My Story

I have been involved with autism and special needs since I was 8 years old. I was in 2nd grade when I started skipping my recesses to spend time with children in self-contained classrooms. When I was in 4th grade, I began volunteering for Ashland Special Needs Ministry, a non-profit organization in Ashland, Ohio. Since then, I have volunteered for their respite program and served as a one-on-one buddy or floater.

When I was in high school, I was hired as the ministry’s intern, and I worked for them for two years, first as a general intern, and then more specifically as an autism specialist. I have had countless meetings with parents, sat in on IEP and 504 meetings in four Ohio districts, aided the running of the ministry’s respite program, wrote and published blogs about autism, and, earlier this year, released the first edition of my book, Autism by an Autistic. Alongside my general work with autism, I have a love for speaking. I have traveled and trained volunteers from various organizations to work with participants with autism and more recently I have been hired to teach seminars throughout Ohio at churches, community meetings, schools, and universities.

All of my work stems from my personal experiences with autism. I understand firsthand how challenging autism can be. Since I can talk and write, it is my mission to verbalize my experiences living with autism to help parents understand “invisible” aspects or feelings of autism, such as what it feels like to stim, experience a change, or have a meltdown.