• Ann Memmot: "Autism and Christianity" Personal experience. Ministry to children with autism in the church Autism from the point of view of Orthodoxy

    They disagree more often than they agree. For those people who deny religious experience, it is rather strange to explain some of the issues concerning the person as a whole and his life. In fact, there is no such opposition, and the medical interpretation of many diseases does not contradict Christian doctrine.

    The attitude of Orthodoxy to autism

    Autism is not considered in Orthodoxy as a kind of manifestation of demoniac, as can sometimes be heard. This is a neurological disease, the causes of which can be very different - this is a mutation of genes, and the influence toxic substances on the developing brain of a child, and many undiagnosed factors. The spiritual causes of any disease lie in the sinful human nature and autism is no exception.

    Autism is a condition that requires constant corrective action.

    The most common question regarding this disease is the question of curability of this disease. Medically speaking, autism is chronic illness, in which a certain deformation of the personality occurs, associated with isolation, obsession with oneself and one's own experiences, fear of leaving the familiar environment, denial of everything new and incomprehensible. Autism is considered incurable by any medication.

    The only option to correct the patient's behavior is to attend therapeutic groups from birth, allowing in the future a person diagnosed with autism to at least to a small extent adapt and lead an independent lifestyle.

    Important! The church, relying mainly on the will of God, believes that true faith and prayers heal any disease, even such as autism.

    Of course, both the church and medicine recognize the fact that autism is a strictly individual disease that manifests itself to varying degrees in different people. So some autistic children are kind, defenseless and affectionate, of course, it is difficult to imagine that demons have found their abode in their souls, but there are also those children who are radically different.

    Autism from a Biblical Perspective

    There is no exact mention of this particular disease in the Holy Scriptures. Nevertheless, we see examples of many healings from the most severe diseases. When it comes to various mental disorders, in a believing environment they are often compared with demonic possession. This is a fundamentally wrong approach. So, autism is characterized by specific changes in the brain, therefore it has completely organic causes and manifestations. And to see one devilry in autism is pure heresy.

    Possession by demons is a very real spiritual state of a person, described both in Holy Scripture and in the Holy Fathers. Mental illness is often confused with obsession due to the similarity of some manifestations. However, the cause of these conditions is completely different.

    In the Bible, in the gospel of Matthew, cases are described of how Jesus Christ dealt with demoniacs.

    In chapters 8, 9, 12, and 17, Christ, meeting such people, casts out demons from them. For example, in the 8th chapter, the demons, leaving a man, entered a herd of pigs, which immediately threw themselves into the sea from a cliff and died.

    In chapter 17 of the gospel, Christ heals the mad son of one man, and when the disciples of Christ asked him why they could not heal the sick, he replied that it was given to everyone according to his faith and that having faith even with a grain of mustard, you can move the mountain.

    Christ heals a raging man

    Church attitude

    Russian Orthodox Church since ancient times tried to help people suffering mental illness. As in cases of any other diseases, sincere faith, prayer, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ can work real miracles.

    Read about other diseases:

    But today in the church there is no such active work in this direction. Unfortunately, autistic people often have many barriers to going to church, because not quite adequate behavior during worship can interfere with other worshipers. However, it is very important to try to establish church life at the level that is available to an autistic person.

    Attention! Some temples have rehabilitation centers for children with this diagnosis and similar diseases. According to the opinions of those who turned to such centers for help, it can be concluded that the assistance provided by specialists (both medical and spiritual) helps to correct the child's behavior and also helps parents maintain faith in healing and avoid discouragement.

    The opinion of the priests

    Orthodoxy teaches that sickness and death entered the human essence along with sin. You should not look for an unambiguous relationship between autism in a child and the specific sin of his parents or relatives. We do not know the Providence of God about each of us, but we must trust Him and bear the cross that He sends down for our salvation.

    Priests also say that great harm is done to an unborn child when the pregnancy was not planned and the mother hates the child she carries under her heart. Such an explanation is quite comparable with spiritual laws, according to which there will be a punishment for any act.

    There is a stereotype in society that children with autism appear more often in dysfunctional families, as well as in such families where alcohol, cigarettes or drugs are abused. There is a somatic cause of autism, but, unfortunately, children with such a diagnosis can be born in quite prosperous families.

