I have two teenage boys, and both are considered neurodiverse. Inclusion for each of them at church looks different, but their inclusion and discipleship are important to us as a family and a priority for our church. With a growing number of people on the autism spectrum or with other neurodiverse diagnoses, churches can take steps to understand the challenges these students face and to support them.
What Is Neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity is the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits that are regarded as part of normal variation in the human population. A 2024 study found that 19% of respondents in the U.S. said they were neurodivergent, with members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha identifying as neurodivergent at higher rates than other generations.
Neurodiverse diagnoses include autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyscalculia, Tourette syndrome, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory and auditory processing disorders, executive function deficits, oppositional defiant disorder and pathological demand avoidance, traumatic brain injury, fetal alcohol syndrome, and others.
Because neurodiversity is a spectrum, the level of support these students need is also diverse. My older son has dyslexia, a learning disability, so he has a 504 plan that allows him extra time on tests and the option to type assignments instead of handwriting them. My younger son has level 3 autism and other diagnoses, so he benefits from an individualized educational plan that prioritizes his safety, behavior support, and learning goals such as being able to write his name independently.
Challenges for Neurodiverse Students at Church
Students who need help at school will likely also need help at church to overcome challenges and understand and respond to the gospel message and discipleship material. Though each neurodivergent teen is different, the following characteristics are common:
- Self-regulation and impulse control challenges
- Executive function deficits (following multiple directions)
- Social skill deficits (cannot pick up on social cues or isn’t interested in the same things as their same-age peers)
- Verbal and nonverbal working memory deficits
- Specific areas of interests
- Rigid behaviors, inflexibility
Options for Church Inclusion
There are three options for support for neurodiverse students.
The first is offering support in the typical, inclusive youth group classes and activities. We like to say that students with invisible disabilities (like neurodiverse diagnoses) benefit from invisible support. For my son with dyslexia, his support includes the small group leaders not calling on him to read out loud and using a Bible in the dyslexia font. Students with ADHD benefit from a predictable schedule and additional reminders for the steps that will come next to help with their executive function deficits.
For students who need more help, they can be paired with an adult buddy who knows their struggles and supports their needs. That buddy offers help with the goal of fading their support as the student is more comfortable in the environment and is better able to advocate for themself as they mature. Sensory support is also available, like noise reducing headphones and a calming corner for teens who need a break.
The second option is a specialized class for kids who need more support than is available in the typical youth ministry setting. This class is designed to meet their needs and interests, and appropriate curriculum is used or adapted. Often these classes combine teens with adults who are also neurodiverse or have developmental disabilities (such as Down syndrome). Popular curriculum options that meet the needs of those in a specialized class include Awe & Wonder, Lifeway’s Access, and Ability Ministry’s video-based lessons.
A third option combines the benefits of the first two. It’s called reverse inclusion—the space and curriculum meet the needs of the neurodiverse teens in the class and neurotypical teens are invited in to develop friendships with members of the class. Teens who are interested in being part of the class can serve with the recommendation from a youth leader, and they complete a training that includes how to be a good friend and our social media policies. At our church, the RISE (Reverse Inclusion Serves Everyone) class sits in the worship service for the music and then goes to their classroom for a lesson from Awe and Wonder.
How do you decide which environment would be best for the students at your church? We ask an important question: Where can the teen best hear, understand, and respond to the gospel? The gospel is the goal, so the environment where he or she has the best opportunity to understand the gospel and be discipled is the right fit!
Encouraging Neurodiverse Students in Their Design
It is important that students with neurodiversity understand they were created by God on purpose and for a purpose. When God called Moses to go before Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go, Moses responded that he had a disability that would keep him from doing what God was calling him to do.
But God already knew how he designed Moses: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak’” (Exodus 4:11).
This passage is encouraging because we see that God knows each person’s characteristics and challenges, and his plan for that person can still be achieved. Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” and that is true for each person.
Students with neurodiversity need a foundation of faith that teaches them they are made in the image of God and have value, worth, and purpose. Their identity can be in Christ even over their identity as a neurodiverse person.
Just like Moses, they can accomplish everything God has laid out for them even as they navigate challenges related to their neurodiversity. As Paul writes in Ephesians: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (2:10).
As youth ministry and nextgen leaders, we can understand the challenges people with neurodiversity face, put support around them at church so they can be evangelized and discipled, and encourage them to find their identity in Christ and God’s plan for their lives.
Sandra Peoples is the author of Accessible Church: A Gospel-Centered Vision for Including People with Disabilities and Their Families.