Especially Special: Autism Treatment—A Biblical Approach

By Dahlia McLean

Have you ever wondered if your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder will ever lead a normal life? Find the answer to your musings in Especially Special: Autism Treatment -A Biblical Approach.
In this thought- provoking expose Pastor Dahlia leverages 15 years of experience working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and 7 years of pastoring to outline practical spiritual strategies that can be combined with secular strategies to help your special needs child to lead a normal, healthy life, and be the person that God has called him to be. If you have a special needs child or a relative with special needs child, this is a must read. It will supply you with the answers you have been searching for as you grapple with your child’s diagnosis; and gives you hope for normalcy in your family. Pastor Dahlia is convinced that kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder can be healed if families are aware of the provisions made through Jesus’s blood for their child’s healing. Your child does not have to live with a disability because Christ died so he can be enabled to fulfill his purpose and his destiny in the earth realm. Pastor Dahlia holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology and Autism Studies from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ. She has been working in Early Intervention (State program serving kids 0-3 years with ASD) for the past 15 years; and she is the pastor of Bethel Apostolic Ministries International, a forward-thinking ministry that is empowering people to be all that God has called them to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663210555

Dahlia McLean

Dahlia McLean has worked with special needs children for over fifteen years as a teacher and behaviorist. She holds a MA in psychology and autism studies from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is also the senior pastor of Bethel Apostolic Ministries International in Englewood, New Jersey. She seeks to touch lives through the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ by painting a picture of the life that Christ died for us to have.

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Copyright © 2020 Dahlia McLean.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-1054-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-1055-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919456

iUniverse rev. date: 11/11/2020

CONTENTS

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Dedication

Author’s Note

Introduction

The Origin Of Demons

Unbelief Does Not Negate The Spirit Realm

Characteristics Of Demons

The Goal Of Demons

How The Spirit Of Autism Affects The Marriage

Demonic Destruction Begins In The Mind

Every Evil Human Behavior Is Motivated By A Spirit/Demon

Spirits Motivating Autistic Behaviours

Some Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder And Their Treatment

Drooling

Failure To Attend To Name

What’s In A Name?

Receptive & Expressive Language Delays/Deficits

Worship Songs As A Language Acquisition Device

Unwillingness To Follow directions

Fleeting Attention Span

Sensory Issues

Self-injurious Behaviors & The ABC of Behavior Magement

The ABC Of Behavior Management

Problems With Coordination

Fixation With Objects

Feeding Issues

Created In God’s Image

Your Child Was Marked For Greatness That Is Why He Is Under Attack

Jesus Died So That We Can be Healed Physically, Emotionally and Mentally

Holy Communion- The Meal That Heals

Spirits Must Be Bound So That They Can’t Operate In People’s Lives.

You Need Spiritual Authority In Order To Bind Demons

Demons/Spirits Enter Our Lives Through Open Doors

Generational Curses

An Anatomy Of The Prayer Above

The Power of Prayer

Jesu Is Praying For You

Prayer Has been The Backbone of My Ministry And My Profession

Success Stories That Combined Prayer The Word of God & Other Biblical Principles To Heal Children With ASD

Violation Of God’s Principle For Living Opens Doors To Demonic Activities

Violation #1 -Lack Of Proper Boundaries For Kids

Loose The Guilt

Violation #2-Idolatry

Violation #3 -Yelling

Violation #4 - Negative words

A Time When Negative Word Caused Things To Go Awry

An Unusual Encounter With Spirits Guarding Their Turf

Now What?

References

DEDICATION

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This book is dedicated with love and affection to all the wonderful families that I have had the distinct honor and privilege of serving for the past 15 years. You and your children have contributed to my intellectual, spiritual, social, and emotional development in more ways than you know. You, through the power of the Holy Spirit have inspired me to write this book; and you have inspired me to be a better therapist and a better person. This book is from my heart to yours and from God’s heart to yours.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

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Prior to 2001, I knew nothing about the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I stumbled on the field when I responded to an advertisement from a family with a special needs child who was looking for someone to work with their child in exchange for living accommodation. I responded to the advertisement and was offered the job as a paraprofessional; but I opted out of the living situation.

Working with this child opened a whole new world for me and motivated me want to learn more about the disorder. To this end, I added Autism Studies to my Graduate Major of General Theoretical Psychology. This combined course of study enabled me to learn about the nature of ASD and the management of the various aberrant behaviors associated with the disorder.

I graduated Summa Cumlaude from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck New Jersey, in 2004, with a MA in Psychology & Autism Studies, and I began working in Early Intervention, (EI) in 2005 as Behavior Specialist. Early Intervention is a State program in New Jersey that serves families with special needs kids, 0-3 years old. The architects of the EI program should be given a medal. It is a tremendous blessing to families with special needs kids, and it continues to give them hope for a better tomorrow for their entire family.

In 2013 I was ordained as the Pastor of Bethel Apostolic Ministries International in Englewood New Jersey. I have been serving in this capacity since then. As a Pastor, I began to seek God in a deeper way to enable me to lead His people more effectively; and also to enable me to make a difference in the lives of the families that I serve in my secular profession as a therapist. I was deeply concerned about the pain that these families with special needs kids were in because of their children’s diagnosis, and I sought to change this trajectory. Making a difference in the lives of these families became my obsession. I did not want this job to be just my profession, I want it to be my calling.

I know that God loves everybody unconditionally, and that He does not want anyone to suffer. The fact is that He died on the cross so His people would be healthy in every area of their lives. St John 10:10 tells us that Christ died so that we can have the abundant life, and Galatians 3:14 tells us that Christ died so that the blessings of Abraham could come to us. Among the information that we have about ‘father" Abraham is that he was a man of faith who trusted God (Romans 4:3 &18), he was very rich (Genesis 13:2), and he lived a long, fruitful, and prosperous life, and died at age 175 years (Genesis 25:8). At the heart of the blessed, abundant, and prosperous life is good mental and physical health and long life.

As I sought the Lord, He opened my spiritual eyes to the fact that spirits/demons, also called unclean spirits are the causative agents of ASD; and that the aberrant behaviors that the kids are displaying are motivated/influenced by these spirits. Therefore, prayer and His word need to be an integral part of every treatment protocol. Armed with this revelation, I added the word of God and prayer to my therapeutic arsenal; because ASD is a spiritual problem and hence, requires a spiritual approach. The use of word of God, prayer and the application of other biblical principles in therapy constitute a spiritual approach and is sometimes referred to as spiritual warfare.

Revelation requires action. To this end, and to set the spiritual tone for my workday, every morning I pray for all of my clients, calling their names one by one to the Lord. I ask the Lord to help me by downloading heaven’s strategies for me to use with the children to heal them and enable them to lead normal healthy lives. God answered my prayers to the extent that soon as I meet a special needs child, I know immediately what needs to be done to get him to overcome his challenges. Prayer changes everything for the better and especially warfare prayer, which is prayer coupled with the word of God.

I discovered that when I pray for my clients during my prework prayer sessions, the kids were calmer and more focused in their sessions and measurable results were seen in a shorter period of time than when I used only the Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA approach. Applied Behavior Analysis is the scientific study of the functional relationship between behaviors and the environment; with the goal of manipulating the environmental variables to produce desirable behaviors. It is one of many treatment modalities used to treat kids with ASD, and a modality in which I have had extensive training.

From my experience with ABA, it is very effective in treating ASD. However, it has its shortcomings which we will discuss later. But combining it with a spiritual approach or applying its principles from a spiritual perspective, produced desirable results. Sometimes within two weeks of working with some families they told me that I am god-sent. According to these families when I am in their homes