Faith on the Margins: Engaging with Nonspeaking and Black Autistic Christians

Talk 1: Spirituality Grounded in Autistic Experiences

Léon van Ommen

Dr.  Léon van Ommen is a Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen and Co-Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen. His research explores the intersection of autism, sensory experience, liturgy, and spirituality—currently especially focusing on how non-speaking autistic individuals as well as those from Black and marginalised communities, experience worship and religious belonging. 

Léon's work includes the monograph Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology (Baylor University Press, 2023), the co-edited volume (with Brian Brock) Disciples and Friends: Investigations in Disability, Dementia, and Mental Health (Baylor University Press, 2022), and multiple studies addressing the sensory dimensions of worship and barriers to spiritual participation.

Harry Gibbins

Monica Jones

Panel 1: Autism in Islam and Buddhism

Sofia Rehman

Dr. Sofia Rehman, is Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and a member of the Musawah Knowledge Building working group. She is a scholar of Islam, author and educator. Her research focuses on re-examining classical Islamic scholarship through an inclusive lens. Dr. Rehman has published widely on gender justice, climate change, Islamophobia and decolonizing translation. She is known for her work in bringing marginalised voices into contemporary discourses on Islam especially in her recentring of the role of Aisha bint Abu Bakr in the Hadith tradition. Her research has taken her now to exploring disability theology and what the autistic experience can contribute to theological discourses in Islam. In addition to her academic work, she actively engages in community outreach, advocating for inclusive and equitable interpretations of Islamic teachings. You can learn more at www.sofiarehman.co.uk

Sofia Farzana

Sofia Farzana is a late-identified neurodivergent South Asian educator, MEd graduate and parent. She has a background in grassroots community activism and support, as well as youth work. She is the director of Limitless Learners, where she also serves as a private tutor to several neurodivergent teens. She founded Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics after her own assessment and encountering the lack of culturally appropriate support.

Sofia now delivers training on understanding and supporting Racialised Autistics to service providers both outside and within the minority ethnic community support areas. She supports Autistics and caregivers as well, in areas such as education, mental health, and family life. She is also a stakeholder in the LDAN Bill consultation and wider autism policy work.

Marion McLaughlin

MC: Krysia Waldock

Dr Krysia Waldock is a neurodivergent and disabled scholar activist, interdisciplinary weaver of research and general asker of awkward questions. Krysia is a postdoctoral researcher at Swansea University, EDI officer for the BSA SocRel Study group and a part of the Church of England’s Neurodiversity Working Group. Krysia is also a podcast host for the Autism and Theology podcast. You can read more of Krysia's work at: linktr.ee/krysia.waldock

Session 1

What About Autistic Children? Reimagining Relational Consciousness in Childhood Spirituality, Anna Bishop

‘Relational consciousness’ is well-attested as a core category on children’s spirituality, described as “…a distinctive property of mental activity, profound and intricate enough to be termed 'consciousness', and remarkable for its confinement to a broadly relational, inter- and intra-personal domain." (Hay and Nye, 2006, p. 109) Autistic children are typically viewed as having a “neurologically-grounded impairment in social interaction” (Leidenhag 2021 p. 133) which seems to preclude such spiritual relationality. In this paper I build on Joanna Leidenhag’s (2021) exposure of the exclusion of autistic ways of being implicit in the ’relational turn’ in theological anthropology. I argue that autistic children do not have deficit in relational capacity, but simply experience and express relationality differently from non-autistic children. Drawing on a range of autism research, including Cundill and Van Ommen’s 2025 work on non-linguistic empathy markers, I suggest that a richer account of children’s spirituality may be reached by expanding our understanding of ‘relational consciousness’ to include autistic children’s ways of relating.

