Communication, Agency, and the Relational Self in ASD and the Letters of Paul

Abstract The experience and reflections of people on the autism spectrum act as a “context of discovery” about human communication and agency, in conversation with a robust theological account drawn from Paul’s depiction of personhood in relationship to sin and salvation. I claim that autism is not an exception to understanding the self as a self-in-relation; it is a unique and therefore illuminating instantiation of self-in-relation. The testimonies of autistic people render visible two key aspects of human personhood that are shared by both so-called “neurotypical” and “non-neurotypical” people: the priority of embodied interpersonal connection for the development of human communication and agency, and the risk and vulnerability of such connection.