Rat boy - Jack

I’ve mentioned before that a big theme in Tistow is going to be ‘identity’. I’ve not felt the need to write any of this down to explain before as I’d like people to find out for themselves as the story progresses.

But there’s one thing I’d like to jot my thoughts down about and in this post it’s Jack. He experiences the world very differently to the rest of the cast and I want to do my best to get across what that feels like for an autistic person.

There’s a lot of stigma around autism and the focus seems to, a lot of the time, be on children. Not so much on how it affects adults, especially those undiagnosed and how they’ve learned to cope with their surroundings. I dance awkwardly around the subject because I personally wasn't diagnosed until my adulthood and it has had a massive impact on my life. I often wonder what my life would've been like if I had been diagnosed as a child. I would've had more help.

Jack's autism is a fundamental part of his identity and we’ll explore it as the story goes on. I don’t intend to put a negative spin on things, we’re not looking for a ‘cure’. But he is most definitely looking to be accepted and understood as he is.

I want to try to introduce people to the feeling of sensory overloads, stims, meltdowns and sense of relief that comes from being around nature and being able to focus on things he enjoys. Even if they’re very, very specific little things and not everyone is necessarily ready to listen to him go on about how to harvest spores or grow certain kind of herbs for hours and hours.

I think having the setting of the story in a city like Tistow helps introduce people to this world. It’s a very challenging, hectic environment for Jack and places of ‘nature’ are few and far between.

We’ll see how this goes. It's not all about Jack, but he's still our protagonist. Can't wait to show you what we've got planned. ♥