Autistic faith: Is it real, does it count, and who decides?, Lizzy Peach

The discourse around autism has historically been shaped by autism theory, particularly the idea that autistic people lack theory of mind. Speculation about autistic people and their spiritual lives has also been largely influenced by this concept, with some arguing that autistic people also lack existential theory of mind, and are unable to have genuine faith as it is assumed that they cannot properly comprehend or engage with a god or gods. In order to explain the fact that there are autistic people who are engaged in religious faith, it has sometimes been argued that their belief is somehow merely superficial religious practice, or, in some sense, not genuine. However, increasingly autistic Christians are speaking about their faith, and about the significance for them of being part of the people of God, and of participating in Christian worship and discipleship. This paper will explore these different accounts of autism and faith, critiquing the concept that autistic people lack theory of mind or existential theory of mind, and arguing that they are able to have rich spiritual lives. Furthermore, it will be argued that the biblical description of the love of God for his people as described in Romans Chapter 8 means that Christian believers should expect autistic people to be included among the people of God, and therefore to have genuine faith.

Lizzy Peach is a PhD student at the University of Aberdeen. She is researching the experiences of autistic Christians in evangelical churches, particularly their experiences of putting their Christian faith into practice in daily life.

Session 2

Epistemic invalidation of the body is a topic of deep concern within feminist literature on chronic illness, but little has been written on its implications for autism – especially autism and spirituality. This is to our detriment. The non-discursive (non-speaking) body – in its happy stims and meltdowns alike – is a source of deep knowledge and wisdom about the world inside and around us, including the spiritual and religious frameworks we find ourselves in. Developed by myself in 2015 and popularized in Devon Price’s 2021 work Unmasking Autism, the Values-Based Integrated Process (VBIP) is an autistic-designed, agency-driven coaching process used to allow those on the spectrum to uncover the values of their authentic self, and then use those values as a means of deconstructing and reconstructing the expectations placed on autistic individuals by a neurotypical world. Today, more than 100 coaches have been trained on three continents in the technique, but little work has been done to explore the findings of this process more widely, especially through a philosophical or theological lens. Drawing on the work of Miranda Fricker on epistemic invalidation, ten years of working with the VBIP, and my work as pastor of a congregation with a high number of neurodiverse members, this paper presentation will articulate the risks of invalidating the non-discursive body, offer insights into the possibilities for connecting with the wisdom of the non-discursive body, and consider the implications of valuing the non-discursive body within a religious community.

Rev. Heather Morgan is a PhD candidate at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto in Canada focused on the intersection of systematics and disability theology. She is also a pastor at Vox Community Church in Barrie, just north of Toronto, where her congregation is comprised of a larger-than-average neurodiverse community, and the owner of Powered by Love, a coaching training company dedicated to working with those who are neurodivergent and who have come from high religious control environments. As a power wheelchair-using neurodivergent in a family full of neurodivergence and disability, crip perspectives inform her theological and pastoral work, which in turn inform her approaches to coaching and training.

"Profaning the Sanctuary" - autism and the (often blocked) paths to ministry, Jude Mills

This paper will address the barriers faced by autistic candidates in exercising ministries of leadership - lay and ordained - in the church. Drawing from personal experience as autistic person who has navigated discernment for ministry in the church of England, I highlight the systemic, cultural, and institutional challenges that often contribute to the exclusion of autistic people from leadership roles. Autistic candidates can encounter significant obstacles during the discernment process, including a lack of clear policies, inadequate representation, and criteria which may contribute to screening people 'out' even before they even reach selection. The paper argues that the discernment process often fails to adequately account for the diverse abilities and experiences of autistic individuals. Situated within a broader context of discrimination against disabled people in society, noting parallels in employment and healthcare. The paper concludes that meaningful inclusion of autistic people in church leadership requires a combination of institutional honesty, robust policies, and the centring of autistic voices.

I am a Postgraduate Researcher (PhD) / in Theology and Religious Studies through Creative Practice at the University of Glasgow. My research focuses on podcasting and narratives of religious marginalization, alienation and trauma, centred largely in neurodivergent, disabled,  and LGBTQ+ perspectives.  I hold an MA in Public Theology from the University of Chichester. 

