\nhave set you apart from the nations to be my own. (Leviticus 20:26)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Tonight at church, the pastor was preaching on <\/span><\/p>\n “Israel, you were supposed to be different, holy, set <\/span><\/p>\n And that made me think. Usually, when I think of myself and my <\/span><\/p>\n But autism isn’t the only way that I’m different. If <\/span><\/p>\n Rather than thinking of my autism in the negative, maybe it’s <\/span><\/p>\n While most people in their 20s have outgrown their childhood <\/span><\/p>\n And if God is calling Christians to be set apart, other… <\/span><\/p>\n Maybe God created<\/i> me to be this way. (Different. Other. Autistic.<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n What I’m saying is what Leigh has said so many times, but now <\/span><\/p>\n I want to succeed in my work not despite of my autism but <\/span><\/p>\n I want my family and friends not love me not despite of my <\/span><\/p>\n I want to be set apart not despite of my autism but because of <\/span><\/p>\n And most importantly to me, I want to be Godly not despite of my <\/span><\/p>\n I think I’m starting to understand…<\/span><\/p>\n Lydia is a 22-year-old who resides somewhere on the autism spectrum and loves her service cat, Elsie. Her blog, AutisticSpeaks, can be found at<\/span>www.autisticspeaks.blogspot.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![\"lydia](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/lydia%20and%20elsie.jpg\")
\nHab…Haba…(help me, Google)… Habakkuk (thanks, buddy). We’re doing a
\nseries on it, and tonight he began to describe the judgment that God was going
\nto pass on Israel via the even more <\/i>evil Babylonians. I was doing my
\nbest to follow along, when something he said caught my attention.<\/span><\/p>\n
\napart.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndifferences, my “otherness,” I think of it as a bad thing or
\nsomething that needs to be changed. Rocking in church? Better stop it. Stimming
\n(<\/span>Stimming is short for “self-stimulatory behavior.” It
\nrefers to repetitive motions that many people with autism do as a means of
\nregulating and calming themselves. Examples include tapping, rocking,
\nhand flapping, and humming. Non-autistic people stim all the time when
\nthey tap their feet, twirl their hair, or shake their legs) <\/span>at the lights at the Broadway showing of Hairspray? Quit that.
\nGreeting new people with “Hi, do you like cats?” Not exactly socially
\nappropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n“normal” for my age is going to bars, smoking, and having sex,
\n(that’s the stuff the girls my age at work go on about), then I’m glad I’m not
\nnormal. I don’t drink, or swear, or date, or wear revealing clothing because
\nGod has called me to be set apart from my peer group. I’m not saying that it’s
\nwrong for everyone to drink and date and whatnot. I don’t know what God says to
\nother people. I can only speak for myself, and what He has called me to do and
\nbe. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ntime to consider the ways it contributes to my holiness, which, after all, is
\nwhat I strive to be (not saying I succeed, though). Because I’m kind of stuck
\nin childhood, I’m not tempted to watch sex or swearing or violence on TV or
\nread it in books or see R-rated movies. I’m not tempted to be sexually
\ninappropriate. And getting drunk and doing drugs is so far off my radar, I’ve
\nnever even been in a bar or seen a drug, let alone wanted to try them.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ninnocence, I’m pretty sure most of mine remains intact. I’m certainly more
\nsensitive to the injustice and inhumanity of the world than a lot of people I
\nknow (for example, I often cry when I see animals dead on the road, even if
\nit’s a skunk). <\/span><\/p>\n
\nholy… then maybe rocking, stimming, and questions of genuine interest (rather
\nthan the obligatory “how are yous”) aren’t so bad either, eh?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMaybe He did it as a way of mirroring His own holiness in one of His creations.
\nOr maybe He knew that, without the autism, I wouldn’t be able to stand up to
\nthe temptation that surrounds me.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI’m coming to understand for myself, now that I have some explanation behind
\nit. I’ve always thought of autism as being something that is all bad, but that
\nGod can use for good. But now I’m starting to see that maybe He actually made<\/i>
\nit for good to begin with. Good not despite of autism, but because of it.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbecause of it.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nautism but because of it.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nit.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nautism, but because of it. <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n