Is there autism in heaven?

~ g BRETT miller (he/him/his)

If there is indeed a heaven, and your autistic child goes there when he dies, will he still be autistic?

Over the years I’ve come to believe that asking someone this question about autism in heaven is one of the best ways to understand how they view autism. Even better than asking them whether they believe that autism needs to be cured, though of course there is probably some correlation between a person’s answers to these two questions.

I guess it really comes down to an even simpler question: Is there autism in heaven?

But it isn’t really that simple, is it? Because if you ask that, you also have to ask, “Is there deafness in heaven? How about blindness? Are schizophrenics still schizophrenic when they get to heaven? Are there wheelchairs in heaven?”

Obviously there are no “diseases” like diabetes, heart disease, cancer… in heaven, those are all physical things. So why would there be a need for wheelchairs. And blindness and deafness, those things are usually physical manifestation, so they shouldn’t be in heaven either, right?

But what would heaven be for someone who is blind here on earth? Or deaf? Or confined to a wheelchair. (Kind of gets you around to the question of what, exactly, is heaven, but I really don’t want to go there.)

Many years ago I heard a story on NPR‘s Morning Edition, Ben Mattlin’s commentary Valuing Life Whether Disabled or Not. It was, in fact, this story that first prompted my question about autism in heaven.

Commentator Ben Mattlin has been quadriplegic since birth. At the memorial service for a disabled friend who passed away, he came to realize the world needs to expand its definition of what it means to live a successful life, disability or not.

What caught my attention:

Are there no wheelchairs in heaven? I’m not buying it. For me, if there is a heaven, it’s not a place where I’ll be able to walk. It’s a place where it doesn’t matter if you can’t.

Is heaven a place where there is no autism? Or is it a place where it doesn’t matter if you are autistic?

4 thoughts on “Is there autism in heaven?”

  1. Maybe, in heaven, there are ramps that are place appropriately, just like somebody actually put themselves in the others wheelchair, and figured out what they needed. I remember going to D.C. to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (hey, I’m catholic by culture, can’t help it) and helping a person in an electric wheelchair climb over a curb because somebody didn’t think of them…

    Like

  2. My daughter was not only autistic, she had a genetic disorder which caused seizures, mental disabilities, stopped speaking and was in a wheelchair part of her life. If you read the story at abeemoflight.com or part of her story in Vists to Heaven by another disabled person with CP who authored the book with world famous authors on near death experiences (Doctors and Experiencers) I would bet you would come away with an answer. For me my daughter taught me she is a greeter now on the other side. She meets those who had disabilities like hers as the come back home. Our daughter Kari Lynn Beem has a website and facebook. Best Regards, Lance Beem (father and scientist for 30 years)

    Like

  3. The answer….I have been given is she came her to teach humility and to learn empathy. She has come to many people awake and in their vivid dreams in the last three years. This is for you to believe or not. But reading it might give you some idea….we all seem to have chose this lifetime as lessons to grow and to particularly learn lessons of love. How strong these souls are yet they seem weak to us.

    Like

  4. I like this question…

    I believe that autistic children are here for a reason… they are here as teachers.

    Some have said that they are multi-dimensional, meaning they have access to many dimensions and spaces, maybe it include the heaven that we talk about.

    Is there autism in heaven? Probably not. Is that a judgement? It’s not… the reason for autism is just no longer needed in heaven.

    There have been some reports of people who are blind who in near death experiences can actually “see” once freed of the bonds of the body. And I believe this to be the same for autistic children…

    Like

Comments are closed.