OPINION - Neurodiversity - thinking differently about faith

We understand God differently and cannot readily access faith in the way which we are taught by churches, Bible studies or home groups.

Neurodiversity and faith are, I believe, intrinsically linked. To me it just makes sense that how our minds work and how we think is going to affect the way that we understand God and relate to God. While the rest of the human body is involved in belief and religious practice, the bulk of the heavy lifting is done by our minds. Although I could be wrong, to paraphrase the comedian Emo Phillips “I used to think that my brain was the most important organ in my body, but then I thought: look who’s telling me that.”

As a term, neurodiversity simply means that everyone thinks differently and that everyone’s brain works differently. If brains are like computers, then the diversity can be likened to how not all computers work the same way, comparing how a Mac, a PC or a Linux system works for instance.

Each of these can do the same things but because they do them in different ways, some translation, adaptation or conversion is needed in order for them to work together.

It is not a perfect analogy but as any PC user who has received a file from a Mac user has experienced, the conversion, adaptation and translation is not always perfect and sometimes you end up in a long email conversation along the lines of “Could you send it again please? I can’t open it.” Then “Well, it opens now but the formatting is all over the place and the pictures aren’t displaying!”

You get the idea. Like computers, the neurodiversity of brains means that each has their own particular way of doing things and some are just built to do something very different and can have big strengths in certain areas while struggling to handle other tasks which neurotypical brains handle intuitively.

So, as every computer will handle running a program differently, the human brain, I believe, runs faith.exe differently.

Following the words of Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God,” is hard when I cannot be still.

Those who we might call neurotypical are the ones who think, perceive and behave in ways that are considered to be the norm by the general population. Many of the systems and structures of society are arranged or designed in such ways as to accommodate this as the normative way of thinking. Not surprisingly then, the way that the Christian faith is often taught and practised also accommodates this way of being more readily than others.

Neurodivergent is a term which many, though not everyone, use to describe people whose neurotype is in some way different to those we might call neurotypical or the average person. autistic people, dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculiac people, those with ADHD, those with Tourette’s syndrome, Down’s syndrome, and obsessive compulsive disorder to name only a few.

Our brains work differently and, as such, we have a very different way of interpreting the world. We understand God differently and cannot readily access faith in the way which we are taught by churches, Bible studies or home groups.

As someone who is autistic, dyslexic and has ADHD, I myself have struggled with many of the traditions taught by the Church. Being told I have to regularly read my Bible is a struggle when the words move around. My autistic tendencies make it a problem to just accept that “this is what we do” without explanation as to why. Following the words of Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God,” is hard when I cannot be still. Does this mean that I cannot know God?

Does this mean that I can’t be a Christian as I don’t fit in this box? Thankfully, God is not one to be boxed either, in fact the more tightly we try to define God, the more God bursts out. When we think we have God in a box, God leans over our shoulder and asks “What have you got there?” When we say “God!” God responds, “Cool, let’s go play outside!”

God says through the prophet Isaiah (55:8-9) “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” isn’t that brilliant? That’s us too!

The more I think about it, the more I come to think that all different neurotypes are expressed in God and understood by God in ways which we have yet to fully grasp. We can, and should, read the Bible, engage in faith and live out our relationship with God from the perspective of the way our own brains work.

While it is useful to read and listen to what the majority of people have understood from reflecting on scripture, there is something important which comes from the minority voices. Particularly from those who fit under the huge banner of neurodivergent.

Those whose neurotype differs from the majority often have very unique ways of looking at things, sometimes through taking words very literally, sometimes though looking at things from a different viewpoint or in a different order, or maybe becoming focused more intently on a detail which others may pass over as insignificant.

We see the neurodivergent face of God as well as the neurotypical.

God says through the prophet Isaiah (55:8-9) “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” isn’t that brilliant? That’s us too!

Jesus took himself away from the crowds to rest and pray. We too know what that’s like to have been “peopled out.”

Jesus was occasionally abrupt or even came across as rude, he did not obey the social norms, especially when he saw what was wrong in the world. Us too!

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We can see ourselves in the actions of Jesus calling for justice by flipping tables and challenging authority.

One of the features of the DSM-5 for diagnosing autism is “A strong sense of Justice”. Does this mean that neurotypical people have an underdeveloped sense of justice? When we think about how Jesus responded to those who had been cheated by the money lenders, how he responded to the teachers who made people's lives more difficult. We can see ourselves in the actions of Jesus calling for justice by flipping tables and challenging authority.

Sometimes those with Down’s syndrome are caricatured as being loving and affectionate as though this was unusual or weird behaviour, when the Son of God loved everyone so much that he gave himself to the cross for us.

Those with ADHD have galaxy brains which spot patterns and make connections in a way which is considered disordered and often makes no sense to people who know how things should be done. In scripture they can see Jesus telling fishermen who know their trade, to let down their nets at the wrong time of day, in the wrong part of the lake, something which made no sense, and yet, they caught so many fish their boats began to sink.

What I’m saying is, it is good to be a neurodivergent Christian, as it is good to be a neurotypical one. We just need to do it OUR way.

GOOD TO BE ME

I’m doing it again!

Walking the world in shoes that don’t fit,

Walking the world in shoes that don’t fit

Braced against the cold winds of change in a coat two sizes too big.

I’m wearing the trousers that I don’t like with the seam which itches, because they look smart.

Using pens when I want to paint, words when I want to act, walking when I want to skip.

I hitch a smile not for me but for the comfort of others.

To Jews I am a Jew, to Greeks a Greek, a neurotypical to neurotypicals, but who am I to me?

Who do you say that I am?

A foot pretending to be an ear in the Body of Christ? An eye trying to sniff the air or a knee holding a book?

I helped remove your mask and makeup of ‘normal’

I hear the voice of God call, “I knit you together in the womb, set you apart before birth. Sat with you in silence as you drew pictures as the other children played. I danced with you through the daydream as you were distracted by creation outside the classroom window. I was the comfort of your weird fascinations as you return from a day of fitting in. I helped remove your mask and makeup of ‘normal’ and passed you the comfortable clothes of You.”

“I am the one who set a plan and a purpose for you, a mission for the oddball, the weirdo, the unique. You cannot serve me as them you can only be YOU.”

“Do not try and be Andy or Emily, Matt or Ali, Bex or Nigel, they are already them.”

I’m doing it again.

I am going to stop,

Drop the mask,

And just,

Be,

Me.

By Jon Miller