Talk 2: The Spiritual and Religious Lives of Non- or Minimally-Speaking Autistic People

Léon van Ommen

Dr.  Léon van Ommen is a Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen and Co-Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen. His research explores the intersection of autism, sensory experience, liturgy, and spirituality—currently especially focusing on how non-speaking autistic individuals as well as those from Black and marginalised communities, experience worship and religious belonging. 

Léon's work includes the monograph Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology (Baylor University Press, 2023), the co-edited volume (with Brian Brock) Disciples and Friends: Investigations in Disability, Dementia, and Mental Health (Baylor University Press, 2022), and multiple studies addressing the sensory dimensions of worship and barriers to spiritual participation.

Sheila Akomiah

Dr Sheila Akomiah is a Research Fellow in the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History at the University of Aberdeen. Sheila is currenly a working with Dr Leon Van Ommen (Principal Investigator) of the Centre for Autism and Theology, on the AHRC-funded project Access Denied: Spirituality at the Intersections of Autism, Ethnic Minority, and Non-Speaking Autism. 

In addition to her current role at Aberdeen, Sheila also lectures in African Theology at the Church Mission Society in Oxford and serves as a presbyter in an African Pentecostal church in Glasgow.

Talk 3: Communicating about Spirituality and Religion with Talking Mats

Margo McKay

Margo Mackay is the Managing Director of Talking Mats Social Enterprise.

Talking Mats provides training and consultancy to support people with communication difficulties to think about things that matter to them, and to communicate their views effectively.  Margo worked professionally for 23 years as a Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS with children and young adults with a range of communication difficulties. She now works throughout the UK and internationally training practitioners working in Health, Education and Social services.

Sam Ridley

My name is Sam Ridley and I am thirty-five years old. My hobbies are history, gardening and going on trains and buses. I like to talk to people and I like visiting London. I volunteer at Startup and at a museum.

Talk 4: Spirituality in Pictures

Sarah Dunlop

Dr Sarah Dunlop is a Practical Theologian and co-Director of Ministry Research at Ridley Hall in Cambridge. Author of Doing Theology with Photographs, she has research interests in chaplaincy, youth ministry, migration, megachurches, ecclesial social engagement, theological reflection and pedagogies for theological education. Married to Andrew and mother of Matthew and Anna, in her spare time she enjoys creating stained glass art and reading novels. 

Critique, Caution, and Potential: The Moral Model of Disability and Nonspeaking Autism, Kara Whittaker

Theologians have developed inclusive and justice-oriented theologies of disability centered on the embodied disabled experience. Meanwhile, researchers in the social sciences have explored the experiences of disabled people and their families within congregational settings. Notably, a growing number of scholars are continuing to elevate the spiritual insights of people with nonspeaking autism. Yet little is known about how theological conceptions of disability, particularly regarding nonspeaking autism, influence inclusive congregational practices. Limited research suggests that the moral model of disability remains influential in many church contexts, especially in relation to individuals experiencing communication barriers. This paper explores the intersection of belief and practice by tracing the moral model of disability from its Greco-Roman origins to its presence in contemporary theological discourse. It examines how variations of the moral model continue to shape religious attitudes and practices, with particular attention to their impact on the inclusion of nonspeaking autistic individuals in Christian congregations. As churches encounter the spiritual insights of nonspeakers, there is a risk of adopting a compensatory view of autism (e.g., one in which disability is considered offset by extraordinary compensating abilities) rooted in moral framings. This paper cautions that while the insights of autistic individuals can and should profoundly enrich the church, they must not become the basis for full participation in the body of Christ. Instead, full congregational participation must be grounded in the belief that all people are worthy of belonging—not because of spiritual insight, but simply because they are image bearers of God.

Kara Whittaker is a PhD student at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work and a research fellow at the Center for Church and Community Impact (C3i). She holds degrees in religious studies and social work from the University of Chicago and is a licensed social worker and former special education teacher. Her research focuses on faith and disability, disability theology, and building inclusive faith communities, informed by her experience as a parent of a nonspeaking autistic child.

