The Impossible Subject

Belonging as a Neurodivergent in Congregations

Bibliographic Data

ID22112306
AuthorsKrysia Emily Waldock (0000-0001-9631-3930, University of Kent, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume27
Issue4
Pages568-583
Publication date2023-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Disability & Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2331-2521 • E-ISSN: 2331-253X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23312521.2023.2249452
OpenAlexW4386029045
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited34

Neurodivergent people have been reported in academic literature to not always feel a sense of belonging within church congregations. Previous scholarship has highlighted that some neurodivergent people may be stigmatized and/or excluded within congregational settings. However little attention has been paid to how neurodivergent people belong within congregations, especially from a neurodivergent perspective. Using an autoethnographic methodology, I interrogate my own personal narrative of belonging within congregational spaces. I blended Goffman’s social stigma theory and Scambler’s theorization of social stigma to examine a neurodivergent experience within church congregations, and to explore the interface between being neurodivergent and feeling a sense of belonging in a church congregation. This autoethnography highlights how impression management (particularly passing and masking) are central to the feelings of belonging, and lack of belonging, I experienced. How church is “done” also appears to influence feelings of belonging, with norms in the churches mentioned in the narrative often shaped by normalcy

Autoethnography · Feeling · Narrative · Scholarship · Sociology · Gender Studies · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology

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