The Autism Faith Network seeks to spread autism awareness, acceptance and inclusion in faith-based communities all over the world. In 2017, the initiative received Honorable Mention at the Patients’ View Impact Awards! Since 2016, we have served 35 churches, with over 10,800 people learning about autism!
What Does This Faith Initiative Do?
We recruit faith-based communities to do at least one activity for autism awareness month in April. Each faith community can choose their own activity to meet their needs, but a list of ideas are provided.
There is no fee to participate in this initiative. Most activities can be done for free or on a very small budget.
Activities should take place in the month of April. Persons of Contact (POCs) are selected for each faith community. POCs report on the activity, take photos and record the number of persons participating. Assistance is available for faith communities that desire more personalized activities and events. All participating faith communities receive a letter of thanks and a certificate of participation.
How Did This Faith Initiative Begin?
Our founder, Tonya Nash, is the mother of two sons with autism. Her personal experiences opened her eyes to the difficulties that families affected by autism face when trying to attend worship services. In 2013, a church that she was attending saw her family’s struggle and started a special needs ministry. Their act of kindness led her to wonder why a form of special needs ministry isn’t more readily available in most places of worship?
Tonya wrote a blog series about her experiences and received a lot of positive feedback. A passion developed in her to not only talk about this issue, but to actually do something about it. In January 2016, God gave her the idea for this initiative while sitting in the parking lot of an office supply store. She wrote it all down and pressed forward to start what was originally called, the Autism Awareness Month Faith Based Initiative!
What are the Goals of this Faith Initiative?
Everything that we do for this initiative will fall under four main goals, which are to:
- Create awareness about autism. We educate faith communities about autism, its signs and symptoms and how to include with persons with autism into faith based activities. Information about developmental milestones and early intervention are also provided.
- Promote screenings and early intervention. Black and Hispanic children are more likely to receive a late diagnosis of autism than White children. A late diagnosis can cause a child to miss valuable early intervention. We encourage screening for children at 18 months and 24 months to help reduce the late diagnosis rates.
- Eliminate stigmas about autism. We seek to educate faith communities about how stigmas contribute to isolation among autism families and prevent children from receiving timely screenings.
- Promote acceptance and inclusion. It is important to recognize the unique gifts and qualities of each person with autism! Faith based communities should openly include and welcome persons with autism.
How Can I Participate?
We would love for you to join us! The Autism Faith Network now has its own website! Please click here and you will be directed to our contact page. Once we receive your information, we will contact you with details on how you can join this growing network!