Episode #58 Autism Parenting Magazine & Parenting Summit with Emily Elfer

SUMMARY KEYWORDS
magazine, autism, parents, articles, parenting magazine, readers, submissions, april, alfre, support, temple grandin, international, sessions, previously unpublished, experts, writers, emily, summit, build, community

00:01
Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the autism and action podcast. Today we have another special guest. We've got Miss Emily alfre. She is part of an amazing thing that's out there in the international magazine community, all for parents of children with autism, the autism parenting magazine, she is the editor. And Miss Emily alfre, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for taking time to be here today.

00:29
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here with you.

00:34
Well, I can't wait to learn more about what you guys are doing, how you are connecting all of these families with all these valuable resources in your magazine, and just learn how this got started.

00:46
Yeah, so autism parenting magazine was launched back in 2012. And we are an international online magazine. And I aim is really just to support, motivate, and inspire autism families all over the world. So we work with a great team of writers. We have doctors, therapists, experts, lots of mums and dads or contributing articles to our pages. And our aim is to let parents know what helps out there, what kind of therapies what kind of support groups, and just really help build a community for parents to feel that they're not alone and that their kids aren't alone imagine?

01:34
Well, this is absolutely something that's needed. Parents and I can speak from experience, you know, that sense of loneliness does creep in. And it definitely helps to find our tribe, you know, and what better way to do that than to hear from other parents and other professionals?

01:53
Absolutely, I think that's what our readers find. And some of our most popular pieces are articles written by parents themselves, sharing you recently, we even had an article written by a man who had a really difficult trip to the grocery store with their child. And she just recounted what happened, this meltdown that ensued, and just gave us a snippet of that day that they had together. And that that article went down really well. And we've also built a Facebook support group, through the magazine as well, which is really popular, so parents can connect and chat and share thoughts and ideas with each other,

02:34
through your magazine is really bringing people together in a big way to demonstrate the support and to give them the support that they need. I would like to to hear a little bit more about how the magazine got first started, and the founder of the magazine.

02:51
Sure. So our founder, Mark Blakey, he launched the magazine back in 2012. And he is on the autism spectrum himself. And he received his diagnosis later in life. And I think it just really inspired and motivated him to get involved in the autism community, and launch something that would really help other families and other people. So yeah, Mark started up the magazine. All those years ago, sort of one man band initially, and he's grown this international team, our staff are from all over the world. And we're all kind of adding our own experiences and really growing things from that.

03:40
So interestingly, you just said that staff from all over so you guys operate remotely, the employees of the magazine, and then you guys are centrally located in the London England area. But majority of your audience is from where?

04:00
Yes, so myself and Mark, both based in UK and that our readership is very international. So we're a monthly online magazine, people can download us and accept access is from wherever they are. And actually, around 70%. Until recently, I think it was 70% of our readership is from the United States. People are really loving the magazine in the US. And we have a lot of us writers, and one of our copy editors is also from the United States. And we have a big readership in the UK as well. And also people from Australia, South Africa, a lot of readers in India. So it it really is a global autism community that that we have in our following, which is great, and we try to offer content that is relevant to everyone and we have experts from everywhere, and it's really an Tracking, seeing the different support actually that is available in different countries.

05:06
Now with April being right around the corner, April is big for Autism Awareness. What kind of things do you have going on for April?

05:17
We are so excited about April is a huge month for us. So we have our April sale, which is an annual thing where people interested in the magazine it can get, I think it's 86% off of back issues so they can get a special package of magazine issues. And they can get an annual subscription. So head to our website to find out more about that. But what I'm super excited about is we are running the autism parenting summit on the 20th and 21st of April. So this is a virtual summit, full of autism experts doing lots of sessions, presentations, and interviews on all sorts of topics related to autism. So we've got Temple Grandin, she's one of our speakers. So we have Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. temper, Deborah Moore, doctrine that Nunez loads of top autism figures, and also people on the spectrum themselves giving all sorts of parenting tips and advice. So yeah, make sure you don't miss out on that. But autism parenting summit calm is where you can find out more.

06:31
Now the autism parenting summit, is there does it cost to attend the summit? Is there an entry fee for that online access?

06:40
No, it is completely free. So we know we have readers all over the world, all with different backgrounds, different financial means, and we want everyone to benefit from this. So it's completely free. There's 24 hours worth of sessions. And then after the event takes place, if people want to purchase the sessions to keep so that they can watch them forever, over and over again, they can do that for a small charge that that's completely optional.

07:12
Well, that is awesome. And what a great way to invite people in to learn more about autism to support parents, really give them that expert advice, and just really be a big valuable support component in the whole autism

07:27
world.

07:27
So that is very exciting. Is there anything else at all that you would like to share with our listeners today?

07:36
I just want to share you to all the parents out there, you're doing a fantastic job. Keep on doing it. Remember, you're not alone in your journeys, please do check out the magazine. And also get in touch with us if you want to write an article if you want to share your story with we're always open to receiving articles submissions. And together let's keep building awareness of autism.

08:04
We've got a

08:06
lot of writers on the autism spectrum themselves. And we're really enjoying giving them a platform. So keep what you're doing and read the magazine and get involved.

08:18
Wonderful, wonderful advice. So in terms of submissions for parents or any other professionals out there listening, you guys accept original previously unpublished articles, and y'all can submit those by going to autism parenting magazine. com forward slash writings submissions, and then visit their website check out the magazine, www dot autism parenting magazine.com. Thank you so much for taking time to be here today. Emily,

08:50
thank you. It was such a pleasure meeting you and I've been really enjoying your podcast. And thank you for all you're doing for your Susan community as well and I look forward to keeping in touch. Thank you