Autism & Biblical Learning
Recently, I spoke about barriers autistics face in church, namely in Sunday School classes or Bible studies. This is not the first time I have spoken of this topic; however, my attentive audience made me realize how important this issue is and how challenging it can be to solve.
The Bible is inaccessible to autistics.
I do not speak of physical accessibility but cognitive accessibility. I want to preface this blog by saying that the contents which follow are largely aimed at level 1 autistic struggles, of which I can speak with experience. That is not to say the same issues do not apply to level 2 and 3 autistics; they do. Likewise, the same solutions I propose can also help level 2 and 3 autistics access the Bible’s content when modified.
So, what do I mean when I say the Bible is cognitively inaccessible? When you open the Bible, you regularly encounter three elements that make it nearly impossible for autistics to understand. Firstly, it is abstract. Faith is something we cannot see. Autistics struggle outright with our faith because it is not always visible, logical, or black-and-white. When we open the Bible, we read about constructs beyond our imagination, constructs too intangible for our rigid brains.
Let’s address the cornerstone of our faith: the triune God. How would you describe to an autistic that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one in the same? Allow me to voice the thoughts that first come to my autistic mind: If they are the same being, how can they be in different places at different times doing different things? That indicates a separation. Things are either combined or they are separate. That is what logic indicates. And why do we call Jesus God’s Son if they are the same?
Secondly, who do I pray to, God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit? Autistics want consistency. We want one correct answer, so the other two must be wrong. Plus, we are rule-followers, so we will stick to that answer.
Next, try to explain our duty to live like Christ. Why would I live like Jesus if God made me perfectly unique? Living like Jesus brings us and others joy and peace; this is what God wants for us. Then why didn’t He make me like Jesus in the first place?
These thoughts are where my brain naturally goes. I do not write them to play the devil's advocate or plant seeds of doubt. All Christians must confront these questions as a part of building and understanding their faith, but for autistics, the difference is that they will struggle more and for longer. Without resolution, eventually, many turn away. Sadly, this trend is easy to see. Many autistic influencers, authors, or speakers are not Christians and advocate for those things opposite of Biblical law.
Let’s move onto our second barrier to biblical understanding: figurative language. Figurative language includes metaphors, similes, idioms, personification, hyperbole, allusion, symbolism, and more. Open any page of the Bible and I guarantee that you will read something you must translate from figurative to literal language. Due to this complex language, understanding the Bible is hard for everyone. It is additionally challenging because of its cultural context: we do not live in the same time or place the Bible was written. Now, try to approach the Bible when you have a language disorder. You open a page and read “The Lord is my shepherd” and think: I am not a sheep. You try another page and read “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.” What?! What do I use to do that, an ice poker? The examples are endless.
This endlessness is another reason why autistics shy away from reading the Bible. There is so much confusing material that it is overwhelming. Cue the pathological demand avoidance! We know that facing the Bible will be tedious and exhausting, so we don’t even try. This is terrible, for the Bible is the one text we need to read. I will admit that this has always been the part of my faith I have found most difficult. Would you believe it if I told you I didn’t start reading my Bible daily until about 4 months ago? It is hard for me to admit, but I just couldn’t find the courage to tackle it. I was an otherwise faithful Christian, yet I could not have named a single minor prophet or summarized popular biblical stories. For me, the change was a book, the Illustrated Bible Survey: An Introduction. This book reviews every book of the Bible, explaining when it was written, who wrote it, where they lived and preached, historical events, and more. With a better understanding of those key details, I had more courage to go back to the Bible and read it. This was not a magic fix: I still cannot decipher most of the figurative language of the Bible, but I would say I get 20% more and that is huge progress. Now, I read the Bible daily. That said, I still need videos to help me. I read a couple chapters each day and watch a devotional video on those chapters to check understanding and make sure I didn’t miss major points (which I do often).
