Running the Candidates Through the Litmus Test-Who Has the Best Interest of the Least of These in Mind?

In my area, the two most contested races are Congressional District 6 with Gary Palmer and Mark Lester. The next is the gubernatorial race between Robert Bentley and Parker Griffith. 

Robert Bentley has failed every aspect with regard to the least of these in Alabama. And Gary Palmer has already been out through the test and failed every aspect as well. 

But I will break it down.

Matthew 25:31-46 - "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you! And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one if the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

      "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The least of these. When you treat the least of these well, you treat Jesus well. When you hurt the least of these, you hurt Jesus. 

So here is the breakdown. Robert Bentley has avowed that he will refuse to expand Medicaid. And let me set something straight. People on Medicaid are not lazy. Medicaid, as established, is supposed to help the poor and the disabled. In Alabama, Medicaid has an assets test of $2000 maximum. Most of the poor and the disabled tend to have just over $2000. When the Affordable Care Act was passed, it gave states the opportunity to expand the Medicaid program. But Bentley let his hatred of President Obama get in the way. Bentley said healthcare was something that only his Christian brothers deserve. And the thing is, he is wrong. Many of the poor and the disabled are Christians but they still have no access to healthcare because they can neither get private insurance because their income is less than $11,000 and they do not qualify for assistance, but neither can they get Medicaid because of the assets test being one of the worst on the country. If Bentley had expanded Medicaid, just about every single person in Alabama would have access to healthcare. Bentley will continue to refuse access tohealthcare  for the least of these in Alabama as long as he remains in the governor position. Take a look at The Birmingham News from this past Sunday. A nice lengthy article about the disabled on the waiting list. These are the ones who have been blessed enough to actually be out on the Medicaid rolls. However, they are waiting for services because of an outdated and lengthy waiting list which even those who need the help still cannot get on. The state of Alabama will not improve in this regard as long as Bentley is governor. To make Medicaid work, and work well, it has to be expanded. The disabled need the expansion. Also, many of the poor do work. The ones who don't work are often the disabled. 

Parker Griffith has affirmed that he will not only expand Medicaid but reform Medicaid. And I support his position. For a disabled adult who is able to be placed on Medicaid in Alabama, it serves as nothing more than a supplement to private insurance. The coverage is worse than bare bones. It is almost non-existent. Neither private insurance nor Medicaid covers hearing aids for adults. And with the current assets test of $2000, affording hearing aids when state agencies, like Voc Rehab will not even help due to lack of complete understanding of how the hearing loss affects a particular person, is impossible since a good pair, but not necessarily the best pair, costs $3000. 

That is where the ABLE Act waiting for Senate passage in November comes in. The ABLE Act will allow families of the disabled individual to save up to $100,000 in a special 529 type of account tax-free without benefits being lost. This means that a disabled adult who is able to work more than just part time will not lose their benefits. Most of the disabled cannot afford to work right now due to the fact that they need the benefits more than they need the job. And the reason for that is because of the gaps in coverage through insurance companies and Medicaid. 

As you can see, the problem is circular. 

Now compare Gary Palmer and Mark Lester. Gary Palmer has avowed to not only repeal the ACA, but to fight against the president. Why run if you are just going to fight the president? Consider this thought: In a sense, the president is the boss. A senator or a congressman has said they are going to fight him. Essentially, they are planning to fight the boss. Now, if I go to a job interview saying I am going to fight the boss, I am most likely not going to get the job, right? So why should we allow senators and congressmen to be hired if all they are going to do is fight the boss, the president? 