Neurodiversity and Pastoral Ministry, Impossibility or Imagination? Considering Vocational Ministry in non-speaking autism and Profound Intellectual Disability, Sam Wan

“It’s becoming a major issue. More people are being diagnosed as neurodiverse. Plus there is a sense that theological colleges attract a higher percentage of neurodiverse than the general community. Can one thrive in theological college and then flounder in ministry?” (Steele, 2025)

A recent Evangelical podcast questioned whether neurodiverse Christians could be in paid vocational ministry. It responded in the negative with a largely caveated medical, therapeutic, ableist framework. In proposing the coalescence of neurodiversity and pastoral ministry as fatalistic the asserted factors stemming from particular human experiences that deviate from the norm(ate), particularly in social and cognitive capacity (or lackthereof), may disqualify Christians from vocational ministry. In a Hauerwasian way, this piece suggests that, aside from the problematic presuppositions, the podcast’s inquiry was not pushed far enough. Can someone with non-speaking autism and/or profound intellectual disability be called to vocational ministry?

By considering this question, I wish to untangle a dependence on normalcy/normate in the consideration of formation in ministry, leadership, and discipleship, and the subsequent impact on Christian social imagination and ministry practice. This piece seeks to stimulate further ministry considerations for reweaving the fabric of Church structures so that a recognition of calling and bestowing of gifts is found in the Divine economy rather than humanist meritocratic ableism. 

Sam Wan is the Dean of Academics at Robert Menzies College in Sydney, Australia. He was previously a local church pastor and ministry worker in LGBT+ and disability spaces, and serves as a board member of several Christian disability ministries. Sam’s areas of research interests include practical theology, disability theology, gender and sexuality, and the Hebrew scriptures.

Talk 5: Autism in Black Majority Churches in the United Kingdom            

Léon van Ommen

Dr.  Léon van Ommen is a Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen and Co-Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen. His research explores the intersection of autism, sensory experience, liturgy, and spirituality—currently especially focusing on how non-speaking autistic individuals as well as those from Black and marginalised communities, experience worship and religious belonging. 

Léon's work includes the monograph Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology (Baylor University Press, 2023), the co-edited volume (with Brian Brock) Disciples and Friends: Investigations in Disability, Dementia, and Mental Health (Baylor University Press, 2022), and multiple studies addressing the sensory dimensions of worship and barriers to spiritual participation.

Sheila Akomiah

Dr Sheila Akomiah is a Research Fellow in the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History at the University of Aberdeen. Sheila is currenly a working with Dr Leon Van Ommen (Principal Investigator) of the Centre for Autism and Theology, on the AHRC-funded project Access Denied: Spirituality at the Intersections of Autism, Ethnic Minority, and Non-Speaking Autism. 

In addition to her current role at Aberdeen, Sheila also lectures in African Theology at the Church Mission Society in Oxford and serves as a presbyter in an African Pentecostal church in Glasgow.

Listening to the lived experience of Black autistic Christians

Panel 2: Autism in Black Communities: Theology, Church, and Lived Experiences

Venessa Swaby

Dr. Venessa Swaby is an autistic public speaker, author, mentor, trainer and content developer. She provides advice, information, and support for autistic people and their families. With lived experience of culture, ethnicity, and breaking down stigma, Dr. Swaby has written for Autism Eye and SEN Magazine, and has been featured in national newspapers and on radio. Her unique style brings together and amplifies all voices in her spaces, fostering understanding and inclusion.

Joseph Ola

Joseph Ola is a doctoral researcher at the University of Roehampton, London. His research examines generational differences in faith practices among Nigerian Pentecostals in the UK. He also lectures on African Christianity at the Church Mission Society (CMS) Oxford, contributing to discussions on Pentecostal spirituality, diaspora mission, and youth engagement. A passionate advocate for youth, he founded the Alive Mentorship Group, a virtual community with a global outreach to thousands of young adults. Beyond academia, Joseph is a writer and serves as a Pastor in The Apostolic Church, Liverpool, dedicated to equipping churches and young adults for vibrant Christian witness in multicultural settings.

