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Intellectual disability and spiritual developmentGraeme Wattsa

a The University of Sydney, AustraliaPublished online: 30 Jan 2014.

To cite this article: Graeme Watts (2011) Intellectual disability and spiritual development, Journal of Intellectual andDevelopmental Disability, 36:4, 238-245, DOI: 10.3109/13668250.2011.617731

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Correspondence: Graeme Watts, University of Sydney, Studies in Religion, Faculty of Arts, John Woolley Building A20, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. E-mail: gwatts19@bigpond.net.au

In response to the question “What is intellectual dis-ability?”, Burton Blatt framed a memorable reply:

So, again what is the meaning of mental retardation? I perseverate on that question because, quite liter-ally, the answer is at the fundamental core of every understanding and decision concerning people so designated. Your defi nition of mental retardation is intimately linked to your philosophy, attitudes, preju-dices, and – if you take the defi nition as seriously as you should – your practices. What is the meaning of mental retardation? Scratch under the surface of the question, and you may fi nd lurking the most serious question: what is the meaning of life? (Blatt, 1987, p. 77)

In the foreword to a collection of papers address-ing the topic of spirituality and intellectual disabil-ity from various international perspectives, Trevor Parmenter refl ected on his role as President of the International Association for the Scientifi c Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID). In summary, he observed that he had set out to achieve two goals:

One has been a greater collaboration between scien-tists who approach the question of “ what is truth ” from a variety of methodological and epistemologi-cal perspectives. This alone is a daunting task! The

other goal has been to draw together the scientists and the very people they study into a stronger part-nership. The hallmark of science, it is claimed, is its objectivity, but we have neglected over the years the very ingredient that identifi es us as human beings – that is our subjective experiences, including our spirituality. (Gaventa & Coulter, 2001, p. xiv)

In the context of such issues as raised above by Blatt and Parmenter (Blatt, 1987; Gaventa & Coulter, 2001), a challenging mixture of sociologi-cal and theological concepts confronts us. Indeed, nothing less than the nature and purpose of human life is under scrutiny.

This paper does not enter the debate as how to accurately defi ne and measure intellectual disability. It is taken as a given that people vary in terms of their perceived level of intellectual functioning and some clearly fall below a modest level of operation. And certainly, where intellectual capacity differs mark-edly from a community norm, the effect on a general level of operating can be striking. In addition, where intellectual impairment is accompanied by physical, neurological or psychological problems, there can be considerable impediments to meeting expected developmental guidelines. It is not surprising, then,

Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, December 2011; 36(4): 238–245

ISSN 1366-8250 print/ISSN 1469-9532 online © 2011 Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability, Inc.DOI: 10.3109/13668250.2011.617731

CONCEPTUAL PAPER

Intellectual disability and spiritual development

GRAEME WATTS

The University of Sydney, Australia

Abstract Linking the concepts of intellectual disability and spiritual development creates a challenging mixture of sociological and theological issues. Formal defi nitions of the concepts can be less than conclusive but it remains a fundamental issue to consider if there may be some minimal level of intellectual competence below which it is not feasible to anticipate a spir-itual awareness. This issue is particularly challenging in the context of those with a profound level of intellectual disability. The acknowledgement of an inner spiritual state, which some call soul, is pivotal to addressing this challenge. It is then proposed that through reference to the language of symbols, to the openness of a child-like mindset, and to the infl uence of close personal relationships, spiritual awareness may be stimulated and developed.

Keywords: intellectual disability , spirituality , soul , symbols

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Intellectual disability and spiritual development 239

that intellectual disability, perhaps more so than any other physical, sensory or neurological disability, may be linked with an ambiguous spiritual status.

Penny Lacey reached a similar conclusion in a paper entitled, “ The Inner Life of Children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities ” :

People with profound and multiple learning diffi -culties demonstrate little or no capacity for cognitive tasks, cannot care for themselves physically, lack com-munication skills, and where the prospect of intel-lectual and social development seems remote, the issue of spiritual growth represents a challenge which is by far the most taxing. (Lacey, 1996, p. 75)

That the spiritual growth of people with an intel-lectual disability can be so categorically questioned, is an issue which deserves addressing with some care and tolerance. First, it has to be conceded that any discussion on the nature and quality of what is meant by spiritual growth or development itself raises chal-lenging issues, let alone in the context of people with an intellectual disability.

