Chris Barber and Peter Kevern
80
70
60
Claiming to belong to a
religion
50
40
Claiming awareness of
"a spiritual dimension
to their experience"
30
20
10
Sources: Hay (2002); British
Social Attitudes Survey (2011)
0
1987
2000
2009
Defined in contrast to ‘religion’:
 ‘internal’ v. ‘external’
 Individual v. corporate
 Experiential v. dogmatic
 Subjective-life v. life-as-religion
(Heelas & Woodhead 2004)
•
•
•
The turn to ‘spirituality’ reflects late capitalist
culture (Carrette & King)
‘Spirituality’ becomes Religion; religious
structures remain by far the most important
vehicle for (Pearson)
The prevailing ‘spiritual landscape’ of affective
experiences of love and ‘connectedness’ (Percy)
may unintentionally exclude some vulnerable
people
By listening to marginalised voices we
have the opportunity to develop a
richer palette of resources for
spiritual care
“A middle-aged Catholic with High Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome”
“To connect is, arguably, one of the
most fundamental of all human
needs. One’s ability to connect
spiritually with the Divine, with
ourselves, with others and with the
natural world helps to define who
and what we are.”



Devotion to the Infant Jesus
Ritual Prayer
Centring Prayer and Lectio




People with ASC are unlikely to benefit from
vague and generic ‘spirituality’
They may however gain significant support
from established, routinized and sociallyembedded practices
Providing spiritual care for people with ASC
may therefore require engagement with the
ritual and historical elements of faithcommunities
There are implications here for diversity and
disability policies
Carrette, J. and King, R. (2004) Selling Spirituality: the silent takeover of religion
London: Routledge
Hay, D. (2002)The Spirituality Of Adults In Britain – Recent Research Scottish Journal of Healthcare
Chaplaincy Vol. .5 No 1 2002 , 4-9
Hay D. & Heald G. (1987) ‘Religion is good for you’, New Society, 17 April.
Hay D. & Hunt K. (2000) Understanding the Spirituality of People who don’t go to Church, Final Report of
the Adult Spirituality Project, Nottingham University.
Heelas, P and Woodhead, L. (2004) The Spiritual Revolution: why religion is giving
way to spirituality Cambridge: Blackwell
Pearson, J. (2003) ‘Witchcraft will not soon vanish from this earth’: Wicca in the 21st century in
Davie, G., Heelas, P., & Woodhead, L. Eds, Predicting Religion: Christian, Secular and Alternative
Futures Aldershot: Ashgate 170-182
Percy, M. (1998a) ‘Erotic ideology in experiential religion’ Power in the Church.
Ecclesiology in an age of transition London: Continuum 141-162
Percy, M. (1998b) ‘Things Fall Apart II: experiential religion and the absence of
theology’ Power in the Church. Ecclesiology in an age of transition London:
Continuum 183-204
Schrock, K. (2010) People with Asperger's less likely to see purpose behind the events in their lives.
Scientific American May 29, 2010
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=people-with-aspergers-less-likely-t2010-05-29