Photo: James with his dog Charlie

One of the priorities of L’Arche’s Voice and Power project is to get better at listening to people who don’t use spoken words to communicate. So we were delighted when researcher Léon van Ommen got in touch, wanting to meet autistic people in L’Arche who do not use spoken words to communicate.

Léon is Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen. They host interdisciplinary research into autism and faith, in dialogue with different faith traditions, and aspire to collaborate with autistic people and faith communities.

Going to church has been part of James’ lifelong routine, but one which we now see with fresh eyes and insight. Caroline, James’ mother.

There is still a popular belief that autistic people are less spiritual than others. Léon wants to challenge that view in a new project called “Access Denied”. He is listening to autistic people and their communities, particularly autistic people who cannot rely on spoken language, and Black autistic people.

In April, Léon came to visit L’Arche Preston, where he met with Tim, Brendan, James, Bernard and Caroline. He was particularly interested to hear from Tim and James, who don’t use spoken words to communicate, about their spiritual life. They used a method called Talking Mats, which enables people to share feelings and views using picture symbols, to ask Tim and James about their experience of church and their spirituality.

"It was great to visit the Preston community," Léon reflected. "When we take time to listen to each other, and especially to those who are often not listened to in our society or in faith communities, we learn so much from each other. I certainly learned a lot from all the people I met in Preston. And I really appreciated the fact that we were connecting over our shared passion: to make sure that autistic people have rich and fulfilling lives, including their spirituality."