Eric Peacock

Autism Light #256 is Eric Peacock.

Eric Peacock is an Autism Uncle from San Carlos, California. He is the CEO and Co-founder of MyHealthTeams. In May, 2010, MyHealthTeams created their first social network site for a chronic disease community called MyAutismTeam. Eric's nephew has Asperger's Syndrome and he and his family inspired the creation of MyAutismTeam. Eric Peacock is an Autism Light for establishing a place where autism parents can connect with other parents and share recommendations of great autism providers.

Education: Eric Peacock graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard College.

Business Experience: Eric Peacock's business includes leveraging health related resources to users through the power of social networking. "Peacock incubated MyHealthTeams with his team while General Manager at InsiderPages - a leading local search site owned by IAC / City Grid Media (Source)." His previous experience also includes positions with Perlegen Sciences, where he grew and developed pharmaceutical and academic partnerships conducting genetic studies of chronic diseases. He also was a VP at E*TRADE and a Partner at Oliver Wyman / Mercer Management Consultant.

MyAutismTeam: MyAutismTeam is a social network community. As of today there are 36,000 registered parents and 40,000 registered service providers and that number is growing daily. Many autism families use it as their new Facebook to connect specifically with others who understand about the challenges of life with autism. The following is a video of how MyAutismTeam operates.



Vision for MyAutismTeam: Eric Peacock shared this vision he has for MyAutismTeam via Autism Light.

We've grown from 30 to 36,000 registered parents in about a year and half. That is great, but we've got about another 1 million families out there who don't know about MyAutismTeam yet. So we'd like to really get the word out and grow the base of parents sharing their wisdom on the site. We are continuing to improve and evolve both the website and the mobile app offerings based on feedback from parents. We are now starting to leverage the power of our numbers to negotiate special offers and autism-tailored services on behalf of our members. It's amazing how responsive service providers will be when you tell them you are negotiating on behalf of 36,000 parents.

Mobile App: MyAutismTeam has a mobile phone app that may be downloaded from iTunes.

Eric Peacock said this about MyAutismTeam, "Our basic belief is if your child is diagnosed with autism it should be easy to find the best people around to help you and often those are other parents."

The following is an interview that Autism Live had with Eric Peacock.


MyBCTeam: Because of the success of MyAutismTeam, in September, 2012, MyHealthTeam created My MyBCTeam to improve the social networking for women dealing with breast cancer. Additional sites for different diseases are planned in the future.

Advice to Parents: Eric Peacock gave this advice to parents via Autism Light. "You are heroes. Please remember that you're not alone, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Connect with other parents who have been in your shoes, learn from them, and share your wisdom."

Social Media: You can follow MyAutismTeam at the following social media areas.

• Facebook
• Google+
• Twitter @MyAutismTeam

Other Information: More information about Eric Peacock and MyAutismTeam can be found at these articles.

• Mashable Article
• Our Special Families Village Interview with Eric Peacock

Special thanks to Eric Peacock for being an Autism Light. The social networking opportunities through MyAutismTeam have the potential to help thousands of autism families find local service providers and encouragement from other parents.

Related Posts: If you like this post, you may enjoy these others on people who founded other autism social networking sites. Like MyAutismTeam each fulfills a unique niche'.

• Craig Evans - Autism Hangout
• Sarah Winter - Squag

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: The photo in this post is used with permission of Eric Peacock.

Sara Winter

Autism Light #180 is Sara Winter.

Sara Winter is from Toronto, Canada. She is an aunt of a child with autism. She has spent over a decade working as a teacher's aid for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in school settings and serving as an aid to her 12 year old nephew who has autism. Sara is also a writer who writes on subjects that raises awareness for autism. In January, 2012 Sara Winter launched a social platform site for tweens and teens with Autism called Squag™ that she and her family had spent two years creating themselves. Sara Winter is a Autism Light for creating the unique Squag™ website to meet the special social needs of young people with autism and for being a writer, aunt, and aide, that shines a light for autism each day.

Here is a video that provides an overview of how the Squag™ site works.

Autism Light asked Sara Winter how Squag™ came to fruition.  She said,

We started Squag™ because we felt kids with autism were often underestimated in their daily life and that many environments weren't conducive to the way they communicate. Our goal is to give kids a safe place to be themselves, build original ideas and gain some confidence with the idea of friendship to take with them wherever they go.

The platform was named Squag™ because it was one of the first words of Sara's loved one with autism. "Squag" was one of his first words - his word for "square" back in the early days of his diagnosis and treatment therapy. The word reminds how far he's come and how far we know he'll go (Source)." You may go to www.squag.com to find out all about the Squag™ social platform and sign up.

