What makes Beyond the Spectrum different to other creative writing groups?
April is Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month and over the past month we’ve been reflecting on what makes joining a Beyond the Spectrum group different to joining other writing groups, which we share here. At Beyond the Spectrum, we’re not just talking about this in April though: it’s all year round.
- Autistic on purpose: the Beyond the Spectrum programme is run by autistic staff at Writing East Midlands, and facilitated by autistic lead and shadow writers. Most of our researchers, contributors and evaluators are autistic too. BTS is not designed to be simply inclusive and welcoming to autistic people: it is autistic at every level. We do not require a diagnosis to join, and we have participants of different neurodivergent identities and diagnoses (the majority of our participants are also ADHDers) and those who are questioning and exploring their neurodivergence but yet to pin it down. But when you join our groups you know that an autistic approach is the default approach.
- No obligations about how you join: most of our writing groups run for a programme of 15 sessions, every other week. However, these are purposely designed that you do not have to commit to attending every session. Come when you can. We never need you to apologise if you can’t make it, even last minute. You can join with your camera on or off, microphone on or off, and you can write during the session or you can just sit and listen. If you want to share your work, you can read it, you can post it in the chat, or ask one of the facilitators to read it. But you don’t have to share. If you are on camera, you can look where you want, sit however you’re comfortable, speak how you want, and fidget as much as you like. At BTS sessions, you can come as you are and know the others in the group will understand.
- Write how you want to: Our BTS sessions are all led by professional writers with considerable expertise. Poets, novelists, academics, theatre-makers and teachers. If you want support with your craft, they can help. But the essence of BTS is that there’s no right way to be writer. No perfect writerly routine, no defined way to respond to writing prompts. If a prompt inspired by a poem leads you to write a comedy script, the introduction to a fantasy novel, or a piece of memoir, it’s all welcome. Want to experiment with form and imagery? You’ll be welcome. Our groups are not for critique, they’re for being playful with words and finding your voice. Whether you have experience, or you’ve never written before.
- Session plans and reminders sent in advance: We know from our own experience that it feels better joining something when you know what to expect. And how easy it is to forget the time and date when something is happening. Once you are in a group, we ask our facilitators to send their session plans to you in advance so you know what will happen in the workshop, and you’ll also receive reminders so you are certain when the workshop is happening. In addition, we always try to make sure there is clear information for all our events, so there is nothing ambiguous about how to get involved. We also know that people process things differently, so we’ll send summaries and materials after sessions so you can think about them afterwards.
- Autistic writing taken seriously: As part of BTS, we invite autistic professional writers to speak in workshops and masterclasses, and at our festival. We also provide places for you to see your work in print, in our magazine, and anthologies, which are widely shared. As well as investing in these opportunities, we make sure our community knows how to find a wider writing network: we will connect you to other Writing East Midlands events and writer development programmes, and we’ll share opportunities for submissions, publication, conferences and more. If you tell us about your successes – whatever success means to you – we’ll share them to inspire others, and spread the word about what you’re doing.
If you’d like get involved in Beyond the Spectrum for the 2026-27 writing groups, please do sign up to our waiting list!
