Neurodiversity and the church

AROUND ONE IN FIVE FAMILIES now have neurodivergent members with conditions like autism and ADHD. Many of these families find participation in church activities difficult or impossible, so becoming an accessible church for the neurodivergent is both a pastoral necessity and a missional imperative.

This one-hour webinar for church leadership teams, presented by the Vision and Strategy Team in partnership with the College of Archbishops’ Evangelists, will explore the challenges faced by neurodivergent children, young people and adults and their supporting families and some of the steps which parishes can relatively easily take to help those who are neurodivergent to participate fully in church life.

We will examine:

The critical importance of communication in advance, so families affected by neurodivergence attending church activities understand what will happen when, where and how

How to keep the sensory environment manageable, especially in relation to light and sound

The key elements of visual and verbal communication at church activities

How to provide an alternative quiet space

The implications of neurodiversity for children’s and youth ministry

Sources of advice and support.

The webinar will be presented by Dr Naomi Fox, Founder of Growing Hope, which provides advice to churches and free therapy services for children, and Mark Arnold, Additional Needs Ministry Director at Urban Saints and Co-Founder of the Additional Needs Alliance.

Date/time

Wednesday 15 April 2026, 12pm-1pm

How to book

To register for this webinar, click the purple ‘Register’ button on the right side of the page.

If you are interested but unable to attend this webinar, please do register anyway – everyone who has registered will receive a link to the recording and to the resources shared in this webinar. They will also be available on this page after the webinar.

This webinar will have a BSL interpreter.