Meeting Leaders
Learn about our dedicated & knowledgeable leaders who help make our meetings and events possible.
Angela Ajamie
phoenix caregiver support group
Michael Ajamie
phoenix caregiver support group
Michael Ajamie is the proud husband of Angela Ajamie and father of two young adults. He leads the IT Department for an Arizona State Agency. Angela & Michael were married in 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona. Their children were born in New Hampshire. Their eldest son was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 4 in Denver, Colorado. Back then, they found few community resources for parents. Traveling for work made it harder. So, Michael helped Angela start a parent support group. They returned to New England, where he no longer traveled away from his wife & children. But, they faced new challenges as they grew older, and entered grade school. Under the best circumstances, raising successful children is difficult. Their kids attend Northern Arizona University. Despite the difficulties, they consider themselves lucky parents. Michael feels like their work is only beginning. He thanks God daily for the intuition, education, experience, empathy and wisdom of his wife. He is happy to show up, serve coffee and offer a supportive ear or occasional comment.
Teri Beardsley
autistic adult meetup
Teri Beardsley is married with two children and is now retired after 31 years in Special Education. She holds multiple certifications and endorsements. Over her career, she specialized in Cross Categorical Resource, Developmental Preschool, and Kindergarten. Her passion for Autistic children was enriched, as for most involved with the Autism Society, by a wonderful son who is currently very involved in SEEDS for Autism. Volunteerism is a way of life for Teri, and retirement has not slowed her down. She served as coordinator for West Valley AZ ASSIST, in addition to teaching online courses and supervising student teachers for Grand Canyon University. Before Teri moved to Arizona in 1985, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Pathology from Illinois State University, and a Master’s in Special and Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University. Her many interests include her two well-loved dogs, reading, cooking, learning Italian and knitting. Teri loves travel enough to enjoy setting up itineraries for other’s vacations, although she is a strong supporter of all things local, including shops and restaurants of downtown Phoenix.
Sarah Blank
Goodyear Lego Club
Sarah Blank and her husband, Levi, live in the West Valley with their three sons. Two of their children are Autistic. Sarah’s oldest son was diagnosed with Autism in 2010, and since that time she has dedicated her energy to identifying and accessing the most effective resources, services, and opportunities to support her children’s diverse needs. Their family has engaged in a wide range of therapeutic supports, including ABA therapy, Speech, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Music, Equine, Swim, and Art therapies. Two of Sarah’s children currently utilize Arizona’s ESA program, which has provided meaningful educational options and enrichment opportunities.
Sarah also serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and History from Arizona State University and a Master of Education from Northern Arizona University. She currently works at Arizona Autism United (AZA United) as a Family Support Specialist, where she supports families in navigating Arizona’s systems of care, including medical, behavioral, and educational services. Sarah is particularly passionate about guiding families who are newly navigating an Autism diagnosis. In addition, she volunteers as a scholarship reviewer for Maricopa Community Colleges.
Previously, Sarah taught English and Reading at Estrella Mountain Community College and Phoenix College. Her professional background also includes work in city government and with nonprofit organizations focused on community support and advocacy. Most recently, she served as a Family Liaison with the Gentry Foundation for Autism, continuing her commitment to empowering and supporting families.
Cynthia Cypher
north valley caregiver support group
Cynthia is the meeting leader for the Caregiver Support Group in the North Valley. She is the parent of an Autistic child.
Ryan Douglas
dads support group
Ryan Douglas is married with 2 children and has lived in Arizona since 2012. He is a Group Director of Ecommece at VML, a global marketing and advertising agency. His career in ecommerce started over 20 years ago after graduating from Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Information Technology. Ryan and his wife Page, have been married since 2010, and have visited 14 National Parks, and enjoy going to the beach. Ryan has been learning and understanding Autism after their son was diagnosed in 2020 at the age of 4, and his daughter being diagnosed with ADHD. His hobbies include camping, working on cars, all kinds of motorsports, home improvement projects, aviation podcasts, and cooking.
