Kit's Story

"The one thing I would change in this world."

Kat Rudge, Aspire Youth Development Worker, talks to one of our young people, Kit Gower-Thomas, who is part of Aspire. Aspire at Romsey Mill delivers youth clubs and support, in Cambridge city, South Cambridgeshire and Peterborough city, for around 250 autistic children and young people.  

Romsey Mill has known Kit for many years now, having come along to Aspire since he was 15 and is now part of our Aspire Plus group.  Kit has faced more than his fair share of challenges and continues to surprise us time and again with his resilience and perseverance.

When Kit first came to Aspire, he really wanted to make friends. It is lovely to see him now and his close friends, James and Oli, together. They have such a firm friendship based on mutual respect, and a love of discussion of whatever subject is on the table that day! 

“One thing I would change in this world is for people to see past these small differences, and make peace.”

One of the reasons I think autistic people make such good friends is their lack of judgement of others. 

I am currently helping Kit to pass his English functional skills exam in order to go to university later this year. When I gave the following question to Kit to answer as a practice question, I had an idea his answer would involve diversity of some kind.

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone was as kind and inclusive as Kit - a genuinely lovely human being. 

The question that I asked Kit was: "If there was one thing you would change in this world, what would it be?"

“We're all human. So, why do we attack each other over differences that are small compared to the similarities we share?”

Kit Gower-Thomas wrote:

“We're all human. So, why do we attack each other over differences that are small compared to the similarities we share?

One thing I would change in this world is for people to see past these small differences, and make peace. So what if the person who sits next to you is a different gender or gay or even from some other place? They're a person, and so are you.

For one thing, why does it matter if a boy wears a dress? What's wrong with a boy wearing so-called "girl's clothes"?

Also, when it comes to your gender, why should I care about anything but what you say you are? If you say you're a boy, you're a boy. If you say you're a girl, you're a girl. If you say you're some other thing, you're that other thing.

Frankly, if, say, someone says she's a boy but says to use 'she' and 'her' rather than 'he' and 'him', then it's her right to be a boy who goes by 'she' and 'her'! If someone says they're sometimes a boy and sometimes a girl, who am I to judge them? If someone says they don't have a gender, they are valid.

What's more, why ought it matter who you are in love with? Why should it matter if a boy is badly in love with some other boy? After all, it is true love.

Who am I to judge?

If a girl is madly in love with another girl, then she is valid. If a boy is in love with a girl, each to their own – but don't just make out in public! We aren't all fans of public displays of affection!”

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