Submit your work

The Spectrum is a magazine written for and by autistic people and we are always looking for new contributors. Whether you have an article, piece of artwork or a poem you would like to be considered for inclusion, please send it in and it could appear in a subsequent issue.

How do I submit work to The Spectrum?

The steps for submitting your work are as follows:

Read about the theme for the next issue below
Read our submission rules below
Go to our Submit work page to read the permissions information and submit your work.

(c) 2025 National Autistic Society (NAS) - All Rights Reserved

The National Autistic Society administers all intellectual property rights on behalf of the authors and copyright owners. Content may not be reproduced for commercial gain, nor for any other reason without the explicit consent of the copyright owner for any other. Where authors are credited, only their first name or alias is published. Contributions may have been edited in order to fit the space available, as well as for privacy and other reasons. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the National Autistic Society or of anyone associated with the charity.

We look forward to reading and enjoying your work. For a list of our complete submission rules, please check out the Spectrum rules below.

Submission rules

1

The Spectrum is funded by the National Autistic Society and readers’ subscriptions. We welcome submissions on any topic from people across the whole of the autism spectrum.

2

The Spectrum is quarterly, published in January, April, July and October. If you do not receive a copy when you expect to, please contact the magazine.

3

Pieces that appear in the Spectrum are credited using the author’s ﬁrst name only, unless the author requests an alias. This is done to protect your privacy.

4

Book reviews are the most popular thing with readers of the Spectrum, so please consider submitting one. They can be about any book, not just books about autism. If you do not want your review to appear in other National Autistic Society publicity about that book, please make this clear.

5

When you send in a piece for publication, you need to complete a permissions form at: www.autism.org.uk/spmagpermissions

6

The National Autistic Society promotes the Spectrum on social media using pieces taken from the magazine.

7

The National Autistic Society would like to keep in touch with you about National Autistic Society services, support, events, campaigns and fundraising. If you want to hear from the National Autistic Society, you can opt in to this on the National Autistic Society website. The National Autistic Society will only contact you in the ways you want.

8

If you subscribe to the paper edition and move house, please inform the Spectrum and include your old address as well as your new address. Even if you’ve paid for the Royal Mail forwarding service (or another forwarding service), you still need to inform the Spectrum that you have moved address.

9

You do not have to be a member of the National Autistic Society to subscribe to the Spectrum.

10

If you phone and leave a message on the machine, please speak slowly and clearly and spell uncommon words, as the line isn’t very clear. Please give any phone number you leave twice for the same reason. Remember to give your postal address so that we can find your record.

11

You can sign up for an email notifying you whenever a new edition of the Spectrum is posted online. Email spmag@nas.org.uk asking for the notification by email and please include your full name, postcode and let us know whether you want to subscribe to the the paid paper edition too.

12

If you want to unsubscribe from the paper version, inform the Spectrum and include your postal address. Or to unsubscribe from the email notification, include your email address.

13

If you want to resubscribe (or subscribe for the first time) inform the Spectrum and include your postal address and fee (for the paper version) or email address (for the email notification).

14

Although each issue is themed, submissions on any subject are welcome. Only some of the letters and articles in each issue will follow the theme. All submissions may be edited, especially for privacy, libel, and for ﬁtting the space available.

There is no suggested theme for the July issue and we welcome submissions on any topic of your choosing.

Vote with your contributions

The more submissions on a subject sent in (from different people) the more likely that that subject will be the theme. Writing on any subject is still welcome, as are ideas for new themes, small pieces, and art.

Please fill in a permissions form when you submit something

All published pieces require a completed permissions form. Remember, if you want to see different content in the Spectrum, the best way to change it is to send something in.

Submit work to the Spectrum

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Calling all contributors!

We want to share the amazing archive of autistic prose, poetry and art that is the Spectrum magazine. If anyone who contributed to the magazine doesn’t want their work to be reproduced, please email us at content@nas.org.uk and we will remove it.

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