Sue Golubock
autistic adult support group
Susan Golubock, an Autistic Occupational Therapist (OT), has worked almost exclusively for over 20 years with Autistic individuals since her diagnosis. Her 40+ years as an OT include certification in sensory processing, courses in executive functioning, yearly in-services on Autism, and a master’s degree in special education assistive technology. Susan had the opportunity to work with a team of therapists and school administrators to bring about a system change toward a more educationally relevant therapy service delivery model that is now considered best practice. Susan has both participated in and presented at a yearly retreat/conference planned for and run by Autistic adults for 10 years. She, and Jim Sinclair, a strong Autistic advocate, spent over 4 years providing lectures to schools, clinics, and conferences on working effectively with Autistic individuals as part of her business, Making Sense of Autism, LLC. She has, for the past 19 years, attended and then co-hosted an Autistic adult support group, now under the auspices of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. Susan is currently working on researching the effectiveness of training modules for a Neuro-Strengths-Based Approach to Autism in helping therapists, educators, and parents better understand the research being done on Autism and how to use it to work more effectively with Autistic individuals, from an Autistic perspective.
Sonya Hernández
Virtual game night
Sonya L. Hernández is a third generation Arizona native. She and her husband have two children, two dogs, one tortoise, and six chickens. Their son was diagnosed with Autism at age four and is currently in high school. Her daughter is presently studying at ASU. Sonya enjoys reading, yoga, eating out, volunteering, and traveling.
Sonya holds a BA from the University of Arizona (Bear Down!) in Mexican American Studies with a minor in Physiological Sciences. She also holds a SLPA and realtor license in the state of Arizona. She and her husband have been operating their own real estate business for the last 16 years. Sonya has slowly become more involved in the Autism community as her children reach adulthood. She started volunteering with AZ Assist and is excited for her role with the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. Sonya is bilingual and speaks Spanish. She is committed to expanding the services and opportunities for Autistic teens and adults.
Rachel Lack
tempe caregiver support group
Rachel Lack is a documentary filmmaker and owner at Purling Place Productions. She is the parent of a child with Autism.
Tara Marshall
autistic adult support group
Tara Marshall is an Autistic adult who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Religious Studies, and an Associates Degree in Speech Language Pathology. She is currently working as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant, trying to help other people with disabilities, especially other Autistic people, learn communication skills. Her frequent interests include reading about science, especially the common co-occurring medical issues in Autism, general evolutionary biology, dinosaurs, sharks, and science fiction. She is a controlled crazy cat lady, who currently has 3 cats, a dog, and a husband in her home. When not working, she is found reading, writing, and listening to music from small bands that most people in the USA have never heard of. Tara has Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, 2 Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders, a suspected Mast Cell Activation Disorder, Epilepsy, and Anxiety. Tara co-hosts an Autistic adult support group alongside Sue Golubock.
Phil Nicks
late diagnosed adults 40+ support group
Phil Nicks is currently working as a Computer Programmer for the US Department of Labor as a Federal Civilian Service employee. He has worked there since 2006 and has worked for the Federal Government for 25 years. He has resided in Arizona since 2022 but moved here from Denver, Colorado, where he lived there for the previous 31 years, dated back to 1991. Before starting his career, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with the concentration of Computer Information System from Colorado State University.
As a child, Phil grew up without having a lot of friends where he spent most of his time being lonely and had depression issues. He grew up in the era from the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s where the research of Autism wasn’t publicized like today. In 2015, at the age of 50, Phil got his diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Since 2015, he has been active with the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix but also kept involvement with the Autism Society Colorado.
His hobbies include traveling, fitness, hiking, kayaking, biking, playing pickleball, golfing, and watching college and professional sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. He especially loves the outdoors and the warm and summer-like weather.
