Preparing for a Disabled Future: Why the Church Needs Nonspeakers Now More Than Ever

As disability becomes increasingly normative, this paper argues that nonspeaking autistic people offer a vital lens for imagining the disabled future of religious communities. Drawing on Leah Lakshmi Piepzna‑Samarasinha, Alice Wong, and Lennard Davis it frames disability as a fluid, shared human reality that will shape the spiritual and demographic landscape of congregations. Engaging the insights of Nancy Eiesland, Grant Macaskill, Erin Raffety, and Phil Letizia, the paper outlines the theological and communal paradigms needed for faith communities to receive nonspeakers as full participants. It highlights the liturgical, relational, sensory, and spatial shifts necessary for an ecclesial future in which nonspeaking and other disabled people fully belong. The paper concludes with John Swinton’s apophatic theology, suggesting that the mystery of both God and disability, mirrored in the often unknown inner worlds of nonspeakers, calls religious communities to humility, a presumption of competence, and deeper forms of belonging.