TACOMA, Wash. — 12-year-old Jack Carlin isn't afraid to be seen holding hands with his parents. And he has no fear indoor skydiving. But for years, Carlin was afraid of something most of us take for granted, the lights going out.
"It's just like fireworks to me," Carlin said.
His mother Beckey Brittain-Carlin explained, "Because he is autistic, to him the lights going off are like watching a horror movie when you go down in the basement and the lights shut off and something scary is there."
Carlin wasn't talking until he was three years old but he's been making up for lost time.
"I'm not shy," he said. "I've never been shy before. I don't even know what it feels like to be shy."
This summer, Carlin decided to face his fears on camera and on his Instagram page, and that's how Jack Carlin became "Jack the Great."
"What I like about lights turning off is because I like the braveness of it," he said.
His Instagram page has nearly 400,000 followers who gather around their phones to wait with Jack until the lights go out at restaurants, stores and so much more. Carlin has been to the Empire State Building, the stadium where the Miami Dolphins play and the fountain in from of The Bellagio in Las Vegas. The latter post has more than half a million views.
'We've been traveling non-stop just about," his mother said. "We're not home that much, but it's been a lot of fun. At this point people follow him for several reasons. It's his charm and he is doing something nobody has ever done, and it is the different places we go. They look forward to seeing where we will be next."
Finally, in September, Carlin visited his birthplace, the home of the Tacoma Dome for another lights out opportunity.
"Why don't you practice what you might say," his mother suggested.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen," Carlin began. "The Tacoma Dome is 500 feet around in diameter..."
"Hey Jack, 530," his mother said.
"530 feet in diameter."
Finally, with the help of the Tacoma Dome staff, it's time for camera, action and no lights.
"Oh! They turned off!" he exclaimed to applause.
For Carlin and his family, every Instagram post offers a reward that comes with sharing an act of bravery in the darkest of times.
"I'm not sure where it goes from here," his mother said. "I guess we're still just having fun doing it."
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