Religious perspective on Autism

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For those of you who are religious, as I am, what do you tell yourself to help understand why God would let you have a disability like Asperger's that messes up your life so much? Curious as to better things I can do to help myself understand this and not feel like it is some sort of punishment. Of course maybe it is??

That is what my gift of autism has taught me. I am so very different, and so I have striven so hard to understand others, and it is that striving that allows me to lead.

I will always feel uncomfortable in social situations. Social interactions will continue to drain me because I am autistic, but now I work with that discomfort. That discomfort is part of me trying and failing to understand the other, trying and failing to grasp their world. Trying to articulate my poetry and theirs. This is what autism has bequeathed me. It is because this attempt is entirely genuine without guile or pretense and people see this and appreciate it that I connect to my community. It is why I am an effective rabbi

I am not religious but I think of life as a jigsaw. We're all differently shaped pieces which fit together to make the whole.

Or another thing I think is that life is like a film or play, and we're each 'the one who...' 'I'm the one who (did XYZ)' whatever we did in life. We all play different roles, major or minor.

If that helps at all?

There are certainly worse birth defects than autism.

Well, if it's a Christian explanation you're after, there are lots of scriptural offerings such as John 13:7 -

What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Similarly, there's William Cowper's poem:

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain

Mind you, he tried to drown himself shortly after writing that, so it might not be as effective as it looks for cheering people up.

Me, I'm very secular, so I don't feel the need to find any laudible cosmic purpose behind ASD - it is what it is, I'm stuck with it, and all I can do is be practical and make the best of it. It has benefits as well as a downside. And I spent most of my life not even suspecting I had ASD, so I never really acquired the habit of seeing myself as afflicted by any such thing.

What are some of the benefits of ASD that you have discovered?

Why does god let bad things happen to good people? The only answer I've ever gotten form anyone about that is the usual non-answer "God works in mysterious ways" or "god never gives us more than we can handle". Both I consider to be BS.

I suppose I'll have to wait and see what god has to say about it.

Ruthieyossi, that is an interesting perspective. Asperger's had given me experiences that NTs haven't had-or not given me some experiences-and that can help me relate to some other groups in a way that other people can't. Due to the way Asperger's affected my earlier life, I can understand and feel compassion for Incels, when most others just feel hatred and contempt for them. I don't agree with the mass shootings a very small minority of them do, or some of the ideas a very small vocal minority of them express, but I do understand the frustration and desire to be normal that most of them feel.

From a Biblical perspective, the world is ruled by the devil. Don't listen to all the traditions you've been told, read what's actually written. The whole theme of the Bible is the reestablishment of the rule of God. Our first parents rebelled, saying they didn't need God and he allowed them to go on their way but the first prophecy recorded is that God would send a "son" to fix things. In the meantime we accumulate genetic mutations and bad ideas. The Hebrew/Aramaic books are all about establishing that new rule. That's why people see two different personalities between those books and the Greek books. They're not understanding the intent behind them. Daniel 2:44 gives the plan. Obviously Jesus is the king mentioned there. The whole reason for all those miracles is to show what the kingdom would be able to do.

So does that mean we're abandoned? Kinda yeah. We are "sons born to futility". Everyone says God is a despot, but other that setting up the seeds of his kingdom, he's giving humanity the opportunity to prove they can figure things out without him. Man is not able to direct his own step. We weren't made to. That's why Jesus is always talking about the kingdom, he says it's his whole mission.

But the promise is that all these things we suffer will be corrected.

There are beliefs that autistics are higher beings in human body who came here on earth to teach humanity a lesson.

There are beliefs that autistics are fallen souls in human body and lives here as punishment.

There are beliefs that autistics are alien/nonhuman souls in human body because why not?

There are beliefs that autistics are angels in human body that they can do no wrong.

There are beliefs that autistics absorb karma in some way or form.

There are beliefs that autistics bring luck to others because taking care of one is a labor against bad karma.

There are beliefs that autistics are reincarnated humans who had killed and their parents were their past life victims.

There are beliefs that autistics are reincarnated or are descendants of power hungry leaders and now became a burden.

There are beliefs that autistics are born and sent parents in order for those people to be taught a lesson.


I myself am not religious.
But the culture I grew up with have ideas...

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Those are interesting ideas, Edna!

Autism is a result of what we call "the fall", ie the world after the curse was brought upon it. It's not some great evil, but it is a disability.