Recent statements in the media remind us that not everyone agrees on how to look at autism. Is autism the worst thing ever? Is autism the best thing ever? It depends on who you ask. In this episode, I share my reflections, including the three different perspectives that are most common.

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In this episode of Disability Comes to Church, we explore the sensitive and often misunderstood topic of praying for people with disabilities. While some churches automatically pray for healing, many disabled individuals find such prayers intrusive and even harmful. Drawing from personal experience and research, we discuss how prayer should be guided by the needs and wishes of the individual rather than assumptions. Instead of making healing the default prayer, we should engage in meaningful conversations and respect the person’s spiritual journey. Prayer should be a source of comfort, not discomfort.

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One of the things that churches need to know is that disabilities can appear at anytime... to anyone. In this episode, I share the personal story of how our family has been recently impacted by disabilities. I offer this as a lesson to the church to be ready to support at any time.

The ebook,What Churches Need to Know About Disabilities, can be found here:https://www.stephenjbedard.com/what-churches-need-to-know-about-disabilities/

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This is a new recording of a paper that was presented at the Institute of Theology and Disability (https://faithanddisability.org). It looks at the experience of autistic clergy.

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In this episode, I speak with William O'Flaherty and Connor Salter on adult autism, how that intersects with Christian faith, and our mutual love of C.S. Lewis.

Links mentioned by William:

Essential C.S. Lewis

Knowing and Understanding C.S. Lewis

Adult Autism in 60 Seconds

Links mentioned by Connor:

Crosswalk

Fellowship & Fairydust

G. Connor Salter

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It is common to hear Christians speak of the "image of God" but what do we mean by that? Are we including or excluding disabled people? In this episode, I share from my Doctor of Ministry thesis some reflections on this topic.

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Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, specifically the incarnation. God took on human flesh. Is there something in incarnational theology that gives us a clue as to how God sees disabilities.

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Recommend book: The Disabled God (Amazon affiliate link)

There is a place for theodicies, even within conversations about disabilities, where we can discuss why a good God allows suffering. While not every disabled person considers their experience to be suffering, it is something that some people wrestle with. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Zachary Schmoll, author of Disability and The Problem of Evil about these issues.

Make sure to visit Zach's website and my website.

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What makes a disability a disability? This leads us into conversations about models of disabilities. In this episode, we look at the Moral Model, the Medical Model, and the Social Model.

I mention in this episode an article from the APA website.

For a transcript of this episode, support me at Patreon.

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If we are going to talk about disabilities, we need to have some idea about the kind of language we use. Do we talk about handicaps? Special needs? Exceptionalities? And if we use 'disabilities', is it person with a disability or a disabled person? This is what we discuss in this episode of Disability Comes to Church.

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