Franciscan at Home

El autismo ha captado la atención de muchas personas gracias a los medios masivos de la comunicación, mas sin embargo, perdura mucha ignorancia sobre el tema. La organización, Habla el Autismo (Autism Speaks), afirma:

Trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) y autismo son ambos términos generales para referirse a un grupo de complejos trastornos del desarrollo cerebral. Estos trastornos son caracterizados, en grados variables, por dificultades en la interacción social, la comunicación verbal y no-verbal y comportamientos repetitivos.[1]

Para algunos, su conocimiento del autismo proviene de las películas y de la televisión. En 1988, Dustin Hoffman y Tom Cruise protagonizaron la película Rain Man, que trata de la relación entre dos hermanos. El personaje de Hoffman, Raymond Babbit, es autista con síndrome de savant (que significa sabio en francés), un término que "se refiere a personas con autismo que tienen habilidades extraordinarias que la mayoría de las personas no exhiben"[2]. Este personaje tiene la capacidad para recordar todo lo que ve y oye, aunque no sea capaz de sostener una conversación significativo. En la mente de muchas personas, esta es la cara del autismo, cuando de hecho esto rara vez sucede.

En este número, miramos específicamente a la catequesis para niños cuyas edades oscilan entre los cuatro y los trece años. En el próximo número de The Catechetical Review, nos dedicaremos a los jóvenes de la edad típica de la educación media superior juntos con los adultos.

Los niños

En todo nuestro discurso sobre las personas con discapacidades, repetimos continuamente que nuestra actitud debe de ser la de Cristo. En esencia, eso significa que debemos de amar. Jesús amaba a los niños: "Dejen que los niños vengan a mí, y no se lo impidan, porque el reino de los cielos es de quienes son como ellos" (Mt 19:14). También nos dice: "Les aseguro que si ustedes no cambian y se vuelven como niños, no entrarán en el reino de los cielos" (Mt 18:3).

Podemos prever que tendremos niños con muchas discapacidades diferentes en nuestros programas de catequesis. La discapacidad más común será alguna dificultad cognitiva o retos en la comprensión de la lectura. Muchos de nosotros veremos a un niño que se ubica dentro del espectro del autismo. Puede ser que los catequistas voluntarios quienes tengan muy poca preparación para el manejo de estas necesidades especiales relinchen ante el tener a un niño así en su salón de clases ya que se consideran mal preparados para un reto de esta índole. Esto es comprensivo. Sin embargo, Jesús nos dice que dejemos que los niños vengan a Él. No incluía ningún límite ni reserva. Por consiguiente, hay que asegurarnos que todos los catequistas reciban una capacitación básica en la catequesis de niños con necesidades especiales. Fundamentalmente, sin embargo, los catequistas deben de poseer un gran amor por el Señor y un gran amor por los niños.

In this series of articles concerning catechesis for persons with disabilities, we have been looking to St. Paul who told us that our attitude must be that of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5). In this last article of the series,[i] we will look at a wide variety of disabling conditions that may be affecting adults we catechize or with whom we share a pew at Mass. The key response in every circumstance is continuing, authentic, and heart-felt respect.

Pope Francis says, “In an age when care for one’s body has become an obsession and a big business, anything imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model.” He opposes the idea that persons with disabilities “cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment.”[ii]

So what does this mean for us on a practical level? Initially, we must remember that a person is a person, no matter the age, condition, or disability. Then we must take into consideration the disability itself, as well as the age of onset and the cause of the disability, and what the future may hold for the person.

“The truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32). A large, prominently displayed banner with this proclamation greeted my high school students every semester that I taught Morality class. I spent many of the ensuing months unpacking this verse and its implications. What is truth? Or better, who is truth? What does it mean to be free? Crucial to this inquiry was a thorough study of the Church’s teaching regarding conscience. Any catechist would agree that we do not want to train our students to blindly follow a set of rules; instead, we want to be the conduits for them to develop a dynamic freedom to choose the ultimate good. This is the importance of properly teaching about conscience, which is “present at the heart of the person” and “enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil.”[i] If we merely memorize a list of laws and then try by our own power to live by them, we will always fail. New, unique moral challenges arise every day. However, if we have a well-formed conscience, then we have the ability to choose the good in every situation.