One of the questions parents may have about Squag™ is how it keeps kids safe in contrast with the potential concerns by other social media sites. Sara Winter explained the security protocols this way:

The Squagpad itself (the parent/child communication) is a totally private experience. We follow strict privacy laws and just received our truste certification. For our launch of the peer-to-peer capabilities, later this spring, we are working with several special needs organizations with coded membership to ensure that everyone is safe. Parents are the members and hold all usernames and passwords. When they register, they will be taken through a proper application process to be considered. We will also require their credit card. Our staff will be moderating all of the activities and as well, parents will have transcripts from every squag session – all of their activities will be accessible right from their dashboard.

Social Media:  You may follow Sara Winter's work at Squag™ at the following social media areas:

• Facebook
• Twitter @squagdotcom
• Twitter @sarawinter_

Other Articles: Here are some other articles on Sarah Winter and Squag™:

• Squag: Social Media for Teens and Tweens with Autism
• New Software for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Sara Winter - Founder of Squag.com

Writer: Sarah Winter writes for the following sites and publications:

• The Huffington Post Canada 
• Friendship Circle International
• The Autism File Global
• Autism Aspergers Digest
• The Squag blog.

Advice to Parents: Sara Winter gave this advice on how aunts or uncles of children with autism can help parents and families with their special needs.

My advice is to do whatever you can to be a part of that child’s daily life. Do not wait to be told what to do or asked for help. Jump in and be useful. Facilitate nights out for the parents whose child has just been diagnosed. Babysit. Do dishes. Figure out what interests the child has and educate yourself. Find frameworks where you’re confident (for some it’s cooking, for others it’s hockey cards) and have that be the activity that you and your loved one go back to again and again. Our whole family is better for knowing and loving my nephew; he makes us all better every day.

Special thanks to Sara Winter for the devotion she has to her nephew with autism and for being the founder of Squag™.  We expect to hear great things in the future about how Squag helps young people with autism growing socially in a safe environment.


Related Posts: If you like this post, you may enjoy these others on people who founded other autism social networking sites. Like Squag each fulfills a unique niche'.

• Craig Evans - Autism Hangout
• Eric Peacock - MyAutismTeam

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: The photo in this post is used with permission of Sara Winter.

Craig Evans

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Autism Light Classic
Updated on December 27, 2015. 

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Autism Light #178  is Craig Evans.

Craig Evans is a marketing instructor at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. When he met his future stepson Nolan he was inspired to create an amazing website and gathering place for the autism community known as Autism Hangout. Nolan has Asperger's Syndrome. Craig Evans is an Autism Light for all he did to help the autism community foster community, increase awareness, and keep abreast of the latest resources related to a diverse range of topics impacting autism.

Autism Step-Father: Craig Evans writes this about his stepson Nolan, who has autism.

I've always called Nolan my "Courageous Son"...partially for how well he faces his sensory challenges, but more so because of the unique person he is. Like his Mom, Nolan is a creative, optimistic, nature-loving human being. He's compassionate, bright, funny and one of the most incredible people I will ever know. Had it not been for Nolan, I would never have discovered this amazing population of people. My world has been forever changed for the better knowing autism. 

Autism Hangout: Craig Evans was the co-founder of Autism Hangout. Autism Hangout started on July 4, 2008 and closed operations on August 24, 2014. There were approximately 2,500 members comprised of teachers and professionals, caregivers, parents and people with autism who were able to share their thoughts and ideas about autism with each other during the six years that Autism Hangout was online.

Autism Hangout also provided a library of resources such as information on a variety of themes like autism apps, and the workplace for people with autism. Part of Craig Evans' resources at Autism Hangout includes creating videos of interviews he has with news makers in the autism world. This collection of 500 videos are still available on his YouTube Channel.

In an interview with Autism Light in 2012, Craig Evans chose for us to share here the following video on Lois Brady, a author and speech and language pathologist. He believes she is "a typical example of the extraordinary compassionate, humble, loving, and competent people found in circles of folks working with people on the spectrum."

Author: Craig Evans has written the following books

• "Marketing Channels: Infomercials and the Future of Televised Marketing-Prentice Hall, 1993,
• "Been There. Done That. Try This! - An Aspinaut's Guide to Life on Planet Earth", 2014.  He co-authored this book with Dr. Tony Attwood and Anita Lesko.

Words of Encouragement: Autism Light asked Craig Evans if he had any words of encouragement for the autism community. He wanted to share this: Learn! Share! Thrive! We can all help each other to find joy in living with autism. It's there.

Social Media: You can follow Craig Evans on Twitter @autismstepdad or on LinkedIn.

Special thanks to Craig Evans for using his gifts as a writer and innovative leader in technology to help make the world a brighter place for those collaborating on autism. We look forward to the future endeavors Craig Evans will undertake.

Related Posts: If you like this post, you may enjoy these others on people who founded other autism social networking sites. Like Autism Hangout each fulfills a unique niche'.

• Eric Peacock - MyAutismTeam
• Sarah Winter - Squag

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: The photo in this post is used with permission of Craig Evans.