Autistic boy banned,from church service
Pastor Dale Morgan
Autistic boy banned from church service*
By LORA PABST, Star Tribune
May 19, 2008
The mother of a 13-year-old autistic boy who was banned by a court order
from attending services at a Roman Catholic church in Bertha, Minn.,
woke up Sunday determined to take her son to mass.
But Carol Race changed her mind when Todd County Sheriff Pete Mikkelson
met her at the end of her driveway Sunday and told her she would be
arrested if she brought her son, Adam, into the Church of St. Joseph.
Instead, Race took Adam and her four other children to mass at Christ
the King Church in nearby Browerville, Minn. "It occurred to me that if
I step foot in [St. Joseph], they will arrest me and I won't end up
going to mass anyway," she said.
A court hearing on the matter has been continued until June 2 so that
Race can hire an attorney.
The dispute has drawn attention to what Race and advocates for the
disabled say is a lack of education and understanding about autism. Race
said that even though her son, who is home-schooled, sometimes acts up
in church, the experience benefits him.
"He has a sense of the routine," she said. "That's one of the beautiful
things about the Catholic mass for autistic individuals, its routine."
The Rev. Daniel Walz, who did not return calls left at the Church of St.
Joseph parish office, wrote in court documents that Adam's behavior was
"extremely disruptive and dangerous." He alleged that Adam, who is more
than 6 feet tall and weighs over 225 pounds, spits and urinates in
church and has nearly injured children and elderly people.
In an affidavit, Walz wrote: "The parish members and I have been very
patient and understanding. I have made repeated efforts through Catholic
Education Ministries, Caritas Family Services, and most recently, sought
to try and mediate the matter with the family to ask them to voluntarily
not bring Adam to church, but it has been to no avail." The Diocese of
St. Cloud said in a statement that the restraining order, issued May 9,
was "a last resort."
Race said Walz's descriptions of Adam's behavior illustrate that he
understands little about autistic behavior and how to address it. She
said that Walz used language like "urinate" to describe an incontinence
problem that Adam sometimes has which is no worse than that an elderly
person or a young child might have.
Adam's parents sometimes tie his hands and feet with fabric restraints,
which Race said is a technique used by other families and school
personnel who work with autistic children. At Sunday's service in
Browerville, Race said Adam participated in the service, kneeling with
the congregation and accompanying family members when they went up front
to take communion.
Carol Race said that her husband, John, attended mass at St. Joseph's on
Saturday evening without his family and had stayed home Sunday morning
because the family wanted to ensure that one parent would be available
to care for the children if Carol were arrested.
The restraining order will remain in place for one year.
The Races haven't decided whether they will attend another parish. "My
primary focus is to do the right thing, according to what God wants me
to do," Carol Race said. "Without church every Sunday, my family life
would have fallen apart. This is what sustains us."
Sheriff Mikkelson said he sent deputies to Sunday's service in case the
Races tried to violate the restraining order.
"It was an uncomfortable thing, and we didn't want to get involved," he
said. "She heeded our warning. Now, hopefully, this will get resolved
through our courts."