As already noted, Burton Blatt might suggest that spiritual growth is related to our success in answering the question, “ What is the meaning of life? ” (Blatt, 1987, p. 77). In common parlance spiritual devel-opment may have something to do with matters deemed sacred, with something beyond this physi-cal world, something transcendent, and, for many, matters which are addressed by religious faith and practice.

In more formal terms, and simply by way of example, Peter Sheldrake ’ s defi nition in The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality opens with the statement that “ Spirituality as lived experience can be defi ned as conscious involvement in the proj-ect of life integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives ” (Sheldrake, 2005, p. 1).

In more overtly Christian language, Gordon Wakefi eld writes in The Oxford Companion to Chris-tian Thought :

For the Christian, spirituality is essentially life in the Holy Spirit, the life and love of God himself, released by the death and glorifi cation of Jesus Christ. Grounded in a sense of the incarnation, it both tran-scends and involves the material and the physical, the means of subsistence, and the satisfaction of bodily appetites. (Wakefi eld, 2000, p. 685)

Now, trying to defi ne what is meant by spirituality is one thing, let alone attempting to devise an accepted means of measuring it as a personal attribute. The possibility of identifying spirituality in some measur-able form, perhaps as something akin to a spiritual

intelligence, seems remote. However, the case for spiritual capacity as a separate form of intelligence is not without support. In a special issue of the Interna-tional Journal for the Psychology of Religion published in 2000, Robert Emmons contends that spirituality as a concept does, in general, meet the criteria to be recognised as a form of intelligence. Emmons defi nes spiritual intelligence “ as the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment ” (Emmons, 2000, p. 59), and in so doing supports his case through ref-erence to the specifi c criteria employed by Howard Gardner (1999) in developing his infl uential position on multiple intelligences. However, in direct response, Gardner is not suffi ciently persuaded to change his established opinion of a spiritual intelligence as more properly remaining in the realm of speculation (Gardner, 2000, pp. 27 – 34). At this stage it would seem reasonable to conclude that while spiritual aware-ness is undoubtedly infl uenced by cognitive capacity, it is as much infl uenced by family and personal rela-tionships, by experience, by faith, and by what may be called revelation, and as such extends beyond the realm of valid measurement. Nevertheless, it is not as if there has been no active interest in researching the nature of spiritual experience. In this context Gaventa reserves particular recognition for the contribution of Fitchett in his 1993 text Assessing Spiritual Needs: A Guide for Caregivers and for his defi nition of spiritual as “ the dimension of life that refl ects the need to fi nd meaning in existence and in which we respond to the sacred ” (Gaventa & Coulter, 2001, p. 33).

Nor is it possible to confi ne the concept of spiritu-ality to any one defi nition or process, for spirituality has taken many forms over the centuries. Purely by way of example, the compilation 50 Spiritual Classics (Butler-Bowden, 2005) includes extracts from texts as diverse as St. Augustine ’ s Confessions , to the mid-20th century Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. In such contexts it is a reasonable question to ask to what extent spiritual development is depen-dent, in particular, upon a conscious intellectual grasp of the process. Similarly, to what extent is it a co-requisite of spiritual growth that one has to have a given intellectual capacity? Is it reasonable to hypothesise that there may be some minimal level of intellectual competence below which it is not feasible to anticipate a spiritual awareness?

Taking, by way of example, one insight into this issue is to examine the cautious perspective with which the Church of Rome refers to the status of those deemed to lack the use of reason. Even as late as the closing decade of the 20th century, Edward Foley specifi cally refers to people with an intel-lectual disability denied access to the Eucharist,

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240 G. Watts

usually because such persons were not deemed to have reached the age of reason (Foley, 1994, p. 5). Such decisions fl ow from a sincere but strict inter-pretation of the Code of Canon Law.