I think this is the reality of reading the Bible as an autistic. I will never be able to sit down and just read and annotate the Bible. For me, reading the Bible looks like reading a sentence, getting confused, watching a video to help, getting confused again, checking google, and so on. This is not bad. In fact, I think this is the reality for many Christians, autistic or not. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in, helping us decipher what we cannot on our own.
Last on our list are prophecies and poetry. Prophecies and poetry are difficult for the same reasons we discussed above: figurative language, broad roots, and abstract meanings. Apocalyptic language gets even harder. As an autistic, opening Revelation is like entering a battlefield. Once again, the solution lies in slowing down, supplemental instruction, including more visuals, and using multiple mediums (text, picture, video, tactile activities).
A warning: do not mistake memorization for understanding. When we struggle to understand abstract concepts, we default to our good memories and simply memorize facts. Memorization is not faith. Only true faith and understanding brings us eternal life with God.
As fellow Christians, teachers, pastors, and disciples, we need to keep autistics from falling through the cracks. Understanding our inability to grasp abstract concepts and our propensity to think in black-and-white is the first step to solving this problem. Autistics do not soak up information like a sponge. An autistic student will need more concrete visuals to understand their faith. Can you use a visual analogy to explain a difficult aspect or concept? This may seem contradictory at first, but analogies are sometimes the closest way to get to what the Bible says. They root us in our current culture and context. For an autistic to understand an analogy, make it a visual. I think of C.S. Lewis. His books are full of analogies which have helped me grow my faith tremendously. An example is from Mere Christianity. Lewis describes ships sailing in a fleet. He uses this analogy to describe morality and its three parts: fair play and harmony between people, internal harmony, and purpose (p. 72). Morality is a vastly challenging and abstract subject, yet using the visual of ships and seeing what makes them collide or sink makes the aspects of morality much easier for me to understand.
Secondly, slow down your teaching for the class. To process challenging topics, we need more time and more resources (like the visual analogies I mentioned above). These resources can boost others’ understanding too. Use class time to show videos, act out concepts and stories, or make crafts representing the concept. Be cautious of singling the autistic student out. When you have level 1 autism, you realize you are “odd” but you do not consider yourself “disabled” and do not want to be treated differently. Most importantly, you do not want your peers to see a teacher treating you differently. When you can’t accommodate one, accommodate all.
I encourage you to use the tools available to you. Try Bible handbooks and surveys, videos, targeting historical context, and slowing down. As a teacher, please do not feel dismayed when autistics continue to struggle with figurative language, what is important is that we are grasping the meaning. I may never understand how you take “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place” and end up with “I’m in a difficult position,” but as long as I understand the point, (the person is in a difficult position or has a difficult decision to make), I can be successful.
My final suggestion is to answer their questions. Make sure they know it is a safe space to ask any and all questions, whether they seem silly or not. Sometimes, Sunday school teachers and peers are intimidating. It can seem like everyone around us knows more about the Bible than we do. My peers are keeping up with our teacher, meanwhile, I am stuck ten minutes back still trying to understand why my teacher called Jesus a shepherd. I was scared to ask a question because I felt like my peers would judge me for asking a simple question they already understood the answer to.
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If you are a teacher, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed about now. When do I have time for all this extra lesson planning? Will my other students get bored if I slow down? What about money for crafts or resources? Do not be dismayed. Remember, you are doing God’s work. He will provide. Think of the impact you are making on your students’ lives. As Christians, it is our job to share the good news. Sometimes we feel we have bigger fish to fry, but let me assure you that nothing is more important than eternal life with our Father. Helping autistics to understand and want to read the Bible should be at the top of our do-to lists.
It will not be easy, not for the teacher, and especially not for the pupil. Persistence is key. Establish a routine and regime that uses the tools and strategies I mentioned above. Create a culture centered around Christ. Talk about faith often, and encourage asking those hard questions, especially the doubts. Find faithful peers and plan activities with them, pray, and remain patient. Faith should not be a chore. Do not push them to frustration trying to get them to understand or keep up. Take baby steps, make it fun, and work in short bursts.
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Written by: Kloey Kaeser on December 23, 2025