One other problem. Many of these republican candidates tout their Christianity. Yet, they want to destroy programs set aside to help the least of these? Bounce back to what Jesus said in that passage in Matthew. Now think about what I just stated. If we know them by their fruit, and if the republicans claiming to be Christians are willing to destroy programs set aside to help the least of these even though Jesus made it perfectly clear that what they do to the least of these is what they do to Him, do you honestly think that they are truly Christians? I have to question that one big time. To me, this is like a church that abuses and bullies someone for having autism, and having been there, I can tell you that it not only hurts to experience that, but it is unforgivable and it tarnishes one's mindset of what church should be: a SAFE place full of love and grace and mercy and acceptance no matter what the person's walk of life might be, a SAFE place that comes along side of the person through their most difficult of challenges and never discriminates against someone, a Jesus-filled SAFE place. Yet, too many churches have failed people like me. They have failed. Period. This is why churches cannot be expected nor trusted to help the least of these. Not by themselves anyway. The government has established programs to help the least of these for a reason. Programs like SSI, SSDI, VA, SNAP, TANF, etc. Look into the history books of the Bible if you would. There are a lot of passages where kings would have the people who were able to do so go out and harvest the crops before a drought. Then when the drought came, the kings would have designated people who made sure every citizen's family had just enough food to eat for the day. That's right, the government made sure their citizens were cared for and provided for. There are many passages where God says that the rich should be kind to the poor and that the love of money is the root of all evil. Yet the republicans today would prefer to give tax breaks to the wealthiest corporations while taxing the poor through the nose and denying them the help they need. 

Picture this: The republicans in many states have been trying to make the poor pee in cups before they can get help they need for their families. But the courts have said this is illegal and a violation of privacy. Also, did you know pre-employment drug tests are actually illegal? I found that out after one store discriminated against me because I was on prescription ADHD medication at the time. I provided a copy of the prescription and all the information needed to prove it yet I was still discriminated against. I am no longer on the ADHD medication because of it. Also, the argument, well, I have to take tests when I am employed, fails. Why? Because you are employed. Also, you should question what kind of behavior your employer thought warranted the test. And unless you are in a position where public safety or heavy machinery is a factor, you should not need to drug test. But picture this: At the feeding of the thousands where a little boy sacrificed his picnic lunch so Jesus could feed them, imagine if you would each person coming to Jesus for their share and Jesus holding out a cup and saying, "You can eat after you pee in this cup." I can't imagine it because He would not ever do that because He never did. Jesus never made those kind of contingencies.

Jesus was not the one who said that a man shall not eat if he will not work. It was a disciple that said it. And it was not a reference to the disabled or the elderly or children although many people do not understand that these are the people on SNAP. Also, many of the people on SNAP do work. And nowhere does the Bible say anything about teaching a man to fish, though it is a nice proverb that some man after the Bible said. 

Minimum wages. Did you know our current minimum wage level is now below poverty level? In Shelby County, Alabama, it would take $14 per hour to not be below poverty. And yes, the law established minimum wage to be a living wage. If cost of living expenses were truly attached to minimum wage, then why has the cost of everything gone up despite the stagnation of the minimum wage? Well, they should go get an education! Many minimum wage jobs are filled by people with college degrees and years of experience. Even in government sector jobs. Well, then they should look for work elsewhere! Because there is such an abundance of jobs? Stop arguing the point of reality. Stop watching Fox News which admits to lying claiming there is not a law. (There is a code of ethics for journalism though.) 

Hobby Lobby. Suddenly a corporation is a person that can think, feel, breathe, eat, poop, sleep. Hmmm. The First Amendment is about people. Not corporations. But if Hobby Lobby has its way, no woman will be able to get any healthcare. Plan B says right on the box that it is a three day dose of standard birth control and that it does not cause abortion. Plan B is OTC and most insurances don't cover OTC. Hobby Lobby does not exclusively sell Christian merchandise nor does it indicate religion in its name. Hobby Lobby has infringed on the rights of women to have independent decisions about their healthcare. And what I think needs to happen now is that employer based coverage be eradicated. Completely. 

