# Jennifer Cook

Jennifer Lynn Cook (formerly Cook O'Toole; born October 24, 1975) is an American author and speaker. 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, 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. 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. In 2019, she became the inaugural Senior Directorial Consultant for the Jefferson Health Center for Autism and Neurodiversity in Philadelphia, 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. 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 and their "See the Amazing in Every Child" initiative.
She is a featured contributor in Tony Attwood's Top Aspie Mentors: Been There, Done That and Autism & Learning Differences, 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. Cook sits on the Autism Society of America's Council of Autistic Advisors, is a columnist/expert panelist for Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Autism Asperger's Digest, Zoom Autism magazine, AuKids magazine, Special magazine and the Journal for the North American Montessori Teachers' Association NAMTA, and is a commentator on NPR's WHYY and WFAE, as well as Fox's WTXF-TV and NBC's Charlotte Today.

## Background

Cook was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and grew up in West Caldwell. She is the only child of Joseph (d. 2007) and Jane Cook. Her father was an international commercial litigator. Her mother served as the only woman on their town council for 12 years.
Cook began dancing at age two, continuing through college. Cook attended Brown University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She majored in American Civilization, graduating with high honors in 1997. She was hired as a counselor in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this capacity, she trained officers, led student-focused presentations in colleges and high schools, and served as a victim advocate. In 1999, Cook began Master's work at the Graduate School of Social Work at Columbia University in New York City. After Columbia, she enrolled at the Graduate School of Education at Queens University of Charlotte, while teaching language arts at both the middle school and high school levels. In her first term, she garnered a student-initiated nomination for Disney's American Teacher of the Year Award.

## Personal life

Cook was married to John O'Toole from 2001 to 2018, with whom she has three children. She married her second husband, Brett Banks, in 2019. Cook and her family live near Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to Asperger syndrome, she has synesthesia.