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Current Call for Submissions

Autistic Aesthetics (5.2)
Deadline: March 15, 2024

Over the past four years, Ought has published a wide range of genres, from traditional academic research to experimental multimodal compositions. Each and every piece expresses some element of autistic culture(s). And at the core of all cultural communities is a specific sense of aesthetics.

Miriam Webster’s Dictionary defines aesthetics as a noun that conveys a “particular theory or conception of beauty or art: a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses.” In issue 5.2, we would like to explore, challenge, and recognize the core, divergent aesthetics of autistic Submissions might address some or all of the following questions:

• What is a divergent aesthetic? Why might the notion of autistic aesthetics be problematic?
• How might autistic perspectives, sensory experiences, and lives express divergent notions of beauty? How might divergent forms of autistic communication and expression convey beauty?
• Does autistic culture find beauty in ideals commonly dismissed by normative cultures?
• How might autistic experiences of beauty expand upon traditional notions of beauty?
• How might Universal Design strengthen notions of beauty?

To be clear, we do not aim to categorically define or even argue for a singular notion of autistic beauty. Rather, we hope to complicate and broaden notions of beauty, which we feel may strengthen the core of what constitutes autistic cultures. We hope to receive a wide range of submissions from a variety of backgrounds and in varying genres.

Neurodivergent Works in Neurotypical Workspaces (6.1)
Deadline: September 15, 2024

As autistic culture slowly becomes more present in society, we worry that such “inclusion” mimics the problems of traditional inclusion education. Put another way–while Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals become more common in many places of work, autistic perspectives may be more present, but are they heard and valued? Does the normative work environment engage with divergent perspectives? This issue presents is an opportunity to think about how autistic culture is or is not active in work communities.

We would hope to hear about divergent experiences in the workplace. We consider a workplace to be any space in which one performs a task and receives compensation. These spaces may involve interactions with other people, specific physical location, daily online interactions, schools, or creative spaces. In thinking about autistic workspaces and experiences, please consider the following questions:

• How does neurotypicality dominate workspaces?
• What might neurodivergent work look like?
• How do DEI initiatives connect with autistic experiences?
• What strengths/weaknesses does the neurodivergent individual bring to the typical workplace?
• Is there a stereotypical atypical colleague? How is this problematic?
• What are the problems with traditional inclusion practices in schools?
• How do workplaces incorporate Universal Design for Learning?
• How are neurodivergent employees represented in cultural narratives such as film, television, and fiction?