Also, faulty logic going on. A pastor once said that maybe the reason the woman chose an abortion was because it was a choice of being able to feed her existing children or losing one of those children to starvation for having the baby. Afterward, I did some research to see if that kind of thing could happen and was appalled when I discovered that his birth state actually had a law in place that said unless a woman could prove that the pregnancy was due to rape, that she had a choice: She could carry the baby to term but doing so would mean that her SNAP benefits would be cut. Or she could abort. So therein lies the problem.

Pro-life. For life. All life. At all stages of life. Republicans would rather that women carry and birth babies they cannot afford or they do not want but do not want to actually take care of the babies once they arrive. That is not pro-life. That is pro-birth. 

My stance: 

1. I do not like abortion. But I will not judge the woman who chooses abortion. It is not my place to judge anyway.

2. Yes, I do believe that homosexuality, along with adultery, along with pre-marital sex, are all sins. I will not condone them. But neither will I judge someone because it is not my place to judge.

3. Yes, I believe Medicaid should be expanded. Matthew 25:31-46 sort of supports this stance.

4. No, I do not believe that the poor should be drug tested before receiving help. This has failed in other states already nor does Jesus purport that kind of thing.

5. Yes, I believe minimum wage should be slowly raised. Initially to the $10.10 proposed which is still below poverty but not so below poverty that people would need as much as help as they do now.

6. No, I do not believe all the poor are just lazy. That was a horrid lie from Romney, who is not a Christian no matter how much people want to delude themselves into thinking that Mormons are Christians, and yes, I have researched this point as well.

7. No, I do not believe that President Obama has anything to do with the end times. Matter of fact, I do not believe America has anything to do with the end times because America simply did not exist when those prophecies were written about.

8. Yes, I believe churches should do more to help than they already do. They need to be more intentional about reaching out to those in their communities at home and targeting those who have special needs and their families. But, I also feel the government should do more as well. 

9. Yes, I believe the second amendment has been taken out of context. "A well-regulated militia" is not the general public and "arms" did not mean high powered shoot with six bullets at once guns like we have now. 

10. I am a Christian and these thoughts have been shaped through experiences. I took a quiz just for fun that indicated that I am 60% democrat and 40% republican. The thing was, a lot of the questions were about social issues. And if that makes me a liberal or a socialist, then I am very proud because I have based many of my positions on the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 25. 

I have never forgotten that sermon about the least of these. And I have never forgotten that the pastor said that any Christian who held the same attitude that Romney expressed about the least of these needed to repent. That sermon inspired me to utilize Matthew 25 as a sort of litmus test and a prayer guide when approaching any and all elections. And then I add simply, "Lord, may Your will be done in light of this passage." 

Story: After the presidential elections in 2012, I had a nightmare. Romney had won and I lost my insurance. Then my mom, a DAV, and I lost our home. I woke with a start and prayed, "Lord, you know my heart and You know my needs. Let Your will be done." The next morning, it was with great relief when I learned that Obama had won the election. I now have better insurance as a result. Stubborn doctors who seem too afraid to actually act in my benefit and move toward life-saving IVIG infusions that could help me get well enough to work and live and thrive, but better insurance nontheless. I will repeat the same prayer this year as well. For me. For others like me. And the thing is, God's will will be done. It sickens me when I see people praying so specifically and then claiming that God is not answering prayers. That they pray everyday for Obama to be impeached but it never happens. Well, maybe consider that you are asking God to do something that is not His will. Stop praying for Obama to be impeached and stop praying so specifically. Simply pray, "Lord, let Your will be done." 

I get hurt when someone says, pray for this person that they no longer have cancer. Or pray for this person that they no longer have depression or autism or whatever. Why? Because when I was still a teenager a friend of mine had a son with a brain tumor that just would not truly go away. And for some time after he passed, I questioned everything about God. Why did God not heal him? That is what everyone prayed for. Only now when I reflect back, I see that God did heal him. God gave him ultimate healing. It was not the healing we wanted, but it was healing. Robin Williams may or may not have been a Christian, and suicide is not the unforgivable sin and Christians do commit suicide just as much as any other people do, but God did heal him of his depression. Not in the manner we would have preferred, but healed him nonetheless. And please, stop praying for autism to go away. It is not a disease that needs a cure or that kills. Matter of fact, God Himself may have autistic traits. 

