Spiritual Needs of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises persistent deficits in (1) social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, and (2) restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Due to these symptoms, ASD is associated with a significant impairment of quality of life. Identifying patients’ unique resources is crucial for several psychotherapeutic concepts and is a mechanism of action for the therapeutic process. Such a resource is the religiosity and spirituality of patients. However, a concrete quantitative investigation of religiosity and spirituality in a sample of adults fulfilling the criteria of ASD is missing. Thus, a cross-sectional study to collect quantitative data of the spiritual needs of 201 adults with ASD was conducted. The results of the study showed that people with ASD generally have spiritual needs and use religious and spiritual practices. Participants reported spiritual needs and spiritual and religious practices; the analyses showed that these aspects are associated with several measures of quality of life. However, the results of the study also showed that religious and spiritual practices and needs are less pronounced compared with other samples.