It is primarily the duty of parents and those who take their place, as it is the duty of the parish priest, to ensure that children who have reached the use of rea-son are properly prepared and, having made their sac-ramental confession, are nourished by this divine food as soon as possible. It is also the duty of the parish priest to see that children who have not reached the use of reason, or whom he has judged to be insuffi -ciently disposed, do not come to holy communion. (Beal, Coriden, & Green, 2000, Canon 914, p. 1108)

Throughout the Code, it is systematically pro-jected that a person deemed to lack the use of reason should be regarded as an infant (Canon Law Soci-ety of Great Britain and Ireland, 1995). This cer-tainly does not imply that lacking the use of reason places the person outside a spiritual dimension, but it does pose a question as to spiritual awareness, let alone spiritual development. Such restrictions have not passed without debate (Huels, 1984, 1994), but even the most sympathetic assessment of spiritual awareness is challenged in the context of profound intellectual disability.

In his text, Suffering Presence (1986), Stanley Hau-erwas feels compelled to develop the point that, even in otherwise supportive environments, we may well project on to those with an intellectual disability the way we would feel in their place. We may particu-larly recoil from the prospect of being so vulnerable both personally and spiritually. And fi nally, it is chal-lenging to accept that, despite all effort, intellectual disability cannot be redressed and if a cure is not possible then perhaps it may have been better if the person had not been born:

That we are led to such an extreme, derives partly from our frustration at not being able to cure the retarded. We seek to help them overcome their dis-ability, but we know that even our best efforts will not result in the retarded not being retarded. After all what we fi nally seek is not simply to help the retarded better negotiate their disability but to be like us: not retarded. Our inability to accomplish that frustrates and angers us, and sometimes the retarded themselves become the object of our anger. We do not like to be reminded of the limits of our power, and we do not like those who remind us. (Hauerwas, 1986, p. 176)

Here, in this situation, is a bedrock condition of dependence in every sense of the word. Yet, if we are to insist that all people share a basic humaneness, and as such still refl ect in some degree the “ image

of God, ” there remains the challenge to accept that some form of spiritual capacity must be present. John Macquarrie addresses this point in his Theo-logical Refl ections on Disability :

That is why we can never degrade a human being to mere thing-hood … Even when all natural possibili-ties have been reduced to the lowest conceivable level, when sight and thought and movement and decision are all in abeyance, for the Christian, one has still not come to the point when that person can be written off as nothing or merely past, for the Christian believes in resurrection, and in the widest sense, that simply means that God can still bring forth something new. (Macquarrie, 1995, p. 29)

It is my conviction, and the pivotal point of my view on intellectual disability and spirituality, that even at a seemingly bedrock existence, every person is not with-out a spiritual nature. All human beings are born in the image of God. All human beings possess an inner spiritual state which some choose to call a soul.

While it has been previously acknowledged that an agreed understanding of spirituality may be a problem, the concept of soul is equally challenging. In brief, by soul I refer to an inner spiritual state which is separate from, but may be infl uenced by, our physical, neurological, mental and intellectual states. Soul is an aspect of the human being which is ultimately transcendent in nature and is essentially a spiritual concept. This concept of a dual nature in man stretches back to Plato and beyond and again forward through to such luminaries as Saint Augus-tine, Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes and so on, and remains an offi cial tenet of faith for most Chris-tian Churches. In his text The Evolution of the Soul , Richard Swinburne provides a contemporary state-ment of this dualist position:

I shall therefore be arguing that man living on Earth is a substance which consists of two substances, his body and his soul. The body is a material body, but the soul is not a material object or anything like it. (It occupies no volume of space.) Body and soul are connected at present, in that events in the body affect events in the soul, and conversely. But the essential part of the man is his soul; a man consists of his soul together with whatever, if any, body is connected to it. (Swinburne, 1997, p. 10)

Quite properly, this concept is the subject of sig-nifi cant philosophical and theological debate, and, understandably, may be dismissed out of hand by those who see no place for matters of faith in such discussion. However, for my part, I am willing to accept that all humans are born in the image of God and all possess a soul. In this context all humans share these characteristics, even those whose existence we

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Intellectual disability and spiritual development 241

social and cultural conditions, by personal adven-ture and misadventure, and, in the specifi c context of this paper, relative intellectual capacity. Life expe-riences vary sharply and this will have some effect on all aspects of development, including the spiri-tual. However, even in that context which Lacey has described as the most taxing challenge, that is, for those with profound and multiple learning diffi cul-ties (Lacey, 1996, p. 75), I retain the conviction that a spiritual potential accompanies that life. It there-fore presents as a challenge as to how some form of contact or communication can be established. How, even for people with profound intellectual disability, and essentially remote from the usual means of com-munication, can we circumvent this barrier?

