- May
- 17th
- 2008
Autistic child banned from church! =(
On a farm in central Minnesota, you’ll find a family devoted to each other and to God, but because one of the children has autism — the family has been told they cannot go to mass. Carol Race’s 13-year-old son, Adam, has autism. In his case, the disorder sometimes causes loud outbursts and violent behavior. Church leaders in Bertha, Minn. say it’s so bad that they had to get a restraining order to ban the Race’s from mass.
Race said she cares for Adam night and day, and she takes him to church every Sunday. However, last Sunday at Saint Joseph Church was different. She got a ticket for going to mass on Mother’s Day. “It’s a citation. They want me to appear in court on Monday morning,” she said, as she showed the ticket.
“That’s what really shocks me — that this would come at this time,” she remarks, because she says her son has been making progress in mass, by standing up, kneeling, and holding hands with his family. However, the parish priest recalls, quote, “repeated disruptions in church,” he says, the last three years, so he took out a restraining order to keep Adam and his family out. “Nobody should be subjected to this behavior, but guess what this is reality. Autism is a reality,” Race said.
