The 'Impossible Subjects'? Exploring the social inclusion and belonging of autistic people in religious groups

Religious groups have been argued to be conduits to social inclusion for autistic people, and social inclusion and belonging are increasingly being recognized as important priorities in autism research. However, to date, little social-scientific exploration of autistic people’s social inclusion and belonging in religious groups has occurred. To date, social-scientific investigation has focused mainly on LGBT Christians within churches or other Christian-centric spaces. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to explore autistic people’s experiences of social inclusion and belonging in churches and mosques. Three overarching research questions guided this thesis: 1. How does being autistic impact being socially included and feeling a sense of belonging in churches and mosques? 2. To what extent are autistic and religious identities compatible? 3. What do autistic people do to maximise their social inclusion and belonging. Three empirical studies were undertaken using qualitative methods, notably focus groups (Chapters 4 and 5) and narrative and unstructured interviews (Chapter 6). Findings from focus groups with autistic people (Chapter 4) indicated that being autistic shaped experiences of social inclusion and belonging, with autistic people not always able to meet neuronormative behavioural expectations. Focus groups with Christians and Muslims (Chapter 5) found that despite an ‘all welcoming’ espoused theology, neuronormative behavioural expectations appeared to shape views on who should be included or belong in churches and mosques. Finally in narrative and unstructured interviews with autistic people who currently attend and have previously attended churches and mosques (Chapter 6), all participants struggled to meet the neuronormative behavioural standards of the ‘ideal worshipper’ (Jacobs, 2019; Spurrier, 2019). In this light, autistic people ‘disrupt’ neuronormative behavioural expectations that exist within churches and mosques. Autistic people can be argued in many cases to be ‘impossible subjects’ in churches and mosques, through autistic identity disrupting the ability to perform the normative Christian/Muslim role identity, and autistic presentation being perceived as ‘unable to be included’. Therefore, being socially included and experiencing feelings of belonging can appear to be contingent on meeting neuronormative behavioural expectations within churches and mosques.