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ROME – Three years ago, Father Matthew Schneider, who was having trouble with his job as a school chaplain and youth minister, felt that something was wrong. After passing tests with a psychologist, he was diagnosed that most adults do not expect: he is autistic.
Disappointed and fearful about the implications for his future and his ministry as a priest, Schneider began reading information about his condition. By learning more about it, he says now, things that had always left him feeling "different" started to make sense.
The more he studied learning and autistic thought patterns, the more he was excited about running his own ministry in a way that would suit both his abilities and helping him reach his goals. other autistic people – a community that, according to some studies, would be less effective. likely to be religious than the social norm.
Talk to Node At the celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, April 2 – the same day Schneider decided to make his diagnosis public – he said he hoped to use his autism as a flat a platform to restructure resources to make the Catholic faith more attractive and understandable. for the autistic community.
"We have often built catechism programs and prayer books regardless of how autistic people think," he said, adding that "our thought process is a little different and that we built all these elements. [tools] without thinking about the autists and how they would treat them. "
If the Church can provide the same materials in a way more suited to the autistic mind, it will be a resource for parishes or dioceses wishing to start a catechesis program for autistic children or children with autism. parishioners, he said.
These resources would also be a tool for young autistic people "who think about their religion, whether they are planning to come or have had a bad experience and are considering leaving, so that they stay Catholic," said Schneider.
"As a person who has the same kind of mindset, which is not the same as the rest of society, I am able to present the faith in the way that corresponds to it. It's still the Catholic religion, just worded or articulated or explained slightly differently, "he said.
A native of Calgary, Canada, Schneider was ordained priest of the Legionaries of Christ in 2013 and has worked in parishes and schools throughout North America.
He decided to make World Autism Awareness Day public by posting a video on social media in which he describes his difficulties in always feeling "a little different" or not "integrating". ". Although he had good grades and finished engineering student, he said that he was never "cool".
Speaking of the growing number of people diagnosed with autism, Schneider said that he thought that was partly due to the fact that the detection criteria had changed and that, had they been in place in the 1980s, he was diagnosed as a child.
Like many autistic people, Schneider has a keen mind, a good memory and has earned a reputation for his encyclopedic way of keeping and regurgitating the facts. However, he also struggles with social communication and non-verbal cues.
It is because of these difficulties, he said, that he was asked to leave his chaplain and youth minister position at a school that began just three years later. Although the experience was painful, Schneider said that he thought it was ultimately a blessing because it had led to his diagnosis.
After spending three grueling days with a psychologist at the end of 2015, he received the results in January 2016.
"I can tell you that that day, on my way home, I felt really bad, but over the weeks and months, I became aware of what I was reading. I've realized that, oh, that's probably the reason I've got some of these struggles, "he said, explaining that the diagnosis has finally become a liberating experience," but that it was not for the moment. It was difficult. "
Three years later, he is excited about the possibilities, claiming that he was looking for an intellectual field "where the difficulties I encountered would still be present, but it will not be the same as if I were a chaplain." or a parish priest ". he hopes to find a place where strong memory and logical reasoning skills will "express themselves better".
"It's about finding the ministry that will work within the mission of our community, but also where I'm going to excel, because you want a priest from a community to excel, not to continue in a ministry that does not it does not suit him, "he said.
For the moment, Schneider said he wanted to focus on his online ministry, which he exercised via two Twitter accounts – his public account @FrMatthewLC and an anonymous account with the pseudonym @AutisticPriest – as well as via a brief report of 2 minutes on Youtube. videos that he plans to launch discussing autism and the Catholic faith.
Schneider added that he also hoped to become a seminary professor once his Ph.D. completed, which he hopes to take in about two years. He wants to know more about the theology of disability, which is attracting increasing interest in Rome, with several conferences on the subject in recent years.
"I think a number of autistic people are hiding in the public eye," he said, expressing the hope that this openness would help to overcome stigma.
Many times people can meet a person, be it a university professor or another professional, "who is a little out of the way, but everyone loves this teacher", has said Schneider, adding that "this small disadvantage is because he is autistic".
"That's the type of personality I have. So I think there is a stigma, but I think a lot of people with autism have done great things, and I hope I can do great things, "he said.
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