Jennifer Cook O'Toole

Jennifer Cook (O'Toole)
A woman with long, red hair stands in a black cocktail dress facing the camera. Behind her is a red-carpet background for the Ed Asner Family Center.
Jennifer Cook at Ed Asner Center
BornJennifer Lynn Cook
(1975-10-24) October 24, 1975 (age 48)
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Occupation
  • Author
  • speaker
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
SubjectAutism
Notable works
  • Asperkids book series
  • Autism in Heels

Jennifer Cook (formerly O'Toole) (born October 24, 1975) is an American author and speaker.[1] She is known for her six Asperkids books, which have been translated into six languages and include the winner of the Autism Society of America's Book of the Year Award. Her memoir Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum[2] is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, a "Best Book" title winner by Publishers Weekly, and named a "Best Memoir" and one of both the "Best Autism Books of All Time" and "Best-Selling Autism Books of All Time" by BookAuthority.[3] She is the on-camera autism expert in Netflix's series Love on the Spectrum.

Cook was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2011; all three of her children have also been diagnosed with the condition.[4] In 2019, she became the inaugural Senior Directorial Consultant for Jefferson University Hospitals Jefferson Health Center for Autism and Neurodiversity in Philadelphia,[5] and was selected to address the United States' National Institutes of Health Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee regarding the unique issues surrounding women, girls, and autism.[6] Cook advised the President's Council on Disabilities and President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition at the White House in 2015, and, as an Advisor to the Sesame Workshop, has a voice in the development of Julia, the first autistic character on Sesame Street[7] and their "See the Amazing in Every Child" initiative.

She is a featured contributor in Dr. Tony Atwood's Top Aspie Mentors: Been There, Done That and Autism & Learning Differences,[8] and wrote the forewords to Dragonfly: A Daughter's Emergence from Autism: A Practical Guide for Parents and Easy to Love, Hard to Live With.[9] Cook sits on the Autism Society of America's Council of Autistic Advisors, is a columnist/expert panelist for Amy Poehler's Smart Girls,[10][11] Autism Asperger's Digest,[12] Zoom Autism Magazine,[13] AuKids Magazine,[14] Special Magazine, and the Journal for the North American Montessori Teachers' Association NAMTA, and is a commentator on National Public Radio's WHYY[5] and WFAE[1] as well as Fox's WTXF-TV[15] and NBC's Charlotte Today.[16]

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  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WHYY/NPR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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