Submitting a Story
We welcome submissions of personal accounts of autism from anywhere in the world. If you are an individual with autism, parent, caregiver, family member, or professional involved in your local autism community and would like to submit a short story for inclusion on our web site, we invite you to upload your story by clicking on the button at the bottom of this page.
As you write your short stories, we ask that you consider the following questions. Our intent is not to have you address all of these questions in your submissions. Rather, we offer these questions as a guide to help shape the direction of your story.
- How has autism affected your life either personally or professionally?
- How is autism commonly defined in your country/region?
- What are the defining characteristics and suspected causes of autism?
- If there is autism in your family, how has autism impacted your daily life?
- What types of unique challenges do you face as an autistic individual in your community?
- If you are a professional working in the field of autism, how did your interest in autism develop?
- How would you describe the typical referral and diagnosis process that a family with autism experiences in your area?
- Do you believe there is an autism epidemic?
- What educational options are available for children on the spectrum in your community?
- What types of autism treatments and interventions are commonly used? Are interventions viewed as beneficial?
- What types of supports and obstacles have you experienced within your family or community?
- What educational, recreational and employment options are available to autistic adults?
- What communications alternatives are available for those on the spectrum?
- Is there any type of governmental support or aid agency assistance available to help you obtain appropriate services for the autistic individual?
- If you are an individual with autism, what are your hopes and dreams for your future? If you are a parent, what are your hopes and dreams for your child’s future?
- What areas of autism research do you believe are important to explore?
- Are there specific autism advocacy issues that you believe are critical to address?
- What do you wish the general public could understand about autism?
- In what ways could autism awareness be improved in your community?
To guide you as you write your story, it may be helpful to review the types of personal and professional narratives that already appear on our site. Please visit our Stories page to view these personal stories about autism.
There are no formal guidelines regarding format and style of these stories; however, ideally stories should be around 1 to 2 pages and should not exceed five pages in length. Submissions should be original content only.
Prior to uploading your story, you will be asked to review and submit a consent form. Completing the consent form, checking the box next to “I accept” and uploading your story indicates that you accept and agree to the terms of the consent form. A signed consent form is required from all contributors.
Some participants may wish to include photographs (for example, of local autism clinics or education centers) or brief videos to personalize and enhance their stories. If you choose to submit photographs or videos for inclusion on our website, you will also be required to review and submit a signed photo/video release.
Thank you in advance for sharing your unique and compelling story with the rest of the autism world and for helping to enhance our global autism awareness web resource. If you have any questions, please contact the Foundation via email.
Please note that we do not provide compensation for stories contributed to our website.
All submissions are subject to editing, and all content is at the discretion of the AATG editorial staff.
To upload and submit your story, please click on the button below. If you are unable to use this web form, please click here for instructions regarding how to submit your story via email.