Disability and Neurodivergence in the Church and Society

Reclaiming the Garden

In this episode, April and Anna discuss our experiences of how disability and neurodivergence were viewed in the churches we grew up in and how those views changed as we came to realize our own neurodivergence and grapple with ableist theologies. April was planning on discussing more of her realization that she is autistic but her frazzled brain just didn’t; she does have a post about it on her Substack, linked below. We discuss Jesus’ healings of sick and disabled people and how to read those in an anti-ableist lens; Jesus was restoring them to community in the only way that was possible in their context, allowing them to be ritually clean and free to go to the Temple. Today, we can follow in Jesus’ path by advocating for accessibility and affordable healthcare for all; it is our systems that are broken, not people’s bodies or minds.

Autistic Pro-Choice YouTuber discusses the ethical nuances of Down Syndrome testing and abortion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJGg85tQZRo

April’s Substack Post about realizing she is autistic: https://aprilthewriter.substack.com/p/learning-to-love-how-my-mind-and

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Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!