    In addition, there is another understanding of this situation, often people who live purely material values ​​are far from God, but the appearance of a child diagnosed with autism in their family often leads them to faith and directs their life in a completely different direction. Thus, it can be said that overcoming autism as a disease of the soul is another way to God.

    Church for autistic children

    Dear readers! As part of the marathon "The impact of medications on autistic children" in March 2015, my note was published ( ) on the way to get her daughter off the autism spectrum. I want to talk about special medicine that can help our special children. Each of us has our own view of religion and faith, our own opinion about diseases and their treatment, so my article is purely advisory in nature. I am not calling anyone to anything, I am just sharing my experience as a mother of a disabled child, and I sincerely hope that you can help your children become healthy and happy!

    “And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your faults to each other and pray for each other to be healed: the fervent prayer of the righteous can do much.” ( James 5:15,16)

    Five years ago, leaving the psychiatrist's office with a child, I cried, and in my head the words of the doctor sounded like a sentence: "Your child will never be a full-fledged person." That day, it felt like the world had collapsed around me. I realized that my life changed overnight. For several days, not believing the words I heard, I unfolded the certificate and read the diagnosis. My brain refused to believe what was happening: “This cannot be! Why is this withmine a child? For what ? Pain, despair, tears...

    On the floor, a serious four-year-old baby from Lego bricks lays out a long path in some kind of mysterious sequence that only she understands. I call her by name, but she, without reacting, diligently adds another brick to her multi-colored path, which, as if along an invisible ruler, is laid out perfectly evenly ...

    Endless hospital corridors, doctors, medicines, misunderstandings, smiles, regrets - we have been through a lot. Sometimes my hands fell, but looking at the little man, who is so helpless and defenseless, I understood that it was impossible to be inactive. Taking medications and regular activities with the child brought positive dynamics as a result (I already wrote about this in my previous article).

    In speech, the changes took place as follows:

    At the age of 5 years - when taking encephabol, the vocabulary expanded in courses; role-playing games, a passion for singing appeared;

    At the age of 7 years - able to answer a simple, understandable question with a word; significant expansion vocabulary, the use of adjectives and verbs in speech; in the treatment with cortexin, phrases, confident phrases appeared; in the treatment of gliatilin - suggestions, questions, reasoning, the development of fantasy and the voicing of thoughts.

    At the age of eight, my daughter was first communed in an Orthodox church. It should be noted that during the service the child was restless, restless, gloomy, without mood. After communion, the girl literally changed: she smiled, brightened up. On the way from the temple, she, looking at how the wind plucks the last dry leaves from the trees, circles them in the air, issued the phrases: “Mom, look, it's leaf fall! The wind drives the leaves! I just couldn't believe my ears! For several days, the daughter amazed us by constantly giving out new proposals, questions and reasoning. The people around noticed that T. became more sociable, open, easily made contact. I want to say that after the first communion, there was a surge of positive dynamics both in speech and in general development a child that I can only compare with the improvement after treatment with such a powerful drug as gliatilin.

    Since then m My daughter and I began to visit churches and monasteries more often, go to confession and communion, and gather in the monastery. The child has become completely different. Doctors, psychologists, and teachers note positive dynamics in development, and we can see how much the girl’s speech has improved and her behavior has changed.

    Two years ago, having passed the ATEC autism test to assess the dynamics and identify problems (http://stopautism.ru/%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82-%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA/ ), our result was 59 points, a year ago - 33 points, and now - 22 (I quotetest score scale:

    • 10-15 non autistic child, completely normal, well developed child
    • 16-30 non-autistic child, mild developmental delay
    • 31-40 mild or moderate autism
    • 41-60 average degree of autism
    • 61 and above severe autism)

    It cannot but be a result of the fact that over a period of 9 months, a child who was always considered somatically weakened and had colds 2 times a month, and even with complications, only 2 times had acute respiratory infections in a mild form, which causes no small surprise at our local pediatrician. But no immunostrengthening medicines we did not use. We found ourspecial medicine is the Orthodox faith, and this medicine has the widest range healing without side effects!

    Some people do not take communion, disdaining to taste from a common spoon and complaining about the fear of contracting any infection, and even more so of infecting their child. Without further ado, I will say that the sacrament has a healing effect and cannot cause harm to health, you just need to believe and the result will not be long in coming. And with faith come real miracles of healing.

