Church Files Restraining Order Against Autistic Boy

Amy S.F. Lutz — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:26:00 GMT

In tough situations, I understand that devout Catholics are supposed to ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?"

Apparently, when an autistic thirteen-year-old was disrupting services, Father Dan Walz of Minnesota's St. Joseph's church decided that what Jesus would do is expel the child from the congregation, and legally ban him from entering the church.

Adam Race is severely autistic. He's also a big kid, standing more than six feet tall and weighing more than 235 pounds. His mother, Carol, acknowledges that Adam can be noisy during mass, and sometimes must be restrained. But she thought by sitting at the back of the church and leaving a few minutes before the service was concluded, she was minimizing the disruption. She was shocked to find out about the restraining order, and even more shocked to hear Father Walz's accusations: that Adam hit a child, that he's almost knocked elderly parishioners over while running from the church, that he spits and urinates during the service. Carol Race claims that Adam isn't aggressive, and that the accusations are either exaggerated or are completely false.

Look, this is tough. I have an autistic son, and I know children on the spectrum can be very loud and distracting, especially when forced to sit through something like a church service. But where's the compassion here? Adam has been going to St. Joseph's his entire life, which tells me the church is very important to this family, and I'm guessing they could really use the support of the community. Maybe the church could provide an aide to work with Adam while the rest of his family attends services, an aide who could break the week's lesson into pieces he might be able to understand through the use of visual aides or other learning supports. Or maybe Adam could be rewarded for sitting quietly with candy or other treats that typically aren't permitted in church. Of course it's hard to offer suggestions when it's not really clear how hard Father Walz and other church officials have tried to work with the Races. But I will say this: telling a family they'll be arrested if they take their autistic son to church is definitely NOT the answer.

kare11.com photo

Strollerderby : Dan Walz

Church Files Restraining Order Against Autistic Boy