Autism Therapies - Religious Interventions

Religious Interventions

The Table Talk of Martin Luther contains the story of a twelve-year-old boy who may have been severely autistic. According to Luther's notetaker Mathesius, Luther thought the boy was a soulless mass of flesh possessed by the devil, and suggested that he be suffocated. In 2003, an autistic boy in Wisconsin suffocated during an exorcism in which he was wrapped in sheets. Some Pentecostal and charismatic Christians believe that autism is the result of a "generational curse" visited upon a child for the sins of a parent, and can be cured through repentance and divine healing.

Ultraorthodox Jewish parents sometimes use spiritual and mystical interventions such as prayers, blessings, recitations of religious text, holy water, amulets, changing the child's name, and exorcism.

One study has suggested that spirituality and not religious activities involving the mothers of autistic children were associated with better outcomes for the child.