In response to this challenge I propose to place a decided emphasis on the communication potential afforded by the use of symbols; then, to note the pos-sible spiritual advantage offered through the channel of an open child-like nature; then, to explore the infl u-ence which close personal relationships can have on the development of spiritual awareness; and, fi nally, to note the potential of people with an intellectual disability to act as spiritual beacons in our midst.

First, as a means of enhancing communication with people with an intellectual disability, there is signifi -cant potential in exploring the use of symbols rather than words. A practical example using this means of communication is the Special Religious Education for People with a Developmental Disability (SPRED) initiative, a parish catechetical program developed in Chicago. The founder of SPRED, Father James McCarthy, refers to this teaching process as “ symbolic catechesis ” where formal instruction is supplemented or completely replaced by visual, aural, sensory and physical stimuli (McCarthy, 2003, p. 1).

That symbols can provide the channel through which many people come to terms with challenging concepts, and certainly not just restricted to spiri-tual awareness, has strong support in the psychologi-cal and social sciences (e.g., Jung, 1964; Meissner, 1984; Ricoeur, 1967). In what he personally rated as the most serious and substantial book he has written, Avery Dulles (1992) in his Models of Revelation develops the concept of symbolic communication as basic to any acceptable model of revelation. The general position which Dulles develops is that the mystery which is God can never be open to direct communication:

According to this approach, revelation never occurs in a purely interior experience or an unmediated encounter with God. It is always mediated through symbol – that is to say, through an externally perceived sign that works mysteriously on the human consciousness so as to suggest more than it

might regard as being at the most basic bedrock level. And, specifi cally in the context of this paper, in those so affected by a combination of physical, neurological and intellectual impairments that their existence is seemingly without any obvious contact with the world around them, there remains this spiri-tual element, this soul, in common with all human-ity. In this respect I fi nd support in the view taken by Wolfensberger that all persons, in whatever may be their physical or intellectual state, possess a soul with intellect and will which exists independently of bodily impairments.

In other words, what humans call mental retardation must, most likely, be viewed as entirely a manifesta-tion of an impaired body rather than of the poor endowment of a soul ’ s intellect. (Wolfensberger, 1982/2001, p. 73)

This view is not without challenge. In any review of this subject, Martin Luther is always guaranteed a reference for his apparent harsh advice that since a 12-year-old child with an intellectual disability was perceived as having no capacity for spiritual growth he should be taken away and drowned.

Luther was fi rmly of the opinion that such change-lings were merely a mass of fl esh, a massa carnis , with no soul. For it is in the Devil ’ s power that he cor-rupts people who have reason and souls when he possesses them. The Devil sits in such changelings where their soul should have been. (Webb-Mitchell, 1994, p. 65)

While Luther ’ s position has been defended as mere “ dubious hearsay ” (Miles, 2001, p. 30), equally well-known references attributed to John Locke seem less challenged. A focus on intellectual capacity, almost as a defi ning characteristic of humanity, reached a high point in the Enlightenment tradition with an emphasis on human reason marking the line between man and beast. John Locke, in An Essay Concern-ing Human Understanding , amplifi ed the case for the perception of those with an intellectual disability as being less than fully human, with his contribution to the concept of the changeling . Locke located the changeling somewhere between man and beast, a “ drivelling, unintelligent, intractable monster ” (Yolton, 1965, Book IV, Chapter IV, Paragraph 16). With spe-cifi c reference to their spiritual state, Locke surmised that as changelings may not be endowed with a soul, it followed that they may not enter into an eternal afterlife.

Now, I do not contend that the mere presence of soul carries with it an equal sense of spiritual aware-ness or spiritual development. Spiritual growth may be infl uenced by such basic factors as length of life,

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it was in this context that Meissner described the emergence of religious beliefs as aided by a capacity to use symbols in a fl exible and individualised inter-action (Meissner, 1984, p. 179). It is in this context, then, that I place particular emphasis on symbols as a means of accessing concepts not readily open to rational grasp and to support the case for symbols, rather than words, acting as a means of communica-tion with people with an intellectual disability.