Lord, we have elections next week. And You know the needs of the people more than even we do ourselves. Let Your will be done.

The Problem with I Believe...But...

"I believe no child should go hungry, but not if it comes out of tax dollars."

"I believe no one should go hungry, but not if it comes out of tax dollars."

"I believe no one should go hungry, but if they are on food stamps, then I should get to dictate what they can and cannot buy."

"I believe no one should go hungry, but if they are on food stamps, then they should get drug tested."

"I believe...but...." 

Stop right there!

I believe. STOP! No buts allowed. 

What would Jesus do? What does Jesus say?

Feed the hungry. PERIOD.

Take care of the poor. PERIOD.

Take care of the sick. PERIOD.

Take care of the widow. PERIOD.

Visit the imprisoned. PERIOD.

Clothe the naked. PERIOD.

Shelter the homeless. PERIOD.

Yet oddly enough, many so-called Christians try to set conditions to taking care of the least of these (Matthew 25:31-46). 

Why?

When you, a Christian, say, I believe, but, you are saying I do not believe God is capable of doing his will unless I make conditions for how His will should be done. You place limits on God. Stop doing that!

When you die, you will face your judgement. What will you say when you are asked if you believe in Jesus? Will you say, "I believe, but?" 

Let your yes be yes, and let your no be no. There is no BUT allowed. 

You either believe that no child or no person should go hungry or you don't. You cannot place conditions on how that is done. After all Jesus didn't. 

I am still trying to picture Jesus when he handed out the loaves and fish saying go pee in this cup then I will feed you. No. He would have just said, "here is your food. Peace be with you." Or, "here is your food. Now to in peace." 

To all the lawmakers, media reporters, church ministers, or other Christians out there reading this, stop demonizing the least of these. We have a voice just like you do, and we have the right to the same basic dignity and respect that you do. Either be compassionate because you do believe that is what you should do, or don't. No more half-wit attempts. 

What we do and do not eat does not affect you personally. It never has. It never will. 

Stop cutting SNAP because you think that is what God would want. Stop cutting Social Security for the elderly or the poor and the disabled because you think that is what God would want. Stop cutting veterans benefits because you think that is what God would want. Stop trying to repeal the ACA because you think that is what God would want. Just stop. If you are a Christian and involved in politics, then you have one job, and that job is to figure out a way to strengthen the social safety net programs that exist to help the least of these. And THAT is what God demands. 

No strings attached. Take care of the least of these and you will be rewarded. Fail to take care of the least of these and you will be punished. "For how you treat the least of these is how you treat Me." Jesus basically said that twice. That means it is important. 

God, I believe. When I feel tempted to say, "I believe, but," stop me and remind me that my yes is to be yes and my no is to be no. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Even When You Don't Understand

Isaiah 6:3 - And one called to another said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

II Corinthians 5:7 - for we walk by faith, not by sight.

I Thessalonians 5:18 - give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Dear God, I don't understand. A lot. I don't understand why a church that claims to practice grace would resort to bullying and abuse and excluding someone as soon as they learn the person has autism. I don't understand why they would think the autism is an excuse for them to not do the very things they claim to practice and believe. I don't understand how or. Tom acted so hurtful and mean toward me instead of acting like a Christian and working toward conflict resolution with me. Instead, he lied about what happened and he spread those lies and he cause permanent and irreparable harm for me and to me and my family. As a result of what he did, I no longer want anything to do with any church ever again. Not until safety nets exist that churches will legally be obligated to follow when it comes to special needs children and adults where if they abuse or bully any of them, they will face legal repercussions. But if safety nets had existed to start with then they would not have been able to abuse or bully me to start with. Their leadership did wrong and yet I got punished for it. And that is not fair nor appropriate. That is corruptive. And their higher authority is just as corruptive. The PCA denomination is corrupted at this point and it makes me sad to see. It should make most people sad, but I fear they are becoming brainwashed by their own selfish greed. Hmmm.... Sounds like that nasty tea party has crept into the churches too. A millennial with special needs is speaking out now. Things better change on accordance with Matthew 25:31-46 or things will continue to fall apart in the churches. Okay, God, yes, in a way, I have just issued a complaint, but I know I cannot make it better, not without Your help. Bring about conversation though. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Autism, Down Syndrome, Disabilities, and Hobby Lobby

