ABOUT JENNIFER KAUFMAN

Special Education Leader. Author. And Ben's Grandma.

Jennifer Kaufman has spent over twenty years as the principal of schools serving students with autism in northern New Jersey. Every day she works with individuals across the spectrum - including those who are nonverbal, those who elope, and those whose behavior can easily be misread as defiance or aggression. She knows this world from the inside out.

Then her grandson Ben was diagnosed with autism. Suddenly she found herself asking the same questions she had heard from families across her desk for years. The professional knowledge was still there. But the fear, the uncertainty, the love - that was something else entirely.

That collision between the professional and the deeply personal is what all of her work is built on.

Today Jennifer is the author of Grandparenting on the Spectrum: A Journey from Both Sides of the Desk, a speaker, and the founder of First Response Autism Solutions. She presents keynotes and workshops for grandparent groups, family organizations, healthcare providers, and autism conferences nationwide. She also trains law enforcement and first responders to recognize and safely support individuals with autism in the community -- with results that speak for themselves: 100% increase in officer confidence post-training, with 92% rating it extremely useful.

Jennifer has appeared on CBS, NBC, and numerous podcasts reaching audiences across the country. She brings warmth, real credentials, and a story no one else can tell.

Everything she does -- the book, the workshops, the trainings, the speaking -- comes from both sides of that desk.