That people with an intellectual disability, espe-cially those with profound impairment, can relate to symbols and nonverbal experiences, and through such experiences awaken a sense of spirituality, may indeed be as much a hope as an expectation. Yet in the mys-tery which accompanies spiritual growth, it is a hope which deserves nurturing and its potential explored. Perhaps nowhere could this exploration carry greater potential than in approaches to facilitating access to the Eucharist. With reference again to the Chicago-based SPRED program, the preparation of people with an intellectual disability for participation in the Eucharist makes extensive use of symbols:

Each SPRED session is related to a religious theme with the use of everyday items, for example, fl owers, bread, water, rocks, pictures, music and so on. For our people with a developmental disability it is most important that the symbol can be something that can be seen, touched, smelt or tasted. (McNamara, 1998, p. 1)

In a remarkable but not widely known text, its translation from Dutch being titled In Heaven There Are No Thunderstorms (Okhuijsen & van Opzeeland, 1992), there are detailed some 25 narrative descrip-tions of what the authors call symbolic liturgical adventures in communicating with people with intel-lectual and other disabilities. In preparing these lit-urgies the authors acknowledge that it is primarily through the senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste that participants may connect with the world outside themselves. Sharing a similar conviction, the author of this paper has prepared a celebration of the Eucharist modifi ed to its simplest form with extensive reliance on symbols and the presence of close carers. Espe-cially with regard to those present with a profound level of intellectual impairment, it is simply not pos-sible to anticipate what is or is not understood. At the same time family members and long-term carers will testify to a level of understanding and communica-tion which escapes accurate description.

In addition to the language of symbols, there is a case which can be made for the advantage of an open child-like mindset in promoting spiritual awareness. While clearly not of the same character as being child-like, there is a long Christian spiritual tradition

can clearly describe or defi ne. Revelatory symbols are those which express and mediate God ’ s self-communication. (Dulles, 1992, p. 131)

In this sense, symbols potentially offer a connec-tion between what is human and divine, between what is known and unknown, between what may be directly observed and what at the time is seen “ in a mirror, dimly ” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Carl Jung stresses this point in observing that constant use is made of symbolic terms to represent concepts which move beyond the range of human understanding:

Thus a word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. It has a wider “ unconscious ” aspect that is never precisely defi ned or fully explained. Nor can one hope to defi ne or explain it. As the mind explores a symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason. (Jung, 1964, p. 4)

Now, the extent to which the complexity and potential of symbols is open to those with an intel-lectual disability is clearly a relevant matter in our context. One possible avenue for further developing some insight into this issue is to look at any parallel which may exist between the cognitive development of children with or without intellectual disability, and then, in particular, what part symbols may play in the spiritual development of children.

A useful point of departure is to note the debt to Jean Piaget (1952) in providing a taxonomy of developmental stages in children and adolescents. Of particular relevance are supportive studies such as that of Mary Woodward (1959) who systematically applied Piaget ’ s model to the thinking of children and adults with an intellectual disability. Then, given an observed commonality in developmental order, the contribution of the work of Donald Winnicott adds a different and useful perspective. Working with children, Winnicott, a pioneer of object-relations the-ory, referred to the transitional space within which a young child gives expression to complex concepts, including religious ideas, again through symbolic means. Winnicott developed at length a case for an infant ’ s capacity to adopt what he called an illusion of the unknown, which serves as the basis for the infant ’ s relationship to the world beyond his limited infantile understanding (Winnicott, 1971).

In a review of Winnicott ’ s contribution towards understanding the role of symbolic representation, William Meissner, a Jesuit and psychoanalyst, makes the point that rather than dismantling symbols to get to the “ truth ” behind them, we would do well to encourage the constant mingling of the symbolic and rational. For Meissner, it is through symbolism or illu-sion that the human spirit is motivated. Furthermore,

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Intellectual disability and spiritual development 243

Wolfensberger begins with the concept that our age has so submitted to the power and potential of all things technological that we have, in effect, invested technology with god-like status. In developing his case, Wolfensberger readily acknowledges his debt to Wil-liam Stringfellow, and in particular Stringfellow ’ s text, An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land (Stringfellow, 1973/2004). Stringfellow opens this small but passionate text with the stated objec-tive that his concern was to understand America bib-lically. In pursuit of this theme he portrays America as a fallen nation which, amongst a list of transgres-sions, elevates and idolises fi nancial success, military prowess and technological sophistication.