Follow me please.

Most of you already know that Hobby Lobby is trying to assert itself as having religious beliefs and is opposed to birth control or contraceptives now. They were not opposed before the Affordable Care Act and now they are. Oh, and how can a for profit company be allowed to violate any part of any law it dislikes? And for that matter, although the CEO and founder can have religious beliefs because they are people, how can a corporation hold religious beliefs? It is not a person. Only people can hold beliefs. 

Well, their approach is a slippery slope that is too dangerous to go down. Why? Because if Wal-mart decides they don't want to cover women's care, they might suddenly cry it goes against their religion? Where in the Bible is birth control wrong? It is not in there. It is a grey area and it is legalism. 

Hobby Lobby would have a better chance if it clarified what it means by contraception as being just those forms that they think cause abortion instead of the broad term of contraception they are using. 

Contraception:

Shots

Birth control pills taken on a daily basis for a variety of reasons - don't want babies, have iron anemia, acne, hormone imbalance, heavy bleeding, irregularities 

Plan B - a three day dose of birth control to be taken within 72 hours after failed contraceptives or rape - prevents implantation - does not cause abortion

IUD

Patches

These are contraceptions used to prevent pregnancy.

I gave a scenario though:

Hobby Lobby historically has been one of the few places known to hire people with autism and other special needs. Now here is the deal. The girl with cognitive dysfunction gets a job at Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby gives her insurance. The doctor says she needs birth control because she does not understand sex yet. It is for her safety and protection. Also because she cannot handle having menstrual cycles. They can be very stressful. Suddenly Hobby Lobby says no because it violates our religious beliefs. Now they have done something illegal. They have denied a disabled person something she needs in order to have that job. They have now discriminated against her. It is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and subject to lawsuit. 

If they are going to cover Viagra, they have to cover birth control. And because no single birth control is necessarily right for all women, they have to cover all of it. Otherwise, it is gender discrimination. 

If Hobby Lobby gets out of this portion of law, what will be next? No hiring special needs? No hiring women? No hiring someone of a different faith? No hiring a red head? No hiring a person who is not white? No paying what they are supposed to? Where does it end? Give an inch and they will take a mile.

Supposedly they are threatening a tantrum if they lose--close the stores. Fine. They chose to commit business suicide over the fact they are legalistic anyway.

Now I want to say something.

I called out someone who inappropriately commented about someone's size by saying she looked like she had swallowed her last two children. It was rude and inappropriate. And I also pointed out that it was a milestone that I recognized it as a person with autism. Well, he then turned around and in response to the scenario said people with autism and special needs are pathetic.

Let me say this now:

It is autism awareness month and what we need now is autism acceptance. But when people hold that attitude, it is clear that people like me will never be accepted at church, school, work, or in the community. It is hateful. And this is the attitude of someone who probably calls himself a Christian. The Paul Ryan budget was just passed by the republicans. Yeah, the party of Christianity. Well, guess what? It is not reflective of Christian values. It is a violation of Matthew 25:31-46 and it makes the republicans goats. Those are the words Jesus used. 