    In the monastery shop, we purchased the icon of the Mother of God "Healer". A day later, my daughter scared me with profuse nosebleeds, I was desperate because I could not stop the bleeding and was about to call an ambulance. The child, bleeding, asked for a drink, and I rushed to the bottle of holy water brought from the monastery, gave the girl a drink, washed her with holy water and applied it to the “Healer” icon. The bleeding stopped instantly, and after a couple of minutes, my daughter was already playing happily, as if none of this had happened! A few weeks later, the icon "Healer" helped us when something got into T.'s eye and repeated washing with water did not give a result.


    Watch your child in the temple! Pay attention to how sincerely the children are baptized, kiss the icons, how their faces glow during the liturgy and after communion! For a child with ASD, the first times of temple visits may be difficult, he may be afraid of a large number of people. At first, I advise you to simply take a walk with your child near a cathedral or church, drawing the child's attention to the beauty of an Orthodox church. Get a book or coloring book on Orthodox themes for your baby, talk with your child, and do preparatory work. Go to the temple at a time when there is no worship and few people. Show the icons, light a candle with the child, do everything unobtrusively, without tension. In advance without a child, talk to the priest and warn him that your child is special. Introduce the child to the priest, let them communicate even if your child does not speak. Believe me kind look an Orthodox priest and his words will surely leave a mark on the sensitive soul of a child, and one day you will cry with joy, looking at how your baby runs to the priest for a blessing!

    Sometimes in difficult life situations we cry out to God for help and wonder why he does not hear us, does not answer our prayers. We spend time and money on expensive specialists, on medicines which do not help the child, and sometimes even worsen his condition. Butspecialthe medicine is so accessible and so effective. This medicine will heal both body and soul. Believe, act, and the result will not keep you waiting.

    Someone will say skeptically - I believe, but nothing is happening ... And what actions, apart from thoughts in your head, did you take: did you cry about your share and that's it?

    Observance of morning and evening prayer rule, regular reading of the Gospel and the Psalter, visiting Orthodox churches and monasteries with a child, fasting, conversations with an Orthodox priest as a confessor, confession and communion, unction, striving to keep the laws of God and acquire virtues -All this helps and heals my child! I sincerely hope that such a wonderfulspecial medicine like Orthodox faith will help healing and your children! Health to all and spiritual joy!


    My name is Ann. No one will say that I have “mild autism”, but this does not prevent me from enjoying life and being a Christian at all.

    Many people think that autistic people cannot understand God. Others think we can't go to church. For me, my Christian faith is very important, and the fact that I am part of the church gives me great pleasure.

    How do I believe? I am a regular member of a wonderful church owned by the Church of England, and I also helped start the Methodist Church Group for the Disabled. I don't really understand all the technical stuff about faith because I think in pictures, not words. If I can't imagine what something looks like, then I can't understand it. I get more information and emotions not through words, but through images, textures, touches.

    I don't feel the world the way most people feel it. I can see, hear, smell and taste more vividly than others, it is difficult for me to filter my sensations. This is both bad and good. During the service, I can see more mystique and beauty in the images, music, and texture of the things around me. But if I stay there too long, I can get overwhelmed, especially if there are too many details around that attract attention. I'll end up exhausted and confused about what's going on. It's hard for me to keep this balance, but it's worth it.

    How do I know about God and Jesus? The gospels are of great importance to me. It is important for me to read about what Jesus commanded us to do and what he forbade us to do, although I know that people almost always make mistakes and break these rules. Jesus said that we love God and that we love one another. For me, this is the most important instruction. Jesus said that we should be just, help our neighbors, support them when they need this support. I think a lot of people think that autistic people have a problem with things like that. However, many autistic people are very concerned about social justice They want to make sure that everyone has what they need. I always wanted this, even in my earliest memories, when I donated my pocket money to charity, which surprised my parents very much.

    I believe that we are all created equal, and when we look at another person, we are looking at Jesus. Treat everyone with the respect you have for Jesus. I try to think like that, and I think it's very important. It's hard sometimes, especially when we run into people who are negative about autism and what autistics can bring to the church. But it is very important to love people and pray for them.

    Do I feel that autism is preventing me from following the right religious path? No, because I don't think there is only one right way. God created all of us, and he gave us all his characteristics that allow us to grow and learn. I love telling people about my relationship with faith, and I love learning more about their religious experiences. Some things I never understood as quickly as other people understand them. But I perceive many things in a way that most people cannot perceive them. If we can learn more about each other, it can help make the world a better place. I work with groups that explain our faith to children in schools and junior churches. And I really enjoy talking to young people about these topics.

