You can reach Zosia at: zaks.autism.consulting @ gmail.com.
BIO:
For more than twenty years, Zosia Zaks has counseled and supported hundreds of autistic teenagers and adults and those with related conditions to live and work in their communities and to reach their personal goals. He now consults with schools, companies, and community organizations, provides training, and assists entities interested in developing practices and procedures for full inclusion of neurodivergent and other disabled people.
Previously he worked at Towson University’s Hussman Center for Autistic Adults in various capacities from 2009 – 2022. Highlights from his time at the Hussman Center include developing and running Work Possibilities, an on-campus job readiness program for autistic adults; designing and supervising the College Orientation & Life Activities (COLA) program to support neurodivergent college students; and developing and teaching Individuals on the Autism Spectrum, a diversity education service-learning course designed to bring undergraduates and autistic adults together to challenge stereotypes and build a more inclusive society. He continues to teach undergraduate and graduate courses that examine autism and disability issues through a social justice lens and that critically question traditional theories of development and psychology to better account for human diversities of all sorts including neurocognitive diversity.
In addition to consulting and teaching, Dr. Zaks has experience advocating for legislation and public policies that ensure disabled people have access to the supports and services they need to live full lives and has served on the Maryland Commission on Disability, the Maryland Rehabilitation Council, and the Maryland Commission for Autism. He helped found Itineris, Inc., a Baltimore-area service agency that utilizes a customized employment model to help autistic adults succeed at work and advises other agencies and autism programs regarding best practices for supporting teens and young adults.
He recently earned his Ph.D. in human development from Fielding Graduate University, where his research focused on paradigm change in clinical support. Dr. Zaks brings a unique mix of perspectives to his endeavors as a rehabilitation counselor, an educator, a parent of two neurodivergent young adults, and as an autistic transgender self-advocate.