Editorial Guidelines

Have an article idea?

Please send article submissions to: iravanessa1@gmail.com

HELEN seeks to spread its outreach far beyond the IDD community to serve the larger audience of people touched by special needs and seeks to improve the quality of their healthcare throughout their health lifespan. From the fetus to the fragile child in the NICU born to new parent-advocates to the child or young adult with learning disabilities.  From the individual whose health has been compromised by physical or mental trauma to the senior citizen struggling with dementia and other ravages of aging.

MEET HELEN JOURNAL’S NEWEST EDITORS

Conscience of the Field Editor

David A. Ervin, BSc, MA, FAAIDD

David Ervin is CEO of Makom, a community provider organization supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Maryland and Virginia. With more than 36 years in the field, David has extensive professional experience working in and/or consulting to organizations and governments in the US and around the world. He is a published author with more than 40 peer-reviewed and other journal articles and book chapters, and more, and he speaks internationally on health policy, health advocacy, and healthcare systems for people with IDD. He also consults extensively on health systems development, organization development and transformation, and other areas of expertise.  David’s research interests include health status and health outcomes experienced by people with IDD, the impact of COVID-19 on people with IDD, cultural relevance in healthcare delivery to people with IDD, and the impact of integrating multiple systems of care on health outcomes and quality of life. David is a consulting editor for three scientific/professional journals, and serves on a number of local, regional and national policy and practice committees, including the American Academy on Developmental Medicine and Dentistry Policy & Advocacy Committee and The Arc of the US Policy and Positions Committee. David is Vice President of the Board of Directors for The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), and he is Guest Teaching Faculty for the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities.  

 

‘Annie’s Page’ Editor

Craig Escudé, MD, FAAFP, FAADM

Craig Escudé is a board-certified Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Developmental Medicine, and President of IntellectAbility. He has more than 20 years of clinical experience providing medical care for people with IDD and complex medical and mental health conditions. He is the author of “Clinical Pearls in IDD Healthcare” and developer of the “Curriculum in IDD Healthcare,” an eLearning course used to train clinicians on the fundamentals of healthcare for people with IDD, and the host of the IDD Health Matters Podcast.

ANNIE’S PAGE NOMINATION FORM

 

Co-Editor of Global Health

Seth Keller, MD

Dr. Seth M. Keller is a board-certified neurologist in private practice with Neurology Associates of South Jersey. He specializes in the evaluation and care of adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) with neurologic complications. Dr. Keller is on the Executive Board of the Arc of Burlington County as well as on the board for The Arc of New Jersey Mainstreaming Medical Care Board.  Dr. Keller is the Past President of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD). He is the co-president of the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices (NTG). He is also the founder and past chair of the Adult IDD Section with the American Academy of Neurology.  Dr. Keller is actively involved in national and international I/DD health education as a speaker and webinar and workshop participant. He is a co- author on a number of articles and book chapters relating to aging and dementia in those with IDD. Raised in Philadelphia, PA, Dr. Keller received his bachelor’s degree from Temple University, earned his medical degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine in 1989, and completed his neurology internship and residency at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He also served as a neurologist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan.

 

Co-Editor of Global Health

Vincent Siasoco, MD, MBA

Vincent Siasoco, MD, MBA is a Family Medicine physician. He has dedicated his career to caring for those with developmental disabilities. He's an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He is the Director of Primary Care at the Rose F. Kennedy Center, Montefiore Medical Center. He's the Medical Director at ADAPT Community Network. He's a Clinical Director at Special Olympics, Chair of the Special Olympics New York Health Advisory Council, and Member of the Special Olympics Global Medical Advisory Committee. He's a Board Member at the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry and Positive Exposure. He's the Co-Chair of the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State (CPA of NYS) Medical Director’s Council and Co-Chair of their annual CPA of NYS MD Council Clinical Conference.

