TPP 205: Jennifer Cook on Asperkids, Girls on the Spectrum, and More
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
44 min
1 speaker
7 chapters
transcribed 13 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Who is Jennifer Cook and what sparked her journey into autism advocacy?
A basic concept of what is your picture profile of someone who's on the spectrum was largely assembled by Hans Asperger in pre-World War Two Vienna with school age boys. And me sitting in a minivan in a bra with a you know, a love of glitter, like what do I have in common with them?
Welcome to Tilt Parenting, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. My guest today is Autism Advocate, Speaker, and prolific author Jennifer Cook, formerly Jennifer Cook O'Toole. Since being identified as being on the autism spectrum in 2011, in conjunction with all three of her children, Jennifer has become a powerful voice in the world of autism advocacy, with a special focus on girls on the spectrum. If Jennifer's name sounds familiar to you, you most likely have one or more of her Aspur Kids books, which are highly empowering books that Jennifer wrote just for kids on the spectrum. Yeah. She's also the author of Sisterhood on the Spectrum and the memoir Autism and Heals The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum.
Jennifer's work has led to collaboration with the National Institutes of Health Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, the President's Council on Disabilities, the Autism Society of America, Amy Pohler's Smart Girls, and many, many media outlets. We cover so much ground during this conversation, everything from labels and diagnoses, to the limits of language and the power of reframes, to the unique challenges and reality for girls on the spectrum, and so much more. I'm really excited to share this one. I hope you enjoy it. And now here is my conversation with Jennifer. Hello, Jennifer. Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much, Debbie. I have to say, I love tilt parenting. Like I love the title, I love the concept. You know, I just think it's brilliant. So well done.
That means so much to me. And and also we were just talking before we recorded about the role that our kids can play in our work. And I will say that that name was very much approved by my child and yes, so thank you. That means a lot. So and again, as we were talking before, there's so many things that we could talk about. Um, your body of work is fascinating and there's so many things that are relevant for my community. And I did want to start a little bit about just even your identification as being on the spectrum and how that 'cause a lot of my parents are going through that. What's that? What's that?
My word. I love it because that's what I I often say to people. You know, I use the word diagnosis when it's appropriate in the sense that you're using a the Medical and manual and blah blah blah blah and I get it and To me, I lost my best friend from from college closing in on ten years ago, but um but uh to breast cancer. And um my I lost my dad twelve years ago to lung cancer. So when I hear diagnosis I think of them, you know, I think I hear illness, right? And um I don't know. I love that you the word I often use is identified. I try to, you know, encourage that in the sense that you can identify your favorite song. You can identify the love of your life, you know. Um, and I did have a reader who has given me express and permanent permission to use this phrase.
So I'm no I'm not like, you know, ripping them off. He says, um, you know, we hear ASD autism spectrum disorder. What if he said, Jennifer What if we said dynamic instead, ASD? And I said, I love it, I love it because, right? Like one of the things that I think can be so incredibly discouraging to parents is that autism or AS or ASD or whatever you want to call it, right? Is not the first step. It's not the first thing that you you nobody, no child is Born and they're like, oh, you know, and and so of course I often say also about the whole identification process, like saying you know, it's a girl didn't make it a girl. Like you're just identifying what is. So that's a big thing to do and and getting the word.
It's not like you're labeling, it's literally you're just identifying that which already was.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who is Jennifer Cook and what sparked her journey into autism advocacy?
0:00–10:54
2
How does Jennifer define the difference between ‘identifying’ and ‘diagnosing’ autism?
10:54–17:50
3
Why are girls on the autism spectrum often mis‑identified or missed entirely?
17:50–24:25
4
What unique challenges do autistic women face with mental‑health labels like bipolar disorder?
24:25–30:45
5
How can reframing and positive language improve the experience of autistic people?
30:45–37:53
6
What practical tools (checklist, books, resources) does Jennifer recommend for families?
37:53–43:05
7
How does Jennifer’s work with hospitals and neurodiversity centers advance autism care?
43:05–44:17
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids