Editing Texts About, or For, Neurodivergent Kids and their Families
More writers than ever identify as neurodivergent (ND), and more writing than ever is about or for neurodivergent children and their families. The recent prominence of these texts is helping to build awareness of neurological differences in mainstream culture that is long overdue. Being ND means having a neurological difference like autism, ADHD, anxiety, dyslexia, or a combination of these diagnoses, as well as others. If you are asked to edit a book or piece about neurodivergence, you will be responsible for helping writers represent ND experiences as faithfully as possible to an audience with varying levels of knowledge and understanding. As an editor, you might wonder how you should approach this work, especially if you or your family are not neurodivergent (that you are aware of). Should you edit this work at all?
No Child Grows Up Wanting to Be an Editor?
Back in June, our volunteer coordinator, Ivonne B. Ward, emailed the Guild’s discussion list with a link that resonated with her: a blog post by John McIntyre titled “The accidental editor.” The main point of the post was summed up with the sentence "No child grows up wanting to be an editor.” Ivonne agreed, as far as her own unpredictable career path went, and asked the discussion list, “Did you always know you wanted to edit/be an editor?”
Since this conversation was extremely popular, and a number of the responses compelling, we thought we would reprint a few highlights here on the blog (with the permissions of their authors, of course) and share a couple of additional thoughts on the subject.
The Neurodivergent Editor: Finding Self-Compassion with Irene Doukas Behrman
Being neurodivergent brings a unique challenge to editors. While there’s no “right” way to be neurodivergent, some prefer remote or freelance jobs where there can be fewer distractions and they can control certain factors, like noise or light levels. But remote and freelance work can also be overwhelming to those struggling to keep up in a neurotypical workforce. With the pandemic bringing forth more remote jobs than ever before, and society shifting its understanding of how the brain works—leading to more people being diagnosed, especially among women—I have been increasingly interested in learning about what it means to be neurodivergent, especially as a freelancer.
So I was excited to be able to talk to Irene Doukas Behrman, an editor at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, over email about her experiences being neurodivergent and working remotely.
What is a StetPet? Your Animal Editorial Assistant Questions Answered
Every Wednesday on the Northwest Editors Guild’s social media pages, you’ll find a dog with a goofy grin or a cat conveniently sitting on a keyboard. They aren’t editors, per se, but they are the trusty animal “assistants” to editors from all over the world. Some remind their editors to take a break while others physically impede any actual work getting done by sitting in strategic locations.
They are our StetPets, and we’ve been featuring them consistently since the summer of 2017 on the Guild’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. Virtual fame and ear scratches from the greater editorial community are included.
The #StetPet hashtag has many editor and writer fans, but we often get questions from people who just discovered StetPets. Here are some of the most common StetPet queries answered for you and your animal assistants.
Editing While Parenting
Many of us have found ourselves busier than usual over the last couple of years, and the situation for parents has been even busier. Covid-19 brought with it concerns about childcare, lockdown, safety, and remote schooling, as well as changes to the way many of us do our regular jobs. The Northwest Editors Guild Blog Team recently had a chance to chat over Google Docs with five busy editors who are also parents, to find out how they’re making it all fit together.
Taking the Sting Out of Editing with Ariel Anderson of ‘Edit Your Darlings’
As a new-ish editor, I spend a lot of time researching and learning about editing, whether that’s through reading books, watching videos about it on YouTube, or listening to podcasts. Unfortunately, finding the latter can be a little tricky, since “editing podcast” or “podcasts about editing” or “show me an editing podcast, damn it” all yield results about how to edit your podcast. While I’ve learned it helps to be more specific (searching “podcasts about copyediting,” for example), to emerging editors who haven’t quite found their niche yet, it can be a little daunting when you don’t know where to start.
So I was delighted to learn that Seattle Guild member Ariel Anderson has her own podcast, titled Edit Your Darlings, where she covers a broad range of editing subjects through her interviews.
The Ergonomic Challenges of Armrests for Short People
Office chair and desk ergonomics is a well-established subject with a wealth of information freely available on the Internet. Chair height, lumbar support, and monitor height are all familiar topics for most people who spend the majority of their workday at a desk. But I want to move the spotlight over to a particular topic in chair ergonomics that isn’t discussed as much, but has huge ramifications for short people like me (under 5’4” for female-assigned bodies or 5’6” for male-assigned bodies): armrest height.
Editing Certificate Programs — Are They Worthwhile?
Back in November of 2020, the blog committee surveyed Guild members to learn more about their opinions of editing certificate programs. We had a general sense, before we started, that a fair portion of Guild members had completed an editing certificate, but what we really wanted to know was: How worthwhile did editors wind up finding those programs after they’d completed them?
Covid-19 Changes for Editors
Almost all of us have experienced some changes in the work we do and the way we do it thanks to Covid-19. We wanted to know how those changes are impacting our members, so the Guild’s blog team recently reached out to the membership via email for stories of how the pandemic was affecting their work. We received an interesting spread of responses!
Resources for Troubling Times: What Editors Need to Know During the COVID-19 Pandemic
If you find yourself unsettled these days, you aren’t alone. Though editors often work from home, many of us are new to being 100% remote. The struggles that come from working at home are amplified with isolation and loss of routine due to stay-at-home orders, making focus and motivation difficult throughout the day.