B19 wrote:
I hope this gets discussed at the conference by Francis, as an example of the Catholic respect and acceptance of people with autism..
Leopards and spots, leopards and spots...
"In 2006, a 10-year-old Arizona boy with autism
was denied taking Holy Communion by his Catholic church. Holy Communion is a ritual of the Catholic faith that commemorates the breaking of bread at Jesus Christ?s last supper.
Matthew Moran had trouble swallowing foods of certain textures, including the Communion wafer. The youngster had been taking Communion in a unique manner. With his father looking on, he would place the wafer in his mouth for a moment and then his father would take it out of his mouth and consume it himself.
Nick Moran, the child?s father, told the Arizona Republic newspaper that if he didn?t do this Matthew would spit the wafer out of his mouth".
Courtesy Spectrum Publications
Read more:
http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/new ... z3JSXUJlq9
It varies a lot by priest, and this is far from the only issue that has arisen with the process; right now there are many who can't take communion because of the gluten.
I think what it comes down to is that no one HAS to receive communion to be a good Catholic or to be in God's grace, and since it is supposed to "be" the body of Christ I don't know how you modify the ritual and have it still be the same thing.
That is definitely an area that has only recently become an issue, and it is going to take time for the thinking on it to fully resolve.
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Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).