SUMMARY:
• 37 years on and off experience working with individuals with disabilities
• 34 years of experience as a utility volunteer mostly, for the churches that I have attended
• 34 years on and off experience in various forms of childcare
• 16 years on and off experience in various forms of cross-cultural assistance
• 4 years of experience in Autism advocacy and self-advocacy
GOALS:
• To work as part of a teaching team, subordinate to certified teacher, therapist, etc., to help children with special needs to live as productive of lives as they possibly can
• To provide the unique personal insights that Adult Autistic advocates/self-advocates have to offer while helping
• To become gainfully employed, and off public assistance, for the first time since May 2009
EDUCATION:
• Completion Certificate in Carpentry, Phoenix Job Corps, Phoenix, Arizona (1989)
• High School Diploma, Mesa High School, Mesa, Arizona (1988)
Activities and Achievements:
Vice-President, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, February-April, 1988.
Bowling League, First Place Team (1987)
SKILLS AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:
10/12-9/13: Volunteer Library Assistant, ELL Assistant and PTO Member at Mountain View School, Phoenix, Arizona
9/09- present: After receiving my Autism diagnosis at the age of 40, I was mentored as an Autistic Self-Advocate by the co-organizers of the adult Autistic/Asperger’s support group at which I learned about Autism by Sue Golubock, M.Ed., OTR/L (Retired Occupational Therapist and Autistic) and Tara Marshall, BA, SLPA (Speech Language Pathology Assistant and Autistic). Dr. Bryan K. Woodruff, MD (Neurologist who has a personal interest in the Autistic community) instructs me on all things neurological.
7/93-9/96: Various lead and assistant teacher positions with Word of Grace Church’s Early Childhood department, which required completion of a seven week, fourteen hour, teacher training course taught by Lisa Ratan. This included study of basic childhood development concepts.
7/90-3/91: Teacher’s Assistant in a 4-K class at Word of Grace Church, Mesa.
2/87-5/88: Volunteered one hour per school day at Parkway Elementary School, the school that all special needs students attending Mesa Public Schools were bussed to prior to the passage of Article IX.
Childhood: Grew up with a younger sister, Kelly, with Downs syndrome.
PERFORMING ARTS:
• Wrote scripts for, and performed, puppet shows for:
2 churches in Mexico during a mission trip with Pure Heart Christian Fellowship (1997)
2 Community outreaches for the College and Career group of Word of Grace (1994)
Monthly shows for Word of Grace Church, Mesa, Arizona (1993-1996)
• Directed a troop of children puppeteers (1993-1994)
• Wrote and directed
A Christmas play that was performed by the children’s ministry of First Arabic Baptist Church, Phoenix, Arizona (2006)
A drama/comedy skit at a 12 step retreat (1992)
OTHER WRITINGS:
• “Putting the Autism Puzzle Pieces Together”
First Edition (Self-published as public domain on the internet, April 2013)
Second Edition (Projected to be self-published as public domain on the internet, October 2013)
• 6 page critique of the Center for Disease Control’s 2012 report on the 2008 rate of Autism
• “The Abrahamic Wars” (Unpublished due to copyright issues)
• “The Handbook of Christian Discipleship Recover” (Unpublished due to copyright issues)
• Commentaries on a variety of political, religious and sociological topics.
• “Real Life Allegories” (Short stories about lessons that I learned through various real life experiences.
OTHER CHURCH RELATED VOLUNTEERISM:
Child care in correlation with various adult ministries, Vacation Bible School, van driver, donations pick-up and delivery, ESL Assistant Teacher, refugee assistance, etc.
AUTISM AMBASSADORS CORPS:
Mission: The Autism Ambassadors Corps is a coalition of autistics and neurotypicals who seek to bring the entire autism community together in constructive dialog in order that all side can obtain mutual understanding and admiration for each other.
4/13: Invited by the Mountain View School to do a 30 minute presentation at a special event that is still to be scheduled.
4/13: Presented a 6 hour “Putting the Autism Puzzle Pieces Together” seminar in addition to annual conference
7/12: Presented on ministering to Disabilities, with an emphasis on Autism, at Greenway Bible Church’s “Youth Vacation Bible School”
4/12: Presented “Autism in the Church” seminar in addition to annual conference
4/11: Hosted the first of what are now annual Autism conferences at Covenant of Grace
1/11: Launched Autistic Mentoring Group at Sam Bartlow’s apartment in Mesa
1/11: Launched Autism Mutual Support Group at Covenant of Grace Christian Fellowship
10/10: AAC received a formal pledge of support from Covenant of Grace
5/10: There was a dispute between myself and the majority of Autistic Self-Advocates who believe that the only solution to our grievances was political activism. Everyone that spoke up, except for myself, rejected the concept of constructive dialog between Autistics and teachers as a waste of time because they would never listen to us.
aacphoenix.com 