Lucas' Senior Sail

Everyday we are reminded how amazing Lucas is and appreciate all the great life lessons he has taught us in his 16 years on Earth. He is quick witted, extremely intelligent, big hearted and loves his family BIG! He brings such joy to all the adults that know him. However, due to the struggles that Autism has placed on him, his peers do not see the wonderful person that we see and he longs for friends. He has spent his entire school career with no friends and spends his days as an outcast.

We live in a small town where finding kids "like him" is very difficult. It breaks our hearts to see him want friends so desperately and we wish we could fix this for him. Our last real vacation was Christmas of 2019 and Lucas had to hang out with us because he is our only child at home. We try to take weekend trips once a year to get him out and about and out of the same go to school then come home routine.
Although we know he loves us, we know it makes him sad to hang out with mom and dad all the time and not have kids his age to enjoy things with.

Lucas is a junior in high school and we would love for him to be able to meet kids that are "like him" this summer so maybe he will not have to spend his Senior year in high school feeling so alone and friendless. We see this as a great opportunity for him to finally make some friends that understand him and accept him for who he is, quirks and all. We cannot begin to explain how life changing this would be for him and how much joy it would give him. We would be so grateful for any help to make this happen for Lucas.

Autism on the Seas is a non-profit company that allows families like ours to experience a vacation that at one time we would have imagined to be impossible. They arrange specific special needs accommodations with the cruise lines and they provide professionally qualified staff to assist us with expedited port check-in, meal assistance, pool time supervision, beach excursions, and many other perks and assistance. Autism on the Seas also provides pre-cruise professional consultation and valuable resources, including connecting with other families for support.

Thank you from.the bottom of our hearts,
Christi