Two years ago, I decided to try to start a culture and news site for the neurodiversity community. I also decided that if I was going to do it at all, I was going to do it right. My graduate degree is in writing. My sympathies lie squarely with writers. I wanted to make certain that people who wrote or made art for me would be paid for their work. So I had to wait.
Last summer, I received a generous award from the HSC Foundation and the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation. The web site has been undergoing a professional redesign -- I wanted NOS Magazine to look beautiful, to present the work of my fellow mad, neurodivergent, autistic, developmentally and intellectually disabled contributors the way they deserved to be. Now, I can make the NOS Magazine I'd dreamed of a reality.
Last September, I started thinking about an online magazine for the neurodiversity community, and what that would look like. I wanted a platform that would amplify our voices so that we could be better heard, in whatever language or communication suited us best. Together, our voices could be louder, bigger and brighter. I wanted to make a platform where the fact that we can and do speak for ourselves could not be ignored. This was the seed that would eventually grow into
NOS Magazine.
There were setbacks. I had a bout with cervical cancer (and won), but it slowed the project considerably. I kept going. I read everything I could about how to make crowdfunding work. I examined similar projects. Christine Paluch helped me build a web site while I refreshed my WordPress skills. Morénike Onaiwu and Mariyama Scott offered their services as editors. Ari Ne'eman introduced me to many of the …
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