If you have worked something out — a routine that finally holds, a classroom adjustment that changed a term, a piece of research you can explain properly — there is a parent in Coimbatore or Kanpur at the end of a hard day who needs to read it. This is how you get it to them.
Who we publish
- Parents and carers. What you have learned in your own home. The thing that took you two years to figure out and takes a reader ten minutes to try.
- Practitioners. Occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, paediatricians — writing either for families, in plain language, or for colleagues in For Practitioners.
- Educators. Teachers, special educators, school counsellors, heads. The classroom is where most of this actually has to work.
- Researchers. If you study any of this, we would like you to explain your own work, or somebody else’s, to the people it is about.
You do not need to have written anything before. We edit. What we cannot supply is the thing you know.
What makes a piece work here
The pieces that land are specific. Not “how to manage transitions” but “what we changed about the twenty minutes before school”. Not “the importance of sensory diets” but “the four things I actually put in one, and the two I dropped”.
Before you write, it helps to answer three questions:
- Who is reading? A parent, a teacher or a colleague. Pick one — the piece changes completely.
- What can they do tomorrow? If the answer is “be more aware”, the piece is not ready yet.
- How do you know? Your own experience is a perfectly good answer. So is research. Dressing the first up as the second is the one thing that will lose you the piece.
Where it might sit
We publish into six sections. Pick the closest — we will move it if it belongs somewhere else.
- Understanding Sensory — how sensory processing and regulation work, in plain words.
- Evidence Explained — what the research really says about an approach, product or claim.
- At Home — routines, mealtimes, bedtimes, siblings, travel, festivals.
- At School — classroom strategies, working with teachers, accommodations, exams.
- Spaces & Equipment — setting up a corner or a room, choosing and using equipment.
- For Practitioners — written for colleagues: practice, assessment, service design.
At School and For Practitioners are the two we most want to fill. If you work in either, you are pushing at an open door.
The shape of it
- Length: most published pieces run 900–1,600 words. A tight 700 beats a padded 2,000.
- Structure: a short opening that says what the piece is for, then subheadings a reader can skim. Start a line with
##to mark a subheading. - Evidence: pick the honest label. If you choose strong, moderate, early or mixed, give us the sources — we read them.
- Children: if you describe a real child, you need the parent’s consent and identifying details taken out. Your own child counts.
- Interests: tell us if you sell, run or are funded by anything you mention. We will usually still publish, with it stated.
Please read the Editorial Guidelines before you write. The section on what we will not publish is short, and it is the reason pieces get turned down.
What happens next
An editor reads everything. Anything giving health, developmental or therapy guidance is also read by a qualified occupational therapist or relevant clinician. We come back to you within fifteen working days, whether or not we can publish — and if we want changes, we will say what they are rather than quietly rewriting you.
Published pieces carry your name, your role and a short bio. Practitioners can have their registration or council number shown. You keep the copyright and can republish elsewhere afterwards; we ask for a link back. We do not currently pay for contributions.
Looking for a subject?
Our editorial calendar lists what is scheduled and what is still open, with the audience and the question each piece needs to answer. Claim a slot, or pitch against it.
Send us your piece
Paste the draft straight into the form. Nothing here needs an account, and nothing you enter is published without an editor reading it first.
Prefer email, or have something longer than the form takes? Write to team@ableys.in with “Contribution” in the subject line and the same information: who you are, which section, and how you know what you know.