    How do I pray? I'm just talking to God. I see God as a friend. I'm talking to Jesus. I've never been completely sure what the Holy Spirit is, but that doesn't worry me too much. I think the Holy Spirit is probably everywhere.

    What can an autistic person bring to the church? The same as any other. Service to God. Prayer. Love. Friendship. We have a lot of skills, and they will show themselves if only people will allow us to use them. For example, I know people on the autism spectrum who are great vicars or other church leaders. We can do any job in the church, and our ability to understand systems and pay attention to missing details can be useful in any organization.

    God is good. Even in difficult times, He helped me get through all the obstacles and find the love, support and care that I needed, and I never wanted to give up on Him.

    "This is your salvation!"

    How to live with a child diagnosed with autism? How to take it? Is the life of such families really a continuous tragedy, cross or punishment (as many people who are not familiar with autism think)?

    - In our case, everything began to manifest itself before the year: the child lagged behind in development, demonstrated unusual behavior general health deteriorated. But this became clearly noticeable in the second year of life, when we realized that the child would not “grow out”, as experts told us. Unfortunately, our health care system for monitoring a small child is built in such a way that at this stage doctors are not yet sounding the alarm, mechanisms to help such children (from one to two years old) are not connected. Only by the age of three parents are announced the diagnosis, when it is practically formed, and enhanced rehabilitation begins, but the prognosis worsens.

    How to live with such a child? - Very simple. This is not a tragedy, not a cross and not an event after which life immediately goes downhill. It all depends on how people perceive their fate: if they accept what is happening to them and are ready for everything new, then the appearance of such a child is another opportunity to open some kind of door in life.

    There are a number of related areas that you learn, you get to know new interesting people. Of course, this does not happen without loss, but if you are ready for a new life, then you quickly accept this situation.

    When we first heard the diagnosis, we were told this: your child will have developmental delay or mental retardation at best, autism at worst. I used to read about autism, I was interested in this problem, and I didn’t understand why there would be autism in the “worst case”, but my husband and I were definitely scared at first, there was some shock. Autism was diagnosed in a daughter, our second child (four children in total). We had bright plans for several years ahead, and now we are being told that everything is bad with you and will be even worse. And we began to look for ways out - it took months and years: trying to help our child and others with a similar problem, research activities and trying to teach society to accept people with autism.

    It turned out that there are more and more such children, parents, as a rule, have a hard time accepting the condition of their child, society is initially not ready to contact autistic people, there is practically no more or less intelligible system of assistance.

    Olga Povoroznyuk:

    - Everyone has different stories, on the one hand, but on the other hand, they are quite typical. I have a second child diagnosed with autism, a 13-year-old boy.

    By the age of one, you begin to expect communication skills, flashes of intelligence from the child, what we are used to with the first child (the age difference is small). We all waited for that, but by the age of one we realized that our son was behaving somehow strangely: he was looking either at you, or through you, it was impossible to catch a glance, there was no speech. The word "autism" I first heard in the summer of 2004 from my husband. He started typing our symptoms into an Internet search and said, “You know, it looks like we have autism.” The child was then one and a half years old.

    Psychiatric care at this age is not provided at all, from the age of four only an examination by a psychiatrist, so at that moment we were only at the neurologist, who confirmed our assumptions. Neurological drugs were offered and nothing more. At the age of two, we had a tomography and, on our own initiative, went to a psychiatrist.

    Some doctors absolutely do not feel sorry for their parents - and this is bad: even speaking the truth, one must do it tactfully. And some (either from indifference or from unprofessionalism) inspire hope so much that “everything is fine with you”, that because of this, a whole period of time is lost in inaction.

    Our option was the second: we were told that everything is fine with us, it’s just that the child has disharmonious development (although, as I later realized, this is one of the signs of our disease: when simple things are not given to the child, but some complex things, unusual for this age, the child does easily). For example, at the age of two, our son was already working well on the computer, although he had not yet spoken at all, there was no dialogue with him. And they told me that I have excessive demands on the child, I must calm down, everything is in order with us. Of course, like any mother, I was delighted to hear this. But six months later I realized that something had to be done. At the age of about four years, we went to the hospital, and there we were diagnosed with early childhood autism. I asked: “What to do next?” And I was honestly answered that there is no help system.