Dawn Oliver
Young Adult Neurodiverse Support Group
Dawn Oliver is a retired Admissions and Development Director, Education Consultant, Teacher/ Trainer, and Freelance Writer passionate about helping students achieve their greatest potential by honoring them for who they are and embracing all their differences. Her career began as a high school English, speech, and theatre arts teacher, quickly advanced into private school administration, admissions, and development. She resides in Arizona with her husband, Mark, who leads the parent group, and her daughter, Holly, a self-advocate who is a co-host at meetings. Her other daughter, Hope, and her husband, Michael serve as technical support coordinators for the meetings. She has been volunteering with the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix for several years as a leader of a young adult group that meets monthly on a Saturday morning.
Dawn holds a degree in English/Education from Douglass College of Rutgers University with teaching certificates to teach English and Speech and Theatre Arts. She also completed a Specialized Summer School Institute for teachers in the Morningside model of generative instruction and served as one of the directors at Morningside Academy in Seattle, Washington. Morningside Academy is a nationally acclaimed and successful Foundations and Middle school Program for students with learning differences. It provides instruction tailored to meet each student’s needs, enabling them to catch up, build up, and get ahead. As Director of Education at Tutor Doctor, she met with families seeking 1:1 tutoring, conducted assessments, offered consultation services, and developed individual learning plans to promote student success. She also supervised and trained a large staff of fifty highly qualified tutors. She has also participated as a parent/professional in various programs offered by the UCLA PEERS program at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is world-renowned for providing evidence-based social skills treatment to preschoolers, adolescents, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and other socio-emotional problems.
Mark Oliver
Young Adult Neurodiverse Support Group - parent leader
Mark Oliver is currently the regional sales director for Canteen Vending, a division of Compass Group in Arizona. His career in food and beverage services began with the Coca-Cola Company, where he served as a national sales executive for many years. He has expanded from the East to the West Coast, with an emphasis on sales for 25 years.
He is also no stranger to the education field as he has spent countless hours volunteering to support non-profit schools and the work of his wife, educator/administrator. “Every student deserves a healthy meal to fuel his day and promote learning.”
Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in business, cum laude, from Catawba College, where he was awarded the Wall Street Business Award. He is passionate about education and advocating for special needs students and those who are vulnerable. He serves as a leader for a parent/guardian group of young adults on the Autism Spectrum of The Autism Society of Greater Phoenix; his wife leads the young adults. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughters in his spare time.
Terry Perez
Spanish support group
Thomas Shaw
autistic adult support group
Thomas or Tom, as he is known by many, has been a resident of Arizona since 1993. He is an Autistic adult. Tom is retired and enjoys learning about archaeology, history, neuroscience and psychology. Tom is people oriented and loves helping his community. He is an avid dog lover and has a professionally trained service dog. They enjoy spending time outdoors with one another. Tom looks forward to giving back to the community and helping advance education and social development for individuals with Autism.
Carolyn Sostrom
Caregivers of Autistic Adults Support Group
Carolyn Sostrom is married with two adult sons, including Sam who was diagnosed with Autism at age 11. Carolyn grew up in the Northeast Valley and graduated with a degree in journalism from Arizona State University before taking off for New York City. There, she did market research for a publishing company. After two years, Carolyn returned to Arizona to stay, missing the dry climate and awesome sunsets. She settled back into the Scottsdale area and has worked for community newspapers and in communication roles for different companies.
Dave Taylor
dads support group
Dave Taylor is married with 2 children and is the News Initiative Audit Lead for The E.W. Scripps Company. He has previously hosted several #DadChats for the non-profit Fathering Together, and has moderated a lot of Zoom and in-person networking events for other non-profits as well. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California. He and his wife’s motto for their kids is “whatever the f*** it takes.” He is always looking to learn from others, and is excited to help other Dads be the best they can be, while helping their kids be the best they can be. Dave also loves playing pickleball and tennis, and going out to try new bars and restaurants in the Phoenix area.