Board of Directors

Officers

President – Eileen Krimer is a founding member of the Asperger Society of Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1970 as a teacher of the speech and language impaired. After volunteering for one year in Israel as a speech therapist she provided speech therapy services in Detroit area schools for 6 years followed by 16 years at Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency including positions with the Preprimary Evaluation Team and Early On. She is a certified Hanen™ speech therapist and initiated the “Start Talking Program” at K/RESA for parents of young children with language delays. Eileen has participated on several local mental health task forces. She and her husband live in Kalamazoo. They have two sons, one with Asperger Syndrome.

Secretary – Karol Peterson received her B.A. from Western Michigan University with a special education major and teaching endorsements in cognitive and emotional impairments. She received a master' s degree in school psychology and completed post graduate work in industrial psychology. For 26 years, Karol was a director at Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency for programs in special education, including programs for students with severe mental and multiple impairments, autism, preprimary evaluation, vocational evaluation, and Early On services. She has served on several boards of directors, including the Southwest Michigan Genetics Clinic and Residential Opportunities Incorporated. During her career, she served on several state committees to develop standards of practice for medically fragile students and develop state educational outcomes for individuals with autism. Karol retired in 2003.

Treasurer – Bruce Feinberg is a practicing Certified Public Accountant. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1983, and has over 20 years experience helping small businesses set up and implement solid accounting systems to enable them to have quick reliable information about their finances. He has worked with non-profit organizations in this capacity, also. “I am one of the lucky ones — I enjoy what I do.” Bruce is the father of two children. His son has Asperger Syndrome. Helping this organization meet its goals provides him both professional and personal pride.

Legal Council – Richard Polk is an attorney with his own practice in Bingham Farms.  Richard received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Michigan and a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.  He has extensive experience in the small business, estate planning and tax areas, as well as with nonprofit and charitable organizations.  Richard currently sits on the Boards of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan, Congregation Beth Shalom and the American Society for Technion.  When not practicing law, Richard enjoys playing trombone in the Motor City Brass Band and the University of Michigan Alumni Pep Band.  He lives in Huntington Woods with Eileen, his wife of 28 years, and they have three children. 

Directors

Judith Albers has been Assistant to the Director of the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College since 1991.  In that role, she is responsible for facility management, budget management, and day to day operations of the museum.  Another aspect of her job is Volunteer Coordinator. Prior to this position she was with Northwestern Michigan College in Extended Educational Services. Judy is a member of several volunteer administration associations. One of her 12 grandchildren has Asperger Syndrome. She has become his advocate with the school system and health professionals. She, also, attends school and expects to be in the Guiness Book of Records for taking the longest time to achieve a degree.

Judi Davidson is co-owner of Ann Arbor Bivouac, a retail camping/outdoor store in Ann Arbor, which currently employs one young adult with Asperger Syndrome. Judi earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Oakland University in 1975 with a specialization in the area of Learning Disabilities, and a BS from the University of Michigan in 1971 with Special Education Teacher Certification in the area of the Emotionally Impaired. Her professional experience has included working as a special education teacher, teacher/consultant and resource specialist/aftercare liaison for the Warren Consolidated Schools and Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, Department of Child Psychiatry– In-Patient Psycho-education Program. She has previously served on the boards of the Washtenaw County Jewish Community Center and the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club.

Gail Hawkins is the founder of Mission Possible. She is an experienced, innovative vocational consultant and practitioner specializing for the field of Asperger Syndrome for the past 15 years. Formerly the Director of the Kerry' s Place Autism Services - Transitional Employment Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Ms Hawkins launched Mission Possible in 1995 to provide an avenue to employment to this under serviced population. Gail has developed a comprehensive model of teaching called “ Foundation Building™” , which addresses all aspects of an individual, focusing on expanding her or his strengths. Gail is an experienced speaker and the author of How to Find Work that Works for People with Asperger Syndrome (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004).

Liane Holliday Willey, Ed.D. is an internationally respected speaker on Asperger Syndrome, a writer and a researcher who specializes in the fields of psycholinguistics and learning style differences. She has worked as an elementary education teacher, a waitress, a retail sales clerk and a university professor. She also has Asperger Syndrome. She is the author of Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger' s Syndrome and Asperger Syndrome in the Family: Redefining Normal and the editor of Asperger Syndrome in the Adolescent Years: the Ins, the Outs and Things In Between (all published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers). Liane is currently working on a fiction novel.

Carol Jorgensen received her Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and her M.A .in Management from Aquinas College. She is employed by the State of Michigan as a regulatory analyst over health maintenance organizations (HMO). She has extensive knowledge concerning HMOs and the laws that govern them. She has a 17-year-old son, who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when he was 12 years old. The years since his diagnosis have been a learning experience due to the ongoing problems that her son experiences in the public school system and in every day life. She now uses the skills she learned through helping her son, by advocating for families that need guidance in obtaining the best available services for their children with Asperger Syndrome.

Marn Myers hails from Wisconsin and earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and her master' s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interest