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.