 

Editor for Public Policy & the Law

Vanessa Rastović, JD

Vanessa Rastović is an accomplished attorney, math enthusiast, and person who also experiences disabilities while building a career marked by a deep commitment to social justice and advocacy for marginalized communities and universal inclusion. As a National Science Foundation awardee and Law Review member, Rastović spearheaded public relations efforts for a non-profit focused on eradicating abuse, while her tenure at Legal Aid saw her providing crucial legal support to refugees, older adults, and people with disabilities, reflecting her unwavering dedication to these groups.  Rastović is an active member of the American Bar Association, including its Health and Administrative Law sections and the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. Additionally, she serves on the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry’s Presidents’ Workgroup and is appointed to the City-County Task Force on Disabilities.

 

Editor on Aging & Disabilities

Kathleen M. Bishop, Ph.D

Kathleen M. Bishop, Ph.D. has 40-plus years of experience in the IDD field and 30 as a gerontologist with a specialty in aging with IDD. She has a BS from SUNY at Geneseo, MS in Special Education, and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in aging with disabilities. Dr. Bishop is a consultant for organizations in the aging and IDD networks and teaches online for Utica University. She retired from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the NYS OPWDD. Dr. Bishop is the National Task Group on ID and Dementia Care’s Education and Training Coordinator. She is a Lead Trainer for the 2-day NTG Dementia Capable Care for Adults with ID and the Third Day Train-the-Trainer to create NTG Affiliated Regional Trainers (NTG ARTs) with over 4000 attendees for the 2-day and 900+ NTG eligible ARTs. She mentors organizations and clinicians in health care advocacy for quality dementia capable care including sensory and environmental dementia capable design.  In her personal life, Dr. Bishop, under the pen name of Mary Kathleen McKenna, is author of the Women with Wisdom Series, 2 of the books in the series published in 2023 and the first in the Pets of Wisdom Series published in July 2024.

 

Editor for Family Affairs

Barbara Vartanian DePonte

Barbara Vartanian DePonte is the Director of Oral Health Advocacy and Policy Initiatives at the NYU College of Dentistry. The NYU College of Dentistry’s Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities (OHCPD) addresses a major public health challenge by providing comprehensive, compassionate dental care for people with a full range of disabilities who experience significant barriers to accessing care. Prior to her role at NYU, she held the role of Executive Director with Project Accessible Oral Health. She was instrumental in the development of a training program for dental professionals that focuses on improving the access and overall care for individuals with special needs. Her most important role is mother to her son, Sam, with autism.  She understands firsthand the barriers he faces and will continue to face throughout his life.  Once Sam was diagnosed, she knew she needed to do something more, to be his voice, his advocate, and his champion.

 

For Contributing Writers

Helen: The Journal of Human Exceptionality publishes articles on a broad variety of social, psychological, legal, political, technological, financial, and educational concerns faced by individuals with disabilities and special healthcare needs and those who care for them. These articles appear in the monthly digital magazine, on www.helenjournal.org,, in other media, and in books and monographs.

For this reason, all materials submitted are with the understanding that HELEN will have full rights to reproduce in any media. Other agreements regarding copyrights, reprinting or linking of contents to other information modalities require formal and prior approval by the Editor in Chief or his/her agents.

Readership

Our primary audiences are individuals with disabilities (and self-advocates), their caregivers, and professionals (healthcare, educational, governmental) who support them.

Who writes for HELEN?

A majority of the material appearing in our pages is contributed by authors who are:

  • Individuals with disabilities

  • Caregivers or family members of individuals with disabilities

  • Healthcare professionals, educators, and other providers

HELEN reaches out to the professional audience in an effort to better prepare them to work with individuals with disabilities. For this reason, we are encouraging professional and advocacy organizations to provide material on a regular basis. Personal anecdotes, quotes or sidebars are encouraged.

Tone

As an overall objective, we strive to maintain respect and consideration for both the professional and the caregiver who want to collaborate in understanding and better treating the individual’s disability. Therefore, our tone is “how to work together.”

As writers, we examine ALL sides of controversial issues. Our tone is generally upbeat, but we also recognize that our audience is no stranger to difficulties and realities. HELEN advises and disseminates information.

We try as much as possible to avoid saying “You must” or “You should.” Rather, we suggest, “A good way of doing this is” or “You can.”