    And then this question arose: how to live with such a child? Now I understand this: the fewer questions you ask, the easier it is. But the process of this realization is very complex, it has its own stages, and they are the same for everyone. And the first stage for me - yes, it was a tragedy, because no prospects were visible. And I went into depression, because my husband is at work, the eldest child is in kindergarten, I am alone with the youngest, he does not communicate, and you serve him all day and think, think about him, and by the evening the brains are boiling.

    This period of acceptance is different for everyone in duration and intensity. I can’t say that I have accepted this situation even now. Unfortunately, I realized late that I had to do something myself - I was waiting for someone to give me an algorithm of actions. And I, like many parents, was terribly indignant that this was not the case. And then I realized that we need to help ourselves: if not us, then who will do it? It is we who are motivated to create this help system, system rapid response at a time when it is still plastic, when there is the greatest chance of making adjustments.

    Americans came to our city, who, however, are dealing with a different disease, and so they told us: “You are now planting and cultivating a tree, the fruits from which your children may no longer get, but still this is a big deal.” We do not know what kind of children our children will have, what great-grandchildren will be, so if you do not have this problem now, but you can help solve it, then this must be done.

    As for what some call life with an autistic child a cross or a punishment: I like the words of one priest who told me: “You don’t even understand what a gift God has given you: this is your salvation! He will save you here." If you were given such a child, it means that you are able to raise him, help him. That is, to have such a child is an honor.

    - We constantly communicate with parents and see that an adult can be considered the person next to whom such a special child can calmly and serenely exist, unable to stand up for himself, really realize where he is, unable to plan his future. If this is possible, then you are an adult and are not in vain trampling the ground.

    I, like Olga, believe that it is wrong to call it a cross or a punishment, because people who are waiting for punishment for something think so.

    – I read one story where parents came to Israel with an autistic child, and there, at the embassy, ​​they were congratulated with a smile that they had such a child. And the author of this story writes that she has never encountered such a thing in Russia. Why do we have a wary attitude, and parents take their fate very hard?

    – Because parents who have a child with a disability do not have sufficient support either from the state or from society. There is no adequate system of assistance to people with mental disorders and their families. A mental disorder is not the same as a physical one. If, for example, a leg is torn off, then over time, a slow but sure process of rehabilitation begins, and in case of a mental disorder, the entire body, the entire nervous system everything that makes a child human. The further the child grows, the more problems are added - like a snowball, if left unchecked. The disease itself cannot be cured, but some of the problems that accompany this mental illness can be solved. There is no such system of assistance, it is only in its infancy.

    Therefore, in a family where such a child appears, a “black hole” arises that absorbs all resources: material (because commercial medical care is very expensive now), mental (because parents are very worried), temporary s That is, labor - the balance of power in the family is completely changing. Intra-family resources are quickly depleted, unless the family is able to rebuild (and this rarely happens, because the family is not initially ready that they will have a disabled child). This affects relatives, the whole environment: a kindergarten, a school where they try to attach such a child - a problematic focus is formed.

    - Doctors are starting to look for the cause in genetics, in parents: didn’t you drink? Thus, parents are indirectly blamed - and many parents are ashamed that they have such a child. Many shock: why me?! And many hide the fact that they have such a child. Only recently some famous people began to discover that they have children (often already adults or teenagers) with autism or Down syndrome - something has changed in society, it is starting to change. And it pleases.

    The state exists in order to be social protection. Now we are taking on its functions, but we want the state to fulfill its obligations.

    "Thank you film producer!"

    - Have you personally encountered an unpleasant, hurting attitude towards yourself and your children from those around you?

    - I probably belong to the category of mothers who are lucky. When Yegor was three or four years old, it happened like this: they say, “the child needs to be raised” - literally a couple of times. But from other families, I know a lot of blatantly tactless, incorrect cases of moral ugliness shown in relation to their children with mental disabilities. Such people have always existed. “You can’t explain to a fool, but a smart one will understand.”

    But for me it's still a test when I walk with a child. Maybe there were no negative cases, because something like that is written on my face.

    - We know how to build a defense - not everyone can do it.

    - My child is always in sight, I keep him in mind: I know where he went, what he does.

