Jennifer O’Toole is the winner of the Autism Society of America’s 2014 Outstanding Literary Work of the Year, the 2012 Temple Grandin Award, a recipient of GRASP’s 2012 Distinguished Spectrumite Medal, 2012 AuKids Speaker of the Year, and a nominee for Godiva’s Woman of the Year. TV actress/Activist Holly Robinson Peete listed Jennifer among her “Autism Parent Superstars,” and award-winning filmmaker Amy Serrano is featuring her in two upcoming independent features.
At the WHITE HOUSE! WHAT?!
Most recently, she’s been invited to speak to the President’s Council on Fitness at the White House Summit on Americans with Disabilities, presented for Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex, and was added to the “Who’s Who” list of International Aspie Mentors — along with Temple Grandin and Stephen Shore – to contribute to Dr. Tony Attwood’s “Been There. Done That. Try This.” anthology.
O’Toole was diagnosed as an Aspie in adulthood, is the mother of three Asperkids, the wife of an Aspie, an award-winning educator and author of the internationally- celebrated “Asperkids” book series (ALL are Amazon bestsellers).
She now keynotes internationally, including for the Autism Society of America’s National Conference, the USAAA World Conference, North American Montessori Teachers’ Association, The National Inclusion Project, the UK’s National Autistic Society, Ireland’s SHINE, Denmark’s Sikon, and at mega conferences alongside Drs. Grandin and Attwood.
Jennifer is one of North Carolina’s “50 Most Influential Women,” a mentor for Yale’s Child Study Center where her books serve as foundational texts, and a member of The Global Montessori Alliance. Her Facebook Fan Page and Asperkids blog have both been chosen by Disney/Babble to the Top 30 Autism Sites in the World.
O’Toole is a featured columnist for Autism Asperger’s Digest and The Australian Autism Asperger’s Network, contributing as well to Autism Spectrum Quarterly, “Special” Magazine and many more. She has been featured by the BBC World Service, NBC, National Public Radio, ZOOM Magazine, Ireland Radio 1, Autism News Digest’s “Most Amazing Autistic Women,” and “The Guardian,” the United Kingdom’s most widely- circulated newspaper.
O’Toole graduated with honors from Brown University and has since studied at the Graduate School of Social Work at Columbia University and Graduate School of Education at Queens University. Subsequent initiatives with young people garnered her an invitation to serve on North Carolina’s Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence, and a nomination for Disney’s American Teacher of the Year Award in her first year of teaching.
In response to the overwhelming popularity of her message, she founded Asperkids, LLC, a multimedia social re-education company that prides itself on clever creativity, useful strategies and relentless positivity.
