Autism and the Supernatural
Experiential Dimensions of Religiosity, Spirituality and Imagination
By (author) Ingela Visuri
Paperback (Forthcoming)
(June 2026)
ISBN: 9781800508149
6.14 x 9.21 inches
Price: $36.95
Hardback (Forthcoming)
(June 2026)
ISBN: 9781800508132
6.18 x 9.21 inches
Price: $80.00
In Autism and the Supernatural, Ingela Visuri explores the richly textured worlds of autistic young adults who describe vivid relationships with gods, spirits, ghosts, fictional characters, and unseen companions.
This book explores the relationship between autistic cognition and supernatural beliefs through a case study which focuses 17 young autistic adults who describe themselves as religious or spiritual. As we will see, enchanted worldviews and invisible partners are central to in their attempts to make sense of the world. But how do autistic individuals come to perceive gods, spirits, or ghosts as intentional beings when human minds often remain perplexing to them? And what motivates them to embrace supernatural ideas in one of the world’s most secularized cultures? At the heart of this book lies the premise that cognition is dynamic and shaped by multiple and dynamic dimensions of human life. It is therefore argued that supernatural beliefs in autism need to be approached through an interdisciplinary lens as “autistic,” “religious,” and “cultural” elements converge in various ways that give rise to supernatural beliefs and experiences. Special attention is paid to embodiment and somatosensory processing, as the participants describe visions, sensed presence, and tactile sensations occurring without external stimuli, and which they interpret as evidence of the supernatural. The book further explores how they have come to attribute supernatural meaning to these events, and the role of occult popular culture emerges as an important influence in the analysis. Imagination is another central dimension as the autistic participants portray so-called parasocial companions which they interact with during intense daydreaming. These fiction-based partners suggest that the concept of supernatural agency needs to be broadened since younger generations may relate to supernatural agents derived from popular culture, such as computer games and fantasy fiction, rather than traditional religious frameworks. Finally, the book addresses methodological challenges as information processing differs between neurodiverse and neurotypical minds. Developed in close collaboration with autistic individuals, the book challenges assumptions about autistic sociality and contributes to empirical insights and conceptual innovations regarding the interplay of cognition, culture, and lived embodiment –illuminating new pathways for understanding human engagement with non-empirical dimensions of life.
- By (author) Ingela Visuri
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