NOTE: Complex Child is currently on hiatus during the pandemic and is not publishing articles. We have no paid staff, and all our writers are volunteers, many of whom are struggling during the pandemic. We hope to get back to publishing new articles when the situation calms down a bit.

Complex Child actively solicits articles related to any aspect of caring for a child with a disability or complex medical condition. While many articles are medical in nature, we also include personal stories, commentaries or editorials, and information about caregiving, education, and advocacy.

Complex Child’s mission is to provide medical information and other information related to children with complex medical issues in simple language. Articles are written by parents, guardians, grandparents, or other relatives for the benefit of other parents in similar situations. While we are fundamentally a parenting magazine, we recognize that the greatest experts are children and adults with disabilities or complex medical issues, and we also welcome articles from these perspectives. Each month, a new edition is published, and all articles are subsequently archived by topic for reference.

You do not need to have any experience as a writer to submit an article. All you need is life experience as a parent, guardian, or other family member of a child with complex medical needs, or the lived experience of a person with a disability or medical condition. All articles will be edited for grammar, spelling, and accuracy before publishing. Your article can be as short as 50 words, or as long as it needs to be. You may choose to write an article every month, or as your schedule permits.

Please see the submission guidelines below before submitting an article.  When you have an article you would like considered for publication, email it in Word or Text format to submit@complexchild.org

Deadlines:

Articles are due on the 20th of the month. For example, articles for April must be in by March 20th.

Author Types:

We are a parenting publication, and most of our articles are written by parents/guardians or other close relatives of children with disabilities or complex medical conditions. We also accept first-hand accounts written by children and young adults with disabilities or medical conditions. We do not accept articles written by health care providers or other experts unless they are also parents of a child with disabilities or medical conditions.

Personal Stories:

We are happy to include personal stories if they will help other families traveling down the same path.  When writing a personal story, please do not simply list out the events in your child’s life in a timeline (i.e., “My child was born on Feb. 25. On Feb. 26 he had surgery. Then, on March 24, he came home from the hospital.”).

Advertisements, Products, Businesses, and Websites:

We do not include any advertisements or product announcements.

If you run or are active in a non-profit, you may submit an article about the non-profit as long as it is written by a parent/guardian of a child with a disability or medical condition.

Article Types:

  1. Perspectives – these are either editorial-style position statements or blog-style reflections/stories. Approximately 500-1000 words.
  2. Topic Focus – each month we focus on a topic. These articles address the topic in a variety of ways and may include medical articles, personal stories, reflections, and other pieces, depending on the topic. Approximately 750-2000 words.
  3. Features – these articles address topics other than the monthly focus. Frequent topics include parenting, medical conditions, support, education, lifestyle, insurance, organization, disability, and advocacy. Approximately 750-2000 words.

Further Article Guidelines:

  1. Articles must be written by you, with no plagiarism, and properly annotated as necessary.
  2. Any images or diagrams must be your own creations, unless they are in the public domain.
  3. Articles should be submitted in Word or Text format. No PDFs.
  4. While you retain the rights to your article, you must agree to allow it to be distributed freely on the internet for educational use.
  5. All articles will be edited for content, accuracy, and grammar/spelling. You will be given the opportunity to approve the final version before it is published on Complex Child.
  6. Articles from health-care professionals will not be accepted unless the health-care professional is also a parent/guardian of a child with complex medical needs or a disability.
  7. Please write in a simple style minimizing medical jargon as much as possible.
  8. Complex Child always uses people-first language, unless an individual with a disability self-identifies otherwise (i.e. Deaf or Autistic). For more information on using appropriate language related to disability, see the Disability Language Style Guide.
  9. There is no payment for articles at this time. Complex Child is 100% run, edited, and written by volunteers. We have no paid staff and receive no advertising income of any kind.
  10. Complex Child reserves the right to refuse any article that does not meet these requirements, does not support the mission of Complex Child, or whose content is inaccurate.