Elevating Autistic Musicians (EAM) is an exciting new program, born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, that promotes the music of autistic people, by and for autistic people. This allows us to demonstrate our talents, which are often underestimated by the music industry. We have so much to offer the world.
Our mission is to elevate our voices, our stories and our music.
We write about topics such as music promotion, autism advocacy, the journey of diagnosis, and the everyday challenges and victories we face, living in a neurotypical world.
If you are an autistic musician and you’d like your music and your story on our platform, you can reach out to us by emailing themusicalautist@gmail.com
We pay $100 per article (Venmo, PayPal or check) and you can submit up to three articles per month.
The number of posts we publish per month depends on the number of donations/grant funding The Musical Autist receives as a nonprofit organization. You can find out more about donations here.
Here are the parameters of what we’re looking for in article content.
- Between 1000 – 2500 words
- Must include at least 3 photos and/or videos. This can be of yourself, your music, other’s music that impacts you, photos you’ve taken – anything that relates to the story you’re trying to tell and engages your audience to keep reading.
- Here is a good list of general guidelines to follow, to make sure your content is accessible for all.
- Your article must be submitted in a google doc, with “suggestion mode” enabled. Let us know in your email how you’d like to be paid. One of the autistic musicians on staff will review it and send you feedback, if any is needed. They will let you know if your article is accepted and when it will be published. Payment will be sent to you the day your article is published.
- If you’d like to republish an article on our site that you have published elsewhere on the internet, you can simply email us a link to the original post, with your request to publish on our site. We will ensure that all republished posts link back to your content, with SEO set to drive traffic back to your original post.
- If you want to co-write your article with someone else, that is allowed. Please acknowledge and give credit to all authors.
- Only talk about your own personal experiences about autism, don’t make generalized statements about all autistic people.
Elevating Autistic Musicians Program Values / Rubrics for the Articles We Publish
- Acceptance of anyone who is neurodivergent, even if they use language we don’t necessarily agree with. For example, person first language (PFL: “person with autism”). Most of us prefer identity first language (IFL: “autistic person”), but if you prefer PFL and want to publish an article with us, we are open to it. We don’t get caught up in arguments about the nuance of language, that is a worthy mission but it’s not our mission. Our mission is to promote the music and the stories of autistic musicians, and to support you in your career goals as a musician.
- We build others up, not tear them down, even if we don’t agree with them. Our goal is to be a positive influence on other autistic musicians and a resource for them as well. We want to see autistic musicians launch their careers, whether you’re interested in a solo performing career, or going into music education or the field of music therapy, we want to see you accomplish your goals and give you the supports and the boosts that we can with our platform.
