Advisory and Anthologies - I've Been Busy

Late last year, I joined the advisory committee at Autism Canada. It's really great of them to include #ActuallyAutistic people, but also it's been great making connections across the country. We're in the process of planning a conference - there will be three: one in the Maritimes, one central and one in BC. I'm on the planning committee for the central one, which will take place in Hamilton, ON in August.
I'll get you more details closer to the date.

I have to decide soon if I'm going to speak at it. I'm feeling a little nervous and haven't written anything yet.

The other exciting thing that is happening is the anthology I contributed to, All the Weight of Our Dreams, should be coming out at the end of the month. You can check the site for updates. Also, please buy a copy! :)

I've also been asked to write for another anthology, so I better get cracking on that one because the deadline is also in August.

It feels good to be doing things I hope will make the future easier for autistic people, as well as building community. There are few things better than finding your tribe. 

How To Get Published in The Huffington Post

This summer, The Huffington Post was running a series on "what autism looks like for different families." I thought, "hey, I could write something!" so I emailed the editor with a proposal. She told me to get something to her by Monday, and I said I would.

A day early, I submitted my piece and then...crickets. Nothing.

Was I too early? Did my email get lost? Was my writing bad? Did they not like it? Hellllloooo?

Still, I sat tight and waited. Then I found this post, about how Autistic voices were not getting published on the HuffPo, and my heart sank.

So I decided to write them and just ask them, pointing them to the above accusation. I watched my email get opened repeatedly all morning (I have tracking software that tells me when an email has been opened), so I knew they were reading it. Finally, I got a response saying they were sorry for the delay and they take such accusations very seriously, and of course, all voices are welcome.

That afternoon, I got access to their submission back end and was able to upload my article that night.

Then I waited...and waited...and waited...

(Understandable of course. I've submitted my writing to other sites before and the turnaround for editing can take months depending on the site and how many submissions they receive. It's not personal!)

Finally, the editor wrote me directly to let me know my post was up! And there you have it. My first post for The Huffington Post.

So my advice if you want to write for them as well:

1) Get to know the editor of the section you want to submit to. (I follow many editors on Twitter)
2) Read other posts in your section and learn their style. You'll get an idea of what works well for their readers.
3) Be patient! It takes time for editors to get to all submissions, so cut them some slack.
4) If you're not sure about something or where you stand in line, just ask! Things do get lost in the shuffle at times and rather than stewing about it, just check in and see how things are going.
5) Wait some more!
I think I waited about two months total from submission to publishing, so don't despair!

Handwriting With Trauma

My son's school uses the Handwriting Without Tears program. Sounds great, right? I don't know much about it, but anything without tears sounds like a good thing to me. The teaching character is called Mat Man. My son loves Mat Man, apparently.

But three weeks into school, he suddenly hates the song that goes along with the program. Like, he's terrified. Like, they had to remove him from the class while it was playing terrified.

I don't know exactly which song it is, so I don't know what it is about it that has triggered him. The one I found on YouTube sounds pretty snazzy to me!



I asked him about it and he just said it upsets him. So I don't really want to prod too much. I don't really think he has the words to explain it to me either right now. Oh well, the teachers will just have to have him sit out for the time being.