    Negative situations are sometimes provoked by the parents themselves or those accompanying them. Therefore, I try to always keep the situation under control so as not to provoke others. Because of this, there is a constant internal tension. My husband goes for a walk with his son quite calmly - although, perhaps, he simply does not show his attitude.

    “But it didn’t start like this: when my daughter was little, before I left the entrance, I inhaled and exhaled several times, and immediately went to the playground, to the swing, to the sandbox to all the other children. Of course, the child behaves unusually, but the mother completely takes over the function of control: the mother knows what to do, knows how to prevent unwanted forms of his behavior. Over time, she learns to do something such that one day she goes out with the child quite calmly: she is ready, the child is ready - and society begins to change.

    - What is the “strange behavior” manifested in: for example, recently we went to the cinema with my husband and Yegor. My son wanted to see this film for a long time, and I saw what motivation is in its purest form: in the morning everything was done quickly and without problems, the first time. During the film, he kept squeezing my hand, because he was overwhelmed with emotions, whispered - he tried to comment on everything that was happening. And after the movie we leave, and I ask:

    - Egor, are you happy?

    He exhales:

    - Yes! I must say thank you to the film producer!

    At first I did not understand what he was talking about - well, I must have seen this word somewhere. We go out to the box office, there is a guy from whom we bought tickets. And Yegor suddenly comes up to him:

    - Thank you very much!

    And the guy's eyes become big ... Of course, he was confused and said nothing.

    - My nine-year-old daughter in a cafe goes straight to the waiter and says: “Aunt, give me a salad!” Can cuddle, take the hand and try to kiss. People usually look inquiringly at their parents: if we look serene and say Right words(I usually say, “She doesn’t understand”), then they relax too.

    I don't burden people with explanations about our diagnosis: enough in simple terms make it clear that the child's unusual behavior is under the control of the parents, that everything is in order.

    And our organizations are doing this: they are trying to explain to society that there are such people with such diagnoses, we know what needs to be done, and we need a little: not to condemn us, to understand that our children will not interfere with anyone, they will not harm.

    The load crushes the man

    – What is the role of a father in a family where there is a child with a mental disorder? Statistics, especially Soviet statistics, say that in most cases the father left the family. What is the situation now?

    - The father is still the head of the family, and the main burden is on him. Men are more worried, because the Soviet system of education laid in them: men should not cry, they are responsible for everything, they protect. The load presses down on a man - they get the most.

    Indeed, now men more often stay in families - and not only in those where there is a disabled child.

    - My husband showed himself so steadfastly that I, in caring for the child, did not even think how hard it was for him. I had no thoughts that my husband could leave - he loves his son very much. When I had depressive failures, it was my husband who reassured me, saying: “But I’m sure that we will still be proud of him.” The husband takes an active part in the education of his son, accompanies him in some lessons.

    But, of course, I know many families where an autistic child is raised by a woman alone.

    – Brothers and sisters: how do they live with such an autistic child, how do they interact? Do parents have to build relationships between children or does everything happen by itself?

    “Several books could be written about this, several social studies could be done. For a child with a disability, this is definitely good. He gets the whole set at once happy childhood which many lack. He receives powerful support from the family, receives a set of social roles that he can equal - the adaptive potential is launched, this helps him to integrate into the social relations in which he will have to function in the future.

    For brothers and sisters, this is, of course, difficult. They face all the problems that adults have: disapproval of others, condemnation, material problems, emotional problems - tension, parental fatigue. But I would not consider this a punishment or a punishment: we are all from birth placed in different conditions everyone must overcome them.

    When a special child grows up in a large family, this is a powerful rehabilitation factor for parents: they do not get hung up only on this child, as they would if he was alone.

    Brothers and sisters, when they are small, do not think that one of them is not like that, they just play with each other - they pull themselves together together, get the necessary experience, grow up as prepared people. (I also had a thesis on this topic: “Rehabilitation of a disabled child in a large family.”)

    - Today's teenagers (judging by my daughter, who will soon be 16) have a different attitude towards the presence of a special child in the family. If I tried to dispense information about my son in society (it’s no secret that people often perceive him as a “fool”), then my daughter’s friends and classmates know about her brother. It didn't even occur to her that he should be embarrassed. She invites friends home, and Yegor can behave strangely: he runs out - new people have come! He knocks on the door, asking to be let in. And the daughter normally treats everything as if she were an ordinary brother. I quietly leave them alone at home since she was eight years old, no problems arise.

