Lynley and Jessica “Jazz” Summers

Lynley Summers is a behaviorist working with children and adults across the autism spectrum. She is an advocate for children with disabilities in North Carolina and in her native state of Arkansas. She serves as Parent Educator for the Arkansas Disability Coalition, whose purpose is to work for equal rights and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. She also serves on the Arkansas State Medical Care Advisory Committee. She represented the state of Arkansas in addressing members of Congress for the purpose of bringing issues of the autism community to their attention and building the membership within C.A.R.E., the Congressional Caucus for Autism Research and Education. She speaks regularly to parents groups and does work in the community on behalf of families with autism.

Lynley graduated Summa cum laude from Methodist College with a bachelor's degree in vocal music performance. Her final semester was the same fall in which her daughter Jessica was diagnosed with autism at the age of four. This changed the course of her life and she dedicated future studies to developmental disability, linguistics, educational psychology, and behavioral sciences. As she accumulated post graduate hours, she worked in college administration at Methodist College, serving respectively as Assistant Registrar and Director of Career Services. She also served as an assistant adjunct faculty member and as an academic advisor. She would leave work each day and administer Jessica’s therapy all evening and into the late hours. She says of her time there: “Working in a place as nurturing as Methodist College, where my co-workers understood Jessica's situation, made a real difference in her progress. When I needed to go and be with her, they made it possible for me to go. I love my Alma Mater for reasons that go far beyond the fact that they granted my degree.”

Her next employment position was through the Consulate General of Japan where she spent two years teaching English as a second language and training new Japanese teachers in language. She served as a Hyogo Prefecture Special Goodwill Envoy and was awarded several special certificates for her work as a liaison officer. She also performed as a full member of a traditional Japanese Taiko drumming group, Tora Fusujin Daiko. She returned to America in 2001 to further her graduate work when it was time for Jessica to enter junior high school.

At that time, she met her husband Steve, a single dad of two sons, Alex and Averie. Averie, like Lynley’s daughter, also has autism. They are the modern-day Brady's.

Jessica “Jazz” Summers was born in Arkansas in 1990. She lived many years in North Carolina, before moving to Japan with her mother, Lynley Summers. In 2001, they moved back to Arkansas, and in 2002, her mom and Steve blended their families adding his two sons to the household. Jazz loves music and has been in vocal training since she was six years old. She also plays the piano and composes her own music. Jazz likes art, especially anime. She writes stories with complicated plots and illustrates the characters. Someday she hopes to be a great writer. Her work has been published in Autism Today's "The Essential Autism 101 Manual" compilation, where submissions were by invitation only. She is currently at work on her first book, and while she admits that non-fiction books are not her favorite, she feels a real sense of duty to other kids on the autism spectrum.

Jazz is the youngest member of Bobbi McKenna’s Book Club for Authors, which is a club intended for adults. Jazz works in the community to increase autism awareness. She represented disabled Arkansas children at Arkansas Disability Awareness Day in 2004, speaking at the State Capitol with the message that she does not view herself as disabled. She urges others in the community to do the same with whatever struggles they may have. She has been the keynote address for People First Arkansas, Beyond the Borders, and Easter Seals Arkansas, and was a workshop presenter at the Autism Society of America's 2005 National Convention.

A remarkable young lady, Jazz is currently a student at Mills University Studies High School, in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is ranked #50 in the nation by Newsweek.

www.lynleysummers.com

Autism is Not a Life Sentence: How One Family Took on Autism and Won!