2012...
This article is a guest post by Ron Sandison. You can find his bio at the conclusion of this post. As a theologian and prodigy with autism I have felt a close connection to...
I have been hoping to see The Accountant for some time and finally got to watch it today. I was not disappointed. It was one of the best movies that I have seen in...
I believe that of all the books that I have written, one of the most important is How to Make Your Church Autism-Friendly. It covers a topic that is very close to my heart....
I have been making some major changes in my online activity. I am trying to streamline things so that I can be better at what I do. One of those changes was to merge...
In the second episode of my autism podcast, I introduce you to our son. He has taught us much about autism and life in general. Here is a little about our story. In the...
Of all the roles I have, one of the most important is that of an autism dad. I have interviewed people about autism on my regular podcast but I have felt like there was...
One aspect of working through ideas about disabilities is to develop a theology of disability. The Bible has some important things to say about disabilities. But how do they fit together and what is...
I am so thankful for my wife and the way she is able to put into words our experience as autism parents. Amanda recently wrote a post on her blog, describing exactly what I...
One of the aspects of disabilities that people miss is that there are often siblings. Such siblings are very special people. I encourage you to watch this video that shares the thoughts of some...
In the province that I live in, it is the law that all public buildings, including churches, are accessible to those with disabilities. We shouldn’t need the law to make us accessible. What people...
If you are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, you need to watch this video. It is about a nativity play put on by children with Down Syndrome.
People with disabilities are too often the target for bullying. Those who have communication or cognitive challenges are particularly vulnerable as they may have difficulty reporting the bullying. Ideally, the church would be a...
Have you ever had someone start to say something, in the sense of revealing information, and you would do anything to stop them? We have many times. When our two children with autism lived...
I think that there has been some improvement in the church’s willingness to embrace and minister to people with autism and their families. But often the people with autism that the church has in...
One of the purposes of this blog is to increase awareness about autism. As much as I love to share the positive experiences, the reality is that there are some difficult times. I have...
If you tried to talk to our son, you might find that he would avoid eye contact and probably would hum while you spoke. I suspect that our son is not unique in this....
Many people have heard of guide dogs for the blind, but what is an autism service dog? The principle is the same, in that the dog wears a jacket that allows the person to...
People with disabilities have not always felt valuable. This includes the context of the church. Are disabilities just a reminder of all that is not right in the world? But what if Jesus had...
Perhaps you know a family that has someone with autism and you desire to support them. But what can you do? I would like to offer five things that you could do to help...
I may be too presumptuous in making a judgment about all families with disabilities, but I’m at least confident that this applies to a good majority of families. I believe that the biggest need...
One of the things that many people with autism experience is sensory overload. There are too many sounds, sights and smells and it becomes overwhelming. This video was created to help people without autism...
I truly believe that the pastor needs to take the lead on helping a church to become disability-friendly. This can happen in many ways, but one is to preach on disabilities. There are a...
As I write this, it is the Canadian Thanksgiving. We were blessed to have extended family with us for a delicious turkey dinner. It was an enjoyable time. However, our children with autism did...
Disability ministry is extremely important. Churches must be reaching out to those with disabilities. But that should not be the only goal for disability ministry. While not taking away from the needs of...
If you met our son, you would find him with a square-shaped toy in a sock covered with some plastic. If you met our daughter, you would find her with a CD or DVD...
We all love to see the stories of people with autism who are exceptionally bright or who have a savant ability. We are encouraged when we see people with autism who become very successful....
One of the misunderstandings about autism is that meltdowns are simply temper tantrums. An autism meltdown is so much more. This is a good video of a meltdown that also includes the mom talking...
Presented and narrated by actor Hugo Weaving, this animation looks at the key characteristics of autism as experienced by his 16-year-old nephew Ky Greenwood. The project was part of Sentis’ “Great Works” program and...
What I’m going to talk about here is relevant to many disabilities, but since autism is my experience, I will focus there. If you have a child with autism in your Sunday school, should...
I had the opportunity be filmed for a promotion for the Life to the Full conference. I’m on the planning team for this conference and I can’t recommend it enough. Watch the video below...
No matter what a person thinks of neuro-diversity and the positive aspects of autism, it is always difficult when a child receives a diagnosis of autism. There are a thousand things going through the...
Children with autism are known for making noise in church. Sometimes they say what some adults want to say. One Sunday, our son said with a fairly loud voice during the service, “Just kill...
While we often hear about the people with autism who are the mild end of the spectrum, there are people who are on the more severe end. This video is a good picture of...
There are some large churches that have very organized and well staffed disability ministries. They have a sizeable budget and may have a specific pastor or other staff member overseeing it. These are the...
I want to make it clear that what I’m about to say is my experience and is not meant to describe the experience of any other autism parent. I understand that there is pressure...
