Health & Nutrition
STEPHEN SHORE
Bio: Stephen Mark Shore is an American autistic professor of special education at Adelphi University. He has written several books on autism: College for Students with Disabilities, Understanding Autism for Dummies, Ask and Tell, and Beyond the Wall.
NISH PARIKH
Bio: Nish Parikh, CEO of WebTeam Corporation and VP of Rangam Consultants Inc., is the winner in the "Innovation Hero - Individual"
THOMAS EDWARDS
Bio: TEDx Talker. Author. Innovation at engineering-intensive firms. Autism-at-work & leadership. Department Chair, Engineering, Temple University
BILL McDONALD
Bio: Founder of Macdonald Tuskey Corporate & Securities Lawyers and Macdonald Tuskey LLP, William L. MacDonald currently holds the position of Chairman at Canucks Autism Network, Principal at Macdonald Tuskey Corporate & Securities Lawyers and Secretary & Independent Director at Viscount Mining Corp.
RICHARD SCHREIBER
Bio: Richard Schreiber is the co-founder of NYC Autism Community Group. He is also the father of a child on the autism spectrum.
CONNER REINHARDT
Bio: Recently diagnosed neurodivergent, Conner has witnessed the extraordinary talents of the neurodiverse community first-hand. He uses his knowledge with his work at MENTRA.
JOHN COMEGYS
Business on Camera
John Comegys has over 20 years’ experience in assisting people with disabilities to find and maintain competitive employment. He has the terminal degree in vocational disabilities--a master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. John was a credentialed special education teacher for ten years and earned an Interdisciplinary Professional Leadership Certificate in Autism in 2013 from Fresno Pacific University. Thus he combines the skills of a vocational expert with those of a special education teacher with advanced training in Autism.
John facilitated job clubs for adults on the autism spectrum in Sacramento, Modesto, and San Francisco for over 6 years. He was awarded special recognition for his “outstanding contributions” to the job club by the Board of AASCEND for his work with the Autism Job Club of San Francisco.
(I know you are going to ask. Comegys rhymes with ‘rummages’. It is Dutch, Gys is a boy’s name in the Netherlands.)
DAVE THOMPSON
As Director of Strategic Programs for Potentia Workforce, Dave supports companies in becoming more neuroinclusive through training and support in becoming self-sufficient, as well as recruiting and providing ongoing support to neurodistinct professionals and their teams.
He uses his experiences as a neurodistinct professional himself, along with those in building, managing, and scaling neuroinclusive hiring programs internationally to develop and share how we can change the workplace to work for everyone.
MARCIA ECKERD
Bio: A long-time licensed psychologist working with autistic individuals for more than 30 years. On several advisory boards including the Clinical Advisory Group of the Asperger’s Autism Network (AANE.org). A prolific author of journal articles and a frequent lecturer and presenter, including her “Learning and the Brain” conference that was co-sponsored by Harvard, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts, and an international conference, “Special Kids International Summit” co-sponsored by UNESCO.