Harvey Kwiyani

Barriers and Bridges: Parenting Autistic Children and Pursuing Faith in Kenyan Churches, Jacqueline Wangari Mathaga

Parents of autistic children in Kenya know too well the barriers to belonging in church. For many of us, the struggle is not about faith itself but about how faith communities respond to difference. Too often, disability is described as sin, curse, or punishment, and those stories find their way into sermons, prayers, and the everyday life of congregations. The result is the exclusion of children from Sunday School, of families from worship, and sometimes of parents who quietly choose to stay home rather than endure rejection. This paper draws on my own experience as a mother raising an autistic son in Nairobi, alongside testimonies from the Through the Roof Parent Network. These voices show how parents navigate exclusion and self-exclusion, and how their faith endures even when churches close their doors. I argue that inclusion is not charity but a theological mandate. In African contexts, where communal singing and long liturgies can silence autistic presence, churches must reimagine participation. A missiology of inclusion emerges at the intersection of Disability Theology, Liberation Theology, and African communal worldviews. This framework insists that the gospel is diminished when autistic families are excluded, and enriched when their presence is embraced as indispensable to the body of Christ. What emerges is a missiology of inclusion. It draws from Disability Theology, Liberation Theology, and African communal worldviews to insist that the gospel is diminished when autistic families are absent, and enriched when their presence is embraced as indispensable to the body of Christ.

Reflections on the Intersection of Mixed Ethnicity and Autistic Identities, Dr Matt Spencer

This paper explores the lived experience of being simultaneously Black, White, and Autistic, and considers how the intersectionality of race and neurodivergence can compound experiences of marginalisation. Grounded in personal testimony, the writer reflects theologically on this intersectionality, drawing on childhood memories and family dynamics, and the ways in which his own later-life Autism diagnosis reshapes earlier understandings of social rejection. The paper critiques the racism and ableism embedded within both religious and societal contexts, beginning with a church member’s warning against mixed-ethnicity unions and their supposed link to disability. Through engagement with John 9, the writer challenges the theological framing of disability as either punishment or deficit, instead proposing (with certain caveats) that disability can be a locus of divine revelation. While acknowledging the diversity of experiences within the Autistic and wider disabled communities, the writer affirms the place of both neurodiversity and ethnic diversity within the created order. Drawing on positional statements from The Salvation Army, the writer calls the Church to embody inclusive theology and practice. Against a backdrop of rising nationalism, ill-informed and outmoded paradigms of disability, and diminishing levels of state disability support, the writer argues that faith communities must speak out against racist and ableist narratives. Ultimately, the paper positions the intersectional identity of being Black, White, and Autistic not as a burden, but as a lens through which the richness of God’s image and work in the world might be more fully understood.

Matt Spencer has been an ordained minister (officer) in The Salvation Army for almost 25 years, leading The Salvation Army’s church in New Addington, Croydon for 17 years, a role which concluded in July 2025. Additionally, he has held appointments in The Salvation Army’s national Public Affairs Office, and as lecturer/tutor in Theology and Biblical Studies at William Booth College. He was Spiritual Life Director at William Booth College between July 2023 and September 2025, and has recently been appointed as the college’s Head of Higher Education. Matt is co-chair of The Salvation Army’s (UK & Ireland Territory) Disability Forum.

Matt has a BA(Hons) in Theology and Religious Studies (Roehampton), an MA in Bible and Theology (King’s College London) and a Professional Doctorate (DProf) in Practical Theology (Cambridge Theological Federation/Anglia Ruskin University). His doctoral thesis is summarised as a chapter (‘Salvation’s Song’) in Routledge’s Evangelicals Engaging in Practical Theology - Theology that Impacts Church and World (2022, Ed. Helen Morris, Helen Cameron).

Matt enjoys writing songs and poetry, and took up watercolour painting during a recent sabbatical. He lives in South London with his wife Emma, their adult children Anais and Khaim, and Cocker Spaniel, Oscar. Matt was assessed and identified as Autistic in his early 50s.