Paul Ryan hit veterans by cutting healthcare and SNAP. Paul Ryan hit the elderly by cutting SNAP. Paul Ryan killed the disabled by cutting SNAP, SSI, SSDI, the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid. Paul Ryan hit women by cutting WIC. He wants to force a woman to carry a baby she didn't plan on or want for a variety of reason and in the meantime he takes food and medicine away from her and the baby. So now we have a bunch of unwanted babies because they don't want us to be on birth control and refuse to give us healthcare and the babies are all starving because they don't want us to eat either. It is the Mitt Romney rhetoric of hate toward everyone less fortunate than them all over again, the rhetoric that caused them to lose and caused even the most evangelical pastors to cringe and say that if Christians held that attitude they needed to repent! The Paul Ryan budget is unethical, illegal, and is definitely against what Jesus stood for, the republicans just crucified Jesus all over again. And here's the thing, we are approaching Easter. A time to remember Jesus' life and ministry on earth and what he did for us on the cross. 

Autism awareness should lead to autism acceptance. And in some ways, although we have come a long way with regard to race, we have not moved forward with regard to disabilities. Dear church, what are you doing to effect a POSITIVE change? 

Autism Quip

So my mom has found a pretty good autism parent support group. But her choices with regard to me are to take me with her or leave me at home as there are no community supports for adults with autism who are not quite fully independent. Most programs end at age 21. Wow. Where is this magic wand regarding special needs that makes a child no longer have special needs when he or she turns 21? 

So last night I went with her. And I was apparently a bit of a pleasant surprise as while the speaker was talking I typed up some thoughts I had on what she was saying on my iPad and she had me share one of them with the group! 

So it looks like I am not only starting the journey toward writing a book but also toward becoming a speaker! And why not? After all, who best to tell others about autism than someone who actually has autism? 

Now, what are your churches doing to support those of us who have autism and our families? If your church is not engaging with them and including them, please stop. Matthew 25:31-46 applies to your church more so now than ever. 1 in 68. Try to apply that statistic to your church population. That would be almost and at least 40 people in a church with around 2500 people! May not sound like a lot but it is more than enough that Jesus would not be thrilled if you missed them or hurt them by not including them. As was posted by one page that believes churches should include individuals with special needs, churches that wish to be relevant today are doing something to include and minister to people with special needs. And they are thriving now as a result. And as many church leaders may now be aware, many millennials are leaving the church because they find that most churches are no longer relevant to them today. Looks like something HUGE is happening in God's kingdom! Looks like the kingdom revolution has started! And the churches may be left behind if they do not get on board with including people like myself and my mom who have special needs. It doesn't take a lot of money or resources. All it takes is one person who is willing to step up and say I got this, I will serve, I will be their buddy. And then it can grow from there. 

Anyway, as I said last night in reference to the use of the puzzle piece to represent people with autism which some people have interpreted as meaning the person with autism is a mystery, this is what I said, "I like the puzzle piece because I see the world and the people in it as everyone is a part of a huge global puzzle and every piece, including those of us on the spectrum, is a part of the big puzzle." This is based on a lesson I learned based on the way that a couple of people I met at the church that hurt me viewed things. Everyone has a purpose and is a part of the puzzle. I further broke it down later using a drawing that was hanging on one of the walls and told them to imagine that picture was a puzzle. Now imagine there was a piece missing. You now have an incomplete puzzle. And you might just get angry that the piece is missing. That one missing piece ruins the entire picture! And you often search all over for that one piece too. And when you find it and can finally put it where it belongs, you rejoice because you now have a completed picture! Hmm.... Think about.... This is like the story of the lost lamb and the lost coin. This is like the picture the Bible paints of the church being a body with every part being important. 

Is your church including us? If not, change it! 

What Is Autism?

Autism is a processing disorder. Well, I don't know that I would call it a disorder anymore, now that the latest statistics are out. It seems that autism is more prevalent than what was originally though. And I know many people that seem like they have tendencies that are similar to autism. So let me back up. Autism is a different way of processing things. Let me try it this way.

