Stress of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: challenges in the classroom

Abstract

The term ‘stress’ is not found in the Bible and neither is the term ‘autism’. However, the reality of God’s word leads us to rediscover the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37), for on the path of service in schools, we often encounter people with autism spectrum disorders today. Getting to know them, trying to understand their way of functioning, is a challenge for teachers who want to help them develop holistically. For religion teachers, it will be to join the Catholic Church’s concern, which grows out of the action of God himself. Jesus Christ has shown us that God cares for every human being. He, as it were, takes each person out of a stressful situation, sometimes heals, sometimes teaches and encourages us not to think of him as an object of care, but as a subject for us to know and try to understand his tasks in the community of believers. Biblical inspiration does not exempt us from learning about the achievements of pedagogy, psychology or medicine. This inspiration rejects the temptation to “pretend” to be specialists, or outright diagnose on our own without adequate preparation. The combination of biblical inspiration and contemporary scientific developments leads us to believe that together we can create a culture of inclusion.