Nationality United States Subject Asperger syndrome | Children 3 | |
 | ||
Born Jennifer Lynn Cook October 24, 1975 (age 41)Glen Ridge, NJ ( 1975-10-24 ) Books Asperkids: An Insider’s, The Asperkid's (Secret) B, The Asperkid's Launch P, Sisterhood of the Spectrum, The Asperkid's Game Pla | ||
Jennifer cook o toole accepts grasp dsm medal
Jennifer Cook O'Toole (born October 24, 1975) is an American author and speaker. She is known for her Asperkids series of books and Speaking Geek multimedia series, aimed at educating people from the perspective of someone with Asperger syndrome. O'Toole was diagnosed with Asperger's in 2011, just after her children received similar diagnoses. O'Toole is a featured contributor to Dr. Tony Atwood's Top Aspie Mentors: Been There, Done That, Autism & Learning Differences, and wrote the foreword to Easy to Love, Hard to Live With. She is a columnist/expert panelist for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls at the Party, Autism Asperger’s Digest, Zoom Autism Magazine, AuKids Magazine, “Special” Magazine, and the Journal for the North American Montessori Teachers' Association, and is a frequent commentator on National Public Radio's WFAE Charlotte Talks and NBC's Charlotte Today.
Contents
Background
Jennifer Lynn Cook was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and grew up in West Caldwell, New Jersey, the only child of Joseph and Jane Cook. Her father was an international commercial litigator (d. 2007). Her mother served as the only woman on their town council for 12 years.
O'Toole began dance at age two, continuing through college. At seven, she became a member of Mensa. O'Toole attended Brown University, where she majored in American Civilization, graduating with honors in 1997. She was hired as a counselor in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in Charlotte, NC. In this capacity, she trained officers, led student-focused presentations in colleges and high schools, and served as a victim advocate. In 1999, O'Toole began Master's work at the Graduate School of Social Work at Columbia University in New York City. After Columbia, she enrolled at the Graduate School of Education at Queens University of Charlotte, while teaching language arts at both the middle school and high school levels. In her first term, she garnered a student-initiated nomination for Disney's American Teacher of the Year Award. She and her family live near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Awards and honors
