On Autism Awareness Day, the Secretariat for Catechesis within the Archdiocese of Malta, in collaboration with Id-Dar tal-Providenza and the Catechetical Office within the Italian Episcopal Conference, organised a two-day seminar for catechists on the inclusion of people with autism in catechetical formation and the Eucharistic Celebration.
The guest speakers were Sr Veronica Amata Donatello, Fiorenza Pestelli and Maria Grazia Fiore, who are active in the disability field and who proposed inclusive methodologies that may be used in parishes.
The interventions focused on the subject of disability by means of theoretic formative action in ecclesial, spiritual and scientific aspects.
Sr Donatello, resposible for disability issues within the Italian Episcopal Conference, gave concrete examples of how people with disabilities can feel excluded from active and full participation within their parish communities due to negative attitudes.
She went through Church documents which encourage faith communities to examine, evaluate and include people with disabilties and to eliminate social prejudice against them.
Ms Pestelli, a religion teacher, spoke about the spiritual dimension of people with disabilities that can only be found by reflecting on the way God looks at man beyond any limits.
Dr Fiore, a communications expert and mother of two siblings with autism, spoke about the new types of communication and language that can be used especially with people having autism spectrum disorder.
During a workshop on acquiring new ways and means to communicate faith and the Word of God, Ms Fiore spoke about how to overcome difficulties in typical communications where autism was concerned.
She also explained how one can communicate using visuals and new languages as used in alternative and augmentive communication.