    Foundation, "School of Parents", "Resource Class" - what are they for?

    “Our foundation is trying to help the family at an early stage. We are trying to ensure that parents become full-fledged participants in the rehabilitation and adaptation of the child. We think about how to help older children in vocational guidance, arrange their independent or accompanied living. We communicate with specialized organizations, ministries, which react quite vividly to our problems, support us, which gives us hope that our children will still live their lives with dignity.

    We invite parents to our "School of Special Parents": we tell what is happening with their child, why it is happening, what forms of assistance exist today, we provide psychotherapeutic assistance, we consult ...

    - When parents have young children, they still hope for a full rehabilitation, they believe in the possibility of bringing the child back to normal, so they are engaged in various commercial structures. And they come to us with teenagers and adults who are already over 20.

    "DORIDA" is a Voluntary Society of Parents and Children with Autism. We worked on a whim, without any "business plan". And now I sit down and think: what do I need? If I need it, then other parents probably do too.

    An important layer of our work is socio-cultural rehabilitation. We arrange cultural and leisure events, cooperate with the Youth Theater, Cultural Centers, and various artists. Every month we go to the cinema, visit the temple.

    DORIDA and friends. Olga and Yegor Povoroznyuk - bottom row, far left

    For example, we visit Gosfilmofond, they provide us with a whole hall. This is necessary so that the child finds himself in a new situation - it is created habitat to develop behavioral skills. My son and I go to the cinema, but we still try to go to an early screening, when there are fewer people, so as not to disturb them, because my son likes to comment on the film aloud. And when we are provided with a hall, mothers can relax and calmly explain to their child the rules of behavior in the cinema.

    – Our organizations are jointly working on the “Resource Class” project, in a school with a wonderful principal. Since September of this year, several children with autism have already started learning in a special environment. There will be a separate program and support for such children. World practice shows that most of the autistic children in such a special environment can get an education in order to subsequently function in society independently. We started this joint project a year ago, we are the first in Yekaterinburg to move this process forward.

    The resource class is such a resource of opportunities, not only for children with autism, but also for training young professionals: they learn to work with the vast majority of disorders in the mental development and behavior of children. This school with a resource class will become an internship platform where young professionals will have an internship. According to WHO, up to 30% of children in the world have mental or mental developmental disorders, so this experience for teachers and parents will be of great help.

    From September 1, 2016, each school or kindergarten must have adaptive learning programs, that is, a parent can come with their child to any kindergarten, any school, and they must build the educational process there as the child needs. Therefore, where a center like ours appears, both children and specialists ready to work with such children appear there.

    – Today, the resource class is the only possible way for our children to exist in schools. We have playgrounds not only in correctional schools, but also in secondary schools: personally, for example, I can go to a school according to my residence permit and leave my Egor there, and they don’t have the right to refuse me.

    It is very important to make it clear to the parents of other children that a special child is not a disadvantage for learning, since he is under the supervision of an adult tutor. And talk about the pluses: the presence of special children among neurotypicals contributes to the development of those moral qualities and values ​​that make a person a person.

    Therefore, if parents want their children to be more tolerant, merciful, to gain additional life experience, then inclusion is the most suitable situation.

    - And when the parents themselves become old and sick, then their children will be next to them, who already have experience of communicating with those who need help, on whom you can rely.

    Sometimes parents with autistic children are asked to leave the temple

    - Why do your children attend the temple in the city of Berezovsky (a suburb of Yekaterinburg - ed.)? Why not any other? It would seem that believers should be tolerant of special children?

    – This is such a stereotype: “believers should”. People, even believers, are all different, there have been cases when parents with autistic children were asked to leave the temple. So we decided not to train our nerves. God brought us to the church of the martyr John the Warrior in the city of Berezovsky. There they organized adapted services for us - these services are shorter, after we are always invited to the refectory: for many of our children this is a particularly pleasant moment, they are waiting for it. We communicate with the priest there, among ourselves.

    Of course, not all children understand what they are doing there, what kind of place it is, but here great importance has a mother's condition. I myself confessed for the first time two months ago in this church, it was difficult for me, I was not a church person, but thanks to this cooperation I began to go regularly with my child and with my husband - this unites. You can’t tell everything to your mother or husband, but there are things that oppress you - we already have several mothers who constantly go and confess, and take communion. I think they need it.

