Tell us the disability or chronic illness story you can't stop thinking about

Got a story that made you laugh, cringe, swear, rethink something, or wish the floor would swallow you whole?

We want to hear it.

URevolution is looking for raw, honest personal stories about disability, chronic illness and neurodivergent life: the conversations people avoid, the moments nobody prepares you for, and the stuff that rarely makes it into the neat little narratives we're usually given about disability.

We're especially interested in first-person stories from disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent people.

You don't need to be a professional writer. You do need a story worth telling and a voice that sounds like you.

A quick note about payment: We aren't currently able to pay contributors for personal stories. There is no fee to submit.

What kind of stories?

Think less “here is everything you need to know about my diagnosis” and more “you will not believe what happened.”

Maybe it's:

• the conversation you actually had, or the one you never managed to have
• the job interview where you had to decide whether to disclose
• dating, sex, relationships or the extraordinarily weird things people say about disabled bodies
• the doctor who didn't believe you
• the moment someone told you that you “don't look disabled”
• friendship, family, marriage, parenting or caregiving when nobody knows what to say
• a supposedly thoughtful gift that went horribly wrong
• work, bathrooms, travel, access, mobility aids, fatigue, pain or bureaucracy
• something hilarious, infuriating, awkward, tender, bleak or completely absurd that happened because disability or chronic illness was part of the equation
• the thing you wish people would actually ask you about

We want stories with a point of view. Make us laugh. Make us angry. Make us uncomfortable. Make us recognise something.

Please don't manufacture drama for us. Real life usually does a perfectly adequate job.

What can you submit?

We're open to:

• personal essays and first-person stories
• reported or reflective pieces grounded in lived experience
• creative nonfiction
• fiction where disability or chronic illness is genuinely central
• photo essays
• cartoons, comics and illustration
• animation
• video
• audio

For written pieces, we're usually looking for 500–2,500 words.

Have a great idea but haven't written the whole thing yet? That's fine. Pitch us the idea first. Tell us what happened, what the piece is really about and why you want to tell it.

Already have a finished draft? You can send that too.

Who can pitch?

You don't need a particular diagnosis, an official diagnosis or a certain kind of disability to have something worth saying.

Disability can be visible or invisible. Chronic illness can be physical or psychological. Neurodivergent experiences are welcome too.

Partners, family members and caregivers can also pitch us when their own experience is the heart of the story. We aren't looking for stories that speak over a disabled person or turn somebody else's disability into inspiration.

If you had the flu that one time, however, this probably isn't for you.

What we're not looking for

Please don't send us:

• poetry
• medical, clinical, pharmaceutical or nutritional advice
• advertising, PR or promotion dressed up as a personal story
• generic health content with no meaningful disability or chronic-illness angle
• discriminatory or hateful material
• work you didn't create or don't have permission to submit

We're interested in strong stories, not immaculate résumés. Your submission should be readable and reasonably polished, but don't reject yourself because you aren't a professional writer.

At the moment, we can only review submissions written in English.

A few practical things

If we want to move forward with your story, we'll ask for any additional information we need before publication.

That may include:

• a short third-person bio of up to 100 words
• a portrait or author photo
• links to your website or social accounts, if you'd like us to include them
• any necessary permissions for photographs, illustrations, audio or video

Using a pseudonym? That's completely fine. Enter your pseudonym as your name and tell us privately in the appropriate field that it's a pseudonym.

If we publish your work, we'll promote it through URevolution's website and relevant social channels.

Ready?

You don't need to make disability palatable, inspirational or tidy.

Tell us what actually happened.

Send us your story or pitch using the form below. 

 Want to know more about what we publish? Read our full contributor guidelines and see examples of URevolution stories.