Why Lucas from "Home," a non-verbal eighteen-year-old with autism spectrum disorder, was my hardest character to write (and one of my favorites)

Of all my books, Home was the most difficult to write and took me the longest. I think this was in part because of the inclusion of a non-verbal autistic character, Lucas. It was important for me that Lucas be non-verbal because, in my reading, most fiction characters with autism spectrum disorder are high functioning. Since an individual with high functioning autism will have a vastly different experience than one who is non-verbal, I wanted to give the latter a voice. My original idea was to include vignettes at the start of each chapter - little scenes which would show Lucas interacting, or not interacting, with the other characters and the world around him. As much as I liked these small glimpses, the ultimate effect was that they showed how Lucas’s ASD impacted others, not how he felt.

At the time, I was working with a phenomenal book coach, Hend Hegazi. She asked why I was afraid to give Lucas a viewpoint. I said that I didn’t want to give him a voice because he was non-verbal and I didn’t know what he would be thinking. And duh! Isn’t that the exact reason I wanted to include him to begin with? To try to understand his thinking?

With this in mind and in addition to other research, I read several books written by non-verbal individuals with ASD who learned to type. These books include Why I Jump by Naoki Higashida, Ido in Autismland by Ido Kedar, In Two Worlds by Ido Kedar, and Carly’s Voice by Arthur Fleischman. Using the collective knowledge about the inner thoughts and experiences of those with non-verbal ASD from these brave authors, I began to write in Lucas’s words. I don’t presume that what Lucas thinks or experiences is typical of every individual with ASD, but I was happy to give him the voice he would not have in real life.

A second challenge was creating a plot arc for Lucas. The other point-of-view characters in the book, Olivia and Nate, have clear goals and can act to make them happen, or not. But because Lucas cannot communicate beyond the basics and because he has substantial needs, he has no real agency over his life circumstances. This was a challenge, but I ultimately decided his lack of control is a relevant theme as it reflects the reality of many with ASD.

The final challenge was writing about autism itself. Having close friends with an autistic child, I was a witness to some of the more difficult challenges in navigating ASD. Every individual diagnosed with this disorder presents unique needs and I wanted to be sensitive to the fact that caring for Lucas, who is not violent and fairly amenable, may not be the experience of all caregivers.

If you have a chance to read Home, I hope you love reading about Lucas as much as I enjoyed writing about him

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