    Ordinary parishioners also come to these services, they know about the peculiarities of our children. Father Vadim Zhurilin works with us: when April 2 was the day for the dissemination of information about autism, he held conversations with parishioners on this topic, our leaflets about the disease were quickly distributed among the parishioners. And now the attitude towards us is different: the mothers have relaxed, because the parishioners are used to our children, and I think that when they leave the church, they will endure this tolerant attitude towards the child they see in the store, on the bus, they will tell about it at home. And it diverges like a wave from a pebble thrown into the water, and the attitude in society changes.

    Changes in society begin with the family: when the parents themselves accept their child not as an outcast, not as sick, but as a child with special needs, but no worse than others, then changes will begin in society. And visiting the temple contributes to this - they don’t condemn there, they give spiritual support: you are not guilty of anything, what is the punishment? - this is your salvation!

    - I appeal to all parents who have children diagnosed with autism: come to us, unite with each other, get involved in this work to create a system to help such children - and you will not have time for depression, you will always be busy with interesting work everything will change around you!

    Interpretation of the book of Ezekiel.
    Ezekiel 18:2. Why do you use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: "The fathers ate sour grapes, but the children's teeth are set on edge"?
    "The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." The same proverb is mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:29; cf. Lamentations 5:7). Unripe grapes are now eaten in vast quantities in Syria; (Delitzsch, Hiob XV, 33). The soreness appears immediately after eating sour berries and soon passes: therefore it is completely impossible to assume that it was transmitted from fathers to children (adductio ad absurdum). Meanwhile, according to the opinion of the Jews of that time, expressed in this proverb, the actions of Jehovah, punishing them with real calamities of Judah for the sins of their fathers, resembles the hereditary transmission of soreness. It is easy to guess how this proverb could have arisen, from which it emanates doubt in the truth of God and the self-exaltation of descendants over their ancestors. The proverb had visible grounds for itself in Holy Scripture: God tells Moses that He punishes children for the guilt of their fathers up to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20.5; Lev. construction can be attributed to both children and fathers). And now the 3rd and 4th kind from the wicked Manasseh (Joahaz, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah - the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Manasseh) are punished. Even Josiah, despite his piety, finds a sad end in the battle of Megiddo. And the prophets proclaimed that for the sins of Manasseh the Lord would reject Judas from His face (2 Kings 24:3; Jer 15:4); since the time of Manasseh, indeed, Judah had been getting worse and worse, despite some efforts to propitiate Jehovah (cf. Jer 44.18:14.20, 18.12).
    Ezekiel 18:3. I live! says the Lord God, they will not speak this proverb in Israel ahead.
    “I live” - the oath testifies to the importance of the subject: it is about the honor of the name of God. - "They will not speak this proverb in Israel ahead" (!!!). God will convince by His judgments of the truth of His world government. The prophet Jeremiah promises the destruction of this proverb only in the days of the new covenant (Jer 31.29:31).
    Ezekiel 18:4. For behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.
    "All souls are Mine." Consequently, it does not seem necessary for God to take revenge on one sin of another: He can always punish the sins of everyone and on the very culprit of them (!!!). “The self-worth of the human soul is expressed here as never before: each soul belongs to God, that is, God stands in the same relation to each soul and treats it as it treats him” (Bert.). “The soul that sins, it will die.” See explanation. Ezekiel 3.18. Death is the opposite of the life promised to the righteous in v. 9 (see there), therefore, signifies chiefly perdition in the coming catastrophe; and the associated exclusion from the future messianic kingdom. Here, for the first time in V. Z., we are talking about spiritual death, but by soul it is rather understood as a person in general, a living person.
    added: 5 Oct 2015

    “You say, ‘Why does a son not bear the guilt of his father? Because the son acts lawfully and righteously, he observes all My statutes and fulfills them; he will be alive. The soul that sins, it will die, the son will not bear the guilt of the father, and the father will not bear the guilt of the son, the righteousness of the righteous remains with him, and the iniquity of the lawless with him remains ... I will judge ... everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God ”(Ezek. 18. 19-30).

    added: 5 Oct 2015

    In relation to Christ, all tribal ties play no role, because God is our Creator, God is our Father, and we are all His children. Therefore, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Apostle Paul: “For you are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus; All of you who were baptized in Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer a Jew, nor a Gentile; there is no slave nor free; there is no male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26-28).

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