If we wish to assist learners in forming a Catholic conscience, it is important for us to understand how individuals typically grow and change over the lifespan with regard to moral thinking and reasoning. The way we approach moral catechesis and conscience formation will vary somewhat depending upon the developmental level of the individual. One characteristic that is common to all learners, especially during the childhood years, is their need to access the material in multisensory ways. Some individuals are visual learners. Some are most engaged when material is presented verbally. Still others need to move and interact with what they are learning. The following is a brief discussion of conscience formation at various ages, with recommendations for multisensory activities to aid in teaching at each developmental level.

In this issue, we specifically look at catechesis for children from four to thirteen years old. In the next issue of The Catechetical Review we will include high school age students with adults. Children In all our discussions regarding persons with disabilities, we continuously repeat that our attitude must be that of Christ. In essence that means that we must love. Jesus loved children: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14). He also tells us, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”(Mt 18:3). We can anticipate having children with many different disabilities in our catechetical programs. The most common disability will be some sort of cognitive difficulty or challenges in reading comprehension. Many of us will see a child who is somewhere on the autism spectrum. Volunteer catechists who have received little training in addressing these special needs may balk at having such a child in their class because they feel ill prepared for such a challenge. This is understandable. Yet Jesus tells us to let the children come. He included no limits or qualifications. Consequently, we should make sure all catechists receive basic training in catechesis for children with special needs. Fundamentally, however, catechists must possess great love for the Lord and great love for the children.

Autism has captured the attention of many people through the media, and yet there remains a great deal of ignorance about it. The organization, Autism Speaks, states: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. For some, their knowledge of autism comes from movies and television. In 1988, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise starred in Rain Man, about the relationship between two brothers. The Hoffman character, Raymond Babbit, is an autistic savant, a term which “refers to individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most persons.” He has the ability to remember everything he sees and hears, although he isn't able to hold a meaningful conversation. In the mind of many people, this is the face of autism, when in fact it is a rare occurrence.

Most importantly, St. John Paul draws our attention to the action of the Trinity in catechesis. The “living Sources” are the Persons of the Trinity. The sources we seek, and from which our catechesis is perpetually renewed, are not in the past but in the living present. Christ comes to reveal the face and love of the Father. Christ himself is the teacher, speaking through his Church, today. Our catechesis is to echo this divine voice, allowing those we teach to hear Christ and his words through our lips. Our catechesis also directs people to the Holy Spirit, who is the “interior Master,” forming us in order to attune us to the voice of Christ: “to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us.”

Vayan, pues, y enseñen a todas las naciones: el mandato evangélico de catequizar a todas las personas

Como lo dice San Pablo, nuestra actitud tiene que ser la de Cristo. La Segunda persona de la Santísima Trinidad se hizo hombre para salvarnos de nuestros pecados. "Se despojó de sí mismo, tomando condición de servidor," y murió en una cruz (Filipenses 2: 7-8, Biblia de Jerusalén. Ed. Desclée de Brouwer, 2009). Durante su breve estancia en la Tierra, Jesús sanó a los leprosos, y también a los ciegos, los sordos, cojos y paralíticos. En los Evangelios, encontramos historias específicas de milagros, y podemos decir con seguridad que Jesús sanó a muchas otras personas cuyas historias nunca se hicieron públicas. Sin embargó, no curó a todos. Nos enseñó que ni los pecados de las mismas personas con discapacidad, ni los pecados de sus padres son la causa de sus discapacidades (cf. Juan 9: 1-41). Y con más importancia aún, nos enseñó a amarnos los unos a los otros. La catequesis siempre debe de ser un acto amoroso: no estamos enseñando simplemente sobre Jesús, sino que estamos conduciendo a nuestros estudiantes hacia una relación con Jesucristo, quien nos ama a todos.

The Catechism is an outstanding teaching tool that can provide excellent guidance for our lesson and session planning.

In part one, using the topic of heaven as our example, we looked at how the Catechism offers us a Christ-centered framework for our lesson and session planning. We saw that the Catechism helps us to articulate the heart of every topic in a Christocentric way. The Catechism also assists us in securing learning objectives in each of the four parts of the Catechism— the faith professed, celebrated, lived and prayed—by using the cross-references and subject index to identify key content areas.

This article describes the next steps in our lesson and session planning: gathering the content we need for teaching to the various learning objectives, structuring this material, and building in key sources for teaching. It will be useful, as before, to have the Catechism open while reading through this article.