Wolfensberger freely extends this theme to the point where he claims America has “ created a tech-no-god that is expected to bring techno-salvation ” (Wolfensberger, 1976/2001, p. 14). It is Wolfens-berger ’ s view that we should now be alert for some form of prophetic warning messages and, further, that such messages could come through people who characterise the opposite to the idolatry of this age:

The opposite is a person who is not intelligent, not scientifi c, not technological, and not academic; who does simple things instead of complex things; who cannot cope with complexity and technology which passes him by; and who, possibly, is despised for lack of modernity and intellectuality. Is that not the retarded person of our age? (Wolfensberger, 1976/2001, p. 16)

Wolfensberger ’ s thesis propels us beyond the con-cept of persons with an intellectual disability being the recipient of care, or of inclusion, or of partners sharing a spiritual journey. Wolfensberger ’ s position requires us to recognise the status of persons with an intellectual disability as prophets, as spiritual beacons in our age. With perhaps a deft touch of hyperbole, this “ leadership ” hypothesis is supported by signs which Wolfensberger advances and amplifi es. Among the more persuasive of these signs is the observation that “ mentally retarded persons are becoming much more public and visible ” ; and, as notably exemplifi ed by the L ’ Arche movement, “ that non-handicapped and handicapped persons are sharing their lives, often living together ” ; that “ retarded persons are gentling others ” ; and, even as was the fate of the prophets of old, “ that retarded people are beginning to be persecuted, through institutional abuse and public neglect, and martyred through abortion, steriliza-tion and euthanasia ” (Wolfensberger, 1976/2001, pp. 16 – 30).

Can such challenges to the pre-eminence of intel-lect withstand scrutiny as being more sophistry than substance? Intellectual disability is, by and large, a

in which clearing the mind of intellectual striving is a prerequisite to spiritual growth. In this tradition, the concept of the Divine is too challenging to be grasped through intellectual effort but rather only by a passive openness to receive God ’ s revelation. The 14th century anonymous mystic responsible for the spiritual guide, The Cloud of Unknowing , consistently warned against reliance on an intellectual path to spiritual growth:

Therefore, for the love of God, be wary in this work, and do not strain your intellect or your imagination in any way. For I tell you truly, you cannot reach your goal by labouring with them. Therefore leave them alone and do not work with them. ( The Cloud of Unknowing , 1986, p. 17)

Now this should not be taken as an anti-intellec-tual stance, as if lack of intellect is a condition to be prized. Rather, it is a reminder that intellectual endeavour may not be the smooth path to spiritual attainment. Rather, spiritual growth may be assisted through the channel of an open child-like mental state. In the case of the medieval mystic author of The Cloud of Unknowing , this process is one of still-ing the mind from intellectual effort and learning to accommodate distractions from both outside and inside the mind. For persons with an intellectual disability there may be a ready and unquestioning acceptance of input, which others, in more sophisti-cated terms, might call revelation. Even when con-sciousness seems quite absent a person with profound intellectual disability may still, in a way not discern-able to any other, be open to the direct infl uence of the infi nite.

A different perspective may be evident in the philosophy and practice of the L ’ Arche movement, which seeks to promote a spiritual awareness in those with an intellectual disability through the infl u-ence of long-term, committed, and loving relation-ships. Inspired by Jean Vanier, whom many regard as a contemporary saint, the L ’ Arche movement was founded in France in 1964 and has grown to become an extensive international federation of communities (Vanier, 1979). In particular, L ’ Arche seeks to place people with an intellectual disability at the centre of their community and to stress the value to be gained by all living in partnership with them. And, it is the specifi c “ brokenness ” of intellectual disability which Vanier holds up as a challenge to accept weakness and dependence in others, and in ourselves, and through this vulnerability open a channel for spiritual growth (Vanier, 1988).

Wolf Wolfensberger offers an arresting perspective on the spiritual status of persons with an intellectual disability (Wolfensberger, 1976/2001, 1983/2001).

