After several years of wishing for spiritual resources for neurodivergent people from a Catholic perspective, I collaborated with Father Mark P. Nolette, an autistic Catholic priest, to create Autism Consecrated in 2020. Our website aims to be a point of contact for autistic people seeking spiritual belonging and a resource for faith communities seeking to better understand the life experiences and spiritual needs of autistic members.
The Need For Autistic Catholic Resources
With popular focus on growing rates of autism in children, it is easy to forget that autistic kids not only grow up to be autistic teens and adults, but likely have parents and older siblings with similar traits and processing needs1. A search for “autistic Catholic resources” most frequently brings up catechetical tools for teaching the faith at a very basic level, such as visual schedules and social stories depicting simplified information about God, Jesus and the Liturgy. When it comes to resources addressing how autistic people experience faith, the sacraments, liturgy, and our ongoing relationship to God, this is where neurodivergent teens and adults begin hitting dead ends. Books, podcasts, conferences, retreats, ministry programs, and Confirmation/OCIA curricula are almost always written and produced by typical people for typical audiences. The core content of such programs is not necessarily the issue – but rather, the disconnect with the methods of delivery and prerequisite assumptions about participants.
For starters, few people realize the everyday drains and challenges felt by autistic teens and adults, who are increasingly expected to do more and keep up with the pace of high school, college, employment, and the tasks emergent adulthood2. Social and performance pressures are enormous, and autistic teens and adults are just as easily overwhelmed as younger children – except, now, vulnerability is less socially acceptable, and accommodations are much less available. Most well-meaning people carry the impression that supports, exemptions, and accommodations must be faded out in the teen years in order to build resilience (… an assumption which does more harm than good). The older we are, the more likely our requests for accommodations raise questions of fairness and feasibility by those who fear making exceptions to community standards, failing to realize these are utterly necessary for neurodivergent people to show up and participate. With a full plate of tasks already exhausting our inner reserves, we don’t often have much energy left to think about our spiritual lives, let alone adding on another batch of group activities with participation and attendance requirements.
Many times, the end result is an impossible choice for autistic teens and adults. Inclusive ministries aimed at children are too simplistic (and, who wants to be the only teen in a room full of preschoolers?)… but, when ministry offerings for youth and young adults take place in large, loud, bright, and busy gatherings, we opt out. It’s not apathy – in fact, we yearn for spiritual nourishment and connections with our parish communities, but we physically just cannot show up when we are already maxed out by the processing demands of school and work, not to mention the myriad and exhausting health problems3 which co-occur with autism and ADHD.
What Can Parishes Do To Engage Autistic Members?
What can parishes do, then, to actively include and engage with autistic members ages thirteen and beyond? Autism Consecrated seeks to help answer that question, finding ways to make prayer, spiritual direction, ministry, and sensory support accessible to autistic Catholic teens and adults. We are not a program; we seek to extend hospitality to neurodivergent people on behalf of the Church. Father Nolette and I offer our wisdom, our lived experience, our academic backgrounds, and our desire to be a source of healing and hope in consulting with individuals and parishes about specific needs and situations which arise. We pray that God will bless and share this offering for the benefit of all. We aim to exemplify that autistic people can contribute our various gifts in all aspects of Church life – liturgy, pastoral care, evangelization, ministry, vocations, and fellowship – in each of our own individual manner. For Father Nolette and I, that means connecting with our brothers and sisters in Christ one person at a time, using typewritten communication, at a pace we do not find overwhelming or exhausting.
The Church is already shifting from serving neurodivergent people with programming directed at us, toward inviting autistic individuals to participate in the planning, design, and implementation of initiatives which are both comfortably accessible by neurodivergent people and simultaneously manageable and beneficial to the entire community. We pray we can be part of this shift. With just two people working in little, individual, and solitary ways, we have already been blessed to connect with many more people than we ever imagined, from countries all over the world. Let us pray that Autism Consecrated can be one of many more resources for autistic Catholics yet ahead!
What’s On The Autism Consecrated Webpage?
Our tangible resources (to read, download, and use locally) include: Prayers, Stations of the Cross, book recommendations, and information about our patron saint, St. Thorlak of Iceland. All of these may be easily found at https://autismconsecrated.com.
Perhaps more importantly, we also offer ourselves – our availability and presence – as a resource via our Contact Form. Many people contact us with prayer requests or seek guidance regarding situations impacting their faith lives and church attendance. We also hear from autistic men and women in matters of vocational discernment, including those who feel called to enter the priesthood and religious life but have encountered barriers relating to accommodations and long-term planning. Likewise, vocations directors and members of religious orders also come to us seeking guidance on how to support neurodivergent candidates. Pastors, youth ministers, and family members of autistic people can reach out for ideas to better meet the spiritual needs of autistic members of the parish.
Footnotes
1: Articles Referencing The Likelihood That Autistic Children Have Autistic Parents
Dryden, J. (2014, June 24). Autistic traits seen in parents of kids with autism.
Retrieved February 25, 2026, from The Source website: https://source.washu.edu/2014/06/autistic-traits-seen-in-parents-of-kids-with-autism/
Grazia Contributor. (2026, January 13). How Do You Parent An Autistic Child When You’re Autistic Yourself? Retrieved February 25, 2026, from Grazia website: https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/parenting-autism/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQLwZVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJOVzZKbERMVGpWcWZlYzBVc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHp_FK4egHZA8bvGc-I6lXUciea3YkfWVmKBM2WG42NYUn38JShRqurHkhsjg_aem_XWh5MGeIvO2qFKWw19jCTA
Neff, M. A. (2025, May 9). The Lost Generation of Autistic Adults. Retrieved February 25, 2026, from Substack.com website: https://neurodivergentinsights.substack.com/p/the-lost-generation-of-autistic-adults
Sarris, M. (2017, July 25). A Lost Generation: Growing up with Autism before the “Epidemic.” Retrieved from www.kennedykrieger.org website: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/lost-generation-growing-up-autism-before-epidemic
2: Articles Referencing Autistic Burnout in Teens and Young Adults
Ali, D., Bougoure, M., Cooper, B., Quinton, A. M. G., Tan, D., Brett, J., … Happé, F. (2025). Burnout as experienced by autistic people: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 122, 102669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2025.102669
Raymaker, D. (2022, March 1). Understanding Autistic Burnout. Retrieved from National Autistic Society website: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/autistic-burnout
Rosa, S. D. R. (2023, September 26). Supporting Your Young Person Through Autistic Burnout. Retrieved from THINKING PERSON’S GUIDE TO AUTISM website: https://thinkingautismguide.com/2023/09/supporting-your-young-person-through-autistic-burnout.html
3: Articles Referencing Co-Occurring Health Problems with Neurodivergence
Donaghy, B., Moore, D., & Green, J. (2023). Co-Occurring Physical Health Challenges in Neurodivergent Children and Young People: A Topical Review and Recommendation. Child Care in Practice, 29(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2022.2149471
Neff, M. A. (2024, January 31). Autism and Health | Neurodivergent Insights. Retrieved February 25, 2026, from Neurodivergent Insights website: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/autism-and-health-issues/?srsltid=AfmBOopJZ14ES-xNaw68Bm8jv65NdIGXlZKCc1pqj1dWlb6kluRtR_Ur
Image: Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash
