Lucas' Lighthouses - Authoring Allyship

Being a shy child growing up, I was often spoken for at family functions.
I needed that.

Growing into the man I’ve become, somehow I’ve managed to find my own voice, initially upheld by the immense intrinsic strength of written and ultimately channelled into performance poetry and both harbour me interchangeably.

However, developing from a timid young’un into my current, firm mental positioning has been a journey.
A journey of accepting those who have seen me at my tenderest stages of life and empowered me, probably often without me noticing it due to the bubble of depression and otherwise miserable existence I occupied in my formative years.

They were formative years though. They taught me about allyship.
What true empowerment is. Rather than taking pity on someone you might deem as ‘low-functioning’ in the autistic realm of humanity or just lacking capacity in any way, it is much healthier to presume competence and work from a place of compassionate and valuing communication as a spectrum.

It won’t stop confrontation though.

Just like Janice and her dusty cat cabinet with much more to explore than may be obvious, the human world is like this.

I have had adult conversations with people that knew me through the lens of a troubled child. I’ve been respected enough to be taken as an adult rather than the child they helped but I must also respect that their viewpoint is still an accurate snapshot of my bigger picture.
I’ve fortunately been able to preserve my tender core and maintain a steady grasp on adulthood. People evolve.
I was extremely conscious of who to include in Ripples as a source of ‘inspiration’ or knowledge regarding the autistic lighthouses of Lucas’ life whilst roaming as a social nomad before connecting with Janice.
I didn’t want any sympathy as such for how Lucas used written notes as a primary communication tool in earlier years (although I cannot control that kind of reaction), but I wanted people like Hailey to be that support system if needed but not from an assumed state of need.

Cited in Ripples are the following:
Aucademy
Emma Dalmayne
Kieran Rose
Amethyst Schaber
Amanda Siegler
Maxfield Sparrow
Neurodivergent Rebel
Ponderful
Reframing Autism

They have all had something I regard as valuable in my own autistic journey and so it felt absolutely right to have them as Lucas’ guides.

Of course, people change, organisational shifts happen and scandals are uncovered.

Thankfully, as much as I am cognizant of, none of the above can be said about the advocates I just listed. But it is interesting to me how, whomever reaches you for whatever reason at whichever time of your life, it all impacts you as a time capsule of who or what you needed in those fleeting or long-lasting moments.

These are just Lucas’ lighthouses. My lighthouses as an author, an autistic child, an autistic man.

If you’re shining authentically as you and living a meaningful life though and you are illuminated by others on your journey, that’s amazing.
Keep shining. We all deserve to be in our most beautiful light.


Who are some of your lighthouses in your life?

Let me know in the comments!