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Against an Infi nite Horizon, Ronald Rolheiser relates the following episode:

Daniel Berrigan (priest, poet, peace activist) … was once asked to give a talk about God. How do we listen to God? He surprised his audience. He gave no theological treatise; he simply described how he goes regularly and sits by the bedside of a young boy who is deaf, mute, paralysed, and unable to react in any way to anything that is around him. He just lies in bed, helpless, powerless, unable to say or do anything … Berrigan goes and sits by his bedside. Nothing is said and nothing, seemingly, is exchanged. But says Berrigan, “ I sit by his helplessness and I know that in his powerlessness God is speaking and speaking in the only way that God can speak in this world. Infe-riority, powerlessness, humiliation – forges of depth, of soul, the voice of God. ” (Rolheiser, 2001, p. 148)

It is certainly not my conclusion that a human being in such a state of disability is somehow advan-taged spiritually. It is not a suggestion that individu-als with profound impairment are somehow closer to God. It is, rather, that a spiritual dimension is present in each of us independently of our abilities or disabilities. Even in a state of utter dependence, the way is still open for the Divine to enter the human condition. It is my conclusion that even in a person with profound intellectual disability, there exists a refl ection of the image of God and a spiritual dimen-sion, which some choose to call a soul, possessing the potential for spiritual awareness and develop-ment. This dimension is open to communication, and, importantly, such persons may act on others as something of a passive spiritual guide operating inde-pendently of that person ’ s intelligence or conscious will, but simply through that person ’ s act of being.

At the opening of the 21st century, Trevor Par-menter was invited to contribute to what was planned as a seminal handbook on disability studies (Albrecht, Seelman, & Bury, 2001). He responded with a paper entitled “ Intellectual Disabilities – Quo Vadis? ” in which he concluded that the recognition of persons with an intellectual disability as equal and valued members of society was dependent on the emergence of what he called an ethical community, “ one rooted in the philosophy of a mutuality of need, and respon-siveness to the needs of all individuals in our society ” (Parmenter, 2001, p. 268). To the extent that, for people with an intellectual disability, spiritual needs are acknowledged and nurtured, so may we move closer to realising this ethical community.

Note

1. Paper read on the occasion of a Festschrift in honour of Emeri-tus Professor Trevor Parmenter, 14 August, 2010.

lifelong impairment and for all that can be main-tained for the character and nature of those with an intellectual disability, it clearly renders such persons relatively dependent and disadvantaged. And, as is the case for all aspects of human growth and devel-opment, spiritual growth is more likely than not to be assisted by an exercise of the intellect which for most people stands as a distinguishing characteristic of being human.

Yet even the towering intellect of an Augustine or Aquinas is merely a relative force in the face of the impenetrable mysteries of human destiny. It is imper-ative that we acknowledge that disability and subse-quent dependence on others is, in some measure, an inevitable experience for everyone. In this perspec-tive, it is perhaps the obviously limited capacity of those with an intellectual disability which acts as a reminder that to be human also includes those who are dependent, those who fall short of a generally held ideal, even those who through a profound intellectual disability seem to have little or no understanding of the world around them or their place in it. Also, it is this general realisation which may make us anxious as we choose to keep our impending helplessness at bay and hidden from even ourselves.

Still, even in the context of such generalisations, it would be fair to observe that both historical and contemporary Christian theology have been relatively silent about the spiritual growth of persons with intel-lectual disability. Similarly, it would be fl ying in the face of reality to claim that there were no doubts about, or even outright rejection of, persons with an intellectual disability as being spiritually aware. The evidence is painfully clear and the personal testimony of many associated with persons with an intellectual disability is compelling. For some, the concept of disability, across all its manifestations, is too easily connected to spiritual disability. For those with an intellectual disability, especially those with a profound disability, the struggle for recognition as individuals with a spiritual dimension is a poignant challenge.

Nevertheless, even given understandable reserva-tions regarding the impact of profound intellectual disability, it may still be possible to anticipate some form of spiritual exchange. Certainly, for Wolfens-berger, it is quite feasible that God may act on others through a person with intellectual disability.

To exemplify: God might act upon a person through the gesture – or even mere presence – of another individual whose intellect and will are both so impeded that this individual would be called pro-foundly retarded. (Wolfensberger, 1982/2001, p. 76)

Clearly for some, this sense of communication with even the most impaired is a reality. In his book,

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Declaration of interest: The authors have no con-fl ict of interest and they are alone responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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