April 2026: This month at Inkandescent Kids magazine — we celebrate Autism Awareness + Acceptance Month

A Note from Ellen Smith, editor, Inkandescent Kids magazine

Dear Readers,

I am thrilled to join you as the editor of Inkandescent Kids magazine! Here at Inkandescent Kids, we are all about empowering young people. In our magazine, kids will learn to “think like a journalist” and have opportunities to share their ideas with the world.

I am grateful to begin this position in April, also known as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. I began my career as a special education teacher and often worked with kids on the autism spectrum. That was where I learned about writing social stories.

Social stories were first introduced by Carol Gray in 1990. Carol was a special education teacher, too. Carol noticed that writing stories for her students on the spectrum helped them understand social information. Since then, social stories have become an internationally recognized tool used in classrooms and across the community.

You may have seen social stories before. Some places have a social story on their website so that people with autism know what to expect when they visit. KultureCity is an app that shares social stories so that people with autism can see important information and prepare for their visit. Here is an example of KultureCity’s social story for the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Social stories can also help people with autism prepare for an abstract concept or experience with concrete support. For example, visiting the local library for storytime is different than visiting the library to check out a book. The Richmond Public Library has this social story by Tori Nunnally on their website to help people with autism understand all these possibilities.

Over the years, I have written dozens of social stories for my students, family, and friends. However, my very favorite social stories were those written by my students for their friends! One little girl wrote and illustrated a social story about losing a tooth. An older teen wrote and photographed a detailed social story about ordering a sandwich at a local restaurant. Both of them were inspired to write their stories because they had a friend who did not know how they would handle that experience. Watching these kids create and share their social stories was an incredible thing to witness! Both the kid authors and their readers were empowered by the exchange. They created connection through their stories.

In honor of Autism Awareness and Acceptance month, I want to share this strategy with our kid reporters! This month, we will host the first Inkandescent Kids Writing Challenge: How to Write a Social Story. You’ll find a guide for writing your own social story, free planning handouts, and an opportunity to have your social story published on our website!

Here’s to our Inkandescent Kids!

Ellen Smith

Editor, Inkandescent Kids Magazine

Click here to access the Inkandescent Kids Writing Challenge for April 17-24, 2026: How to Write a Social Story!