You have a PC. I have a Mac (not yet, but I will one day). The bottom line operating system, though both might be able to run windows, the hardware is different. So they have to have programs that are compatible with their hardware. They now have Word for both PC and Mac. They are more compatible now than they used to be. But the platform on which they run is different. 

Okay, another example. 

Define glove. You would probably be satisfied to say it is a covering for the hand. But my filing cabinet in my brain says, what kind of glove? I have it broken down by function. By the generalized definition, I now have a mismatch. A mitten covers the hand, but it is not a glove. An oven mitt covers the hand, but it is not a glove. My blanket can cover my hand. Does that make my blanket a glove? No.... It is a blanket. Maybe a better way to define glove is something that covers the hand for some purpose but it has fingers. My mom said a baseball mitt would not be a glove. I said there are fingers inside of it. It is also sometimes called a baseball glove. But that is one of the ways that my brain is different than your brain.

Here is something I have heard a lot, but this morning I heard it again. If you see a person in a wheelchair, you know they need a ramp. But the problem is, you cannot see autism. Therefore, it is hard to know that someone is having trouble and how to help them. But I want to give an example based on something I experienced. This church sent me for testing to see if I had autism. Of course, that also meant they received a copy of the report. After they learned that I have autism, I got bullied by two of the people who were on the care team they placed me under. And they intentionally began to exclude me from participating in things rather than to find ways to include me. They used the autism as an excuse to exclude me. They used the autism as an excuse to isolate me. It was like they were afraid that the autism might be contagious or something. The one man said they tried to say they were trying to mainstream me and that it failed. No.... Excluding someone is not mainstreaming them. Therefore, attempts to mainstream me did not fail because there were no attempts to mainstream me. Mainstream means to include with or without reasonable accommodations. An accommodation for a person with autism might be as simple as a buddy. Someone who is identified and appointed as a person in an activity who can be trusted to not only understand about the way autism might impact the individual but also interaction with others and can run interference should a problem arise by assisting in appropriately removing the person from the setting that is becoming upsetting and taking them to a calming place. What they should have done rather than what they did was to talk to me about what I wanted or needed and not exclude me from anything. What he should have done when he recognized and acknowledged that what they were doing was wrong was stand up and say hey, wait a minute, we need to regroup and problem solve. But you see, too often, most places are doing it wrong. They do not SEE the autism or the ADHD or whatever other invisible handicap or disability exists and they either pass us over or they ignore us or they pretend we don't exist. Or they go the other way and they bully us until we get frustrated enough to give up. But the thing is, we canNOT give up or they will continue to bully us thinking that it is okay for them to do so because no one stood up against them for doing it. 

People with autism do not lack empathy. This is a common assumption that is made. We have empathy. We may not understand from the cognitive perspective why someone feels something, but we do feel what others feel. Remember my filing cabinet? That is where I have everything stored. If I have experienced it, it is in there. It is my reference for how to respond or react or handle things. If I am missing something then it is because no one has helped me acquire the right tool yet or the right data. I am supposed to start using signals. Signals to help people know when I have had enough. Because sometimes when I become overloaded, I cannot think clearly and therefore I cannot verbalize things well. Those signals are sometimes called cues. And sometimes I need a lot of cues.

I will ask this question a lot because I am in anticipation that by the time I send my letter that is overdue that I will have enough resources to share with the recipient(s) that they can and will end up saying yes to having a meeting to talk through things and to negotiate restoration and reconciliation. But what is your church doing to intentionally reach out to people like me who may be isolated in our very own communities because people do not understand autism or do not seem to want to understand autism? If they are not doing something, they need to. Matthew 25:31-46 is the main justification for being intentional in ministry and support to people like me and my mother who also has autism. After all, Jesus spent most of His time with the sick and the poor, so should not the churches also be doing that?

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. It is everywhere. Some countries are not in as good of a position to get support systems in place. And America is lacking in support systems for adults with autism. It needs to change fast because the children will be transitioning into adults and will still need support.