The approach our publication takes is:

1. Parents and/or caregivers are the best experts on their children. HELEN welcomes editorial contributions from them

2. HELEN offers practical information and advice that readers can use to help improve quality of life issues of their loved one with a disability.

3. HELEN is a valuable resource for healthcare, educational, governmental professionals.

4. HELEN welcomes contributions from health professionals. These submissions will be reviewed by our Editor in Chief, Senior Managing Editor and Advisory Board. HELEN does not present itself as a peer-review publication, rather, one of information dissemination and exchange.

Style

We try to use language familiar to the reader who has a high-school diploma as opposed to professional, medical or business journals (e.g., JAMA , New England Journal of Medicine). Professional journal style with reference to studies and imbedded footnotes is generally not required. Therefore, professional jargon and specialized terminology is discouraged. If there is a term parents will be coming across on a regular basis in an article (such as “intervention,” “aspirate,” “OBRA Trust”), it needs to be “translated” into everyday or ordinary terms at the time of the word’s first use in the article. See our style guide for additional information on HELEN’s particular style.

Sensitivity

HELEN Journal recognizes the growing use of “identity-first” language. It is the policy of HELEN, to the extent possible, to ask the individual which language style they prefer and honor that preference.

Article Development

After an article idea has been accepted by HELEN, its development will encompass the following:

  • HELEN would prefer that an article be summarized within the first two paragraphs. It must provide a summation of the information or point of view in the lead sentences. This will enable the reader to quickly decide if the content is pertinent to his or her interests. We have found this also helps focus the writer and brings a tighter edge to the writing.

  • Word Count: For human interest and other feature articles, 750-800 words.  For healthcare articles, 1,200 and up, with a maximum of 2,000 words (length may also vary, at the discretion of the editors).

  • Graphs, charts, photos, and illustrations add to the value of any submission.

  • Technical Hints. Disorders, diseases, and disabilities are used in lower case, unless they are “named after” someone. As an example, we capitalize Down syndrome (“syndrome” is always lower-case) because Dr. Down is the person who identified it. We use “multiple sclerosis” in the lower case because it defines a condition.

  • If a condition is commonly referred with an acronym (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, rendered as ASD) be sure to identify what the acronym stands for with initial use in the article. Henceforth, the acronym is sufficient.

  • Please be sure to spell-check your article before sending it to us! Fact checking is also very important. Be sure to check all names, dates, and addresses. For example, Kodak is really referred to as Eastman Kodak. Make sure any website links listed in the article are valid and working. Please be as thorough as possible; the more accurate the information, the more professional the article will be.

  • Remember to include author “bio” information (75 words or less per author) which will be included in total word count. This information consists of the name and pertinent background of the author.

  • HELEN utilizes the Chicago Manual of Style.

  • Following acceptance, please email articles as Word documents, using single spaced, 12 pt, Times New Roman. Please place only one space between sentences and denote new paragraphs with a hard return rather than an indent between paragraphs.

  • Photos: Pictures and illustrations should be clearly labeled with the name(s) of the person/ people, the activity, or the product shown. This is so the pictures and/or illustrations can be easily captioned and fit into the story. Place names in order of appearance in pictures. Include a release form for each individual in the photo(s). A sample release form for both the story and photos will be provided by the HELEN editorial staff after the article is accepted for publication. Photos can be sent as hard copies or, preferably, as digital files, which should be jpgs or tiffs at least 300 dpi and at least 1.5 x 2 inches. Please do not write directly on the back of hard copy photographs. Include on the label the name and address of the person who is sending the pictures and the title of the article for which they are intended. Slides and transparencies should be numbered and described on a separate sheet of paper.

  • Please note: ART WILL NOT BE RETURNED. A picture should be accompanied by written permission to publish. An address and phone number should also be supplied. We need the permission of everyone in a photo(s)!

  • Sources: Include with your article a list of sources you contacted, their telephone numbers, and copies of any materials you used (e.g., an article from another magazine, a photocopy of a technical or medical definition).

Compensation

HELEN does not compensate for editorial contributions, however, contributors will benefit from wide exposure to key opinion leaders in the disability field.  Our editorial staff and Editorial Advisory Board members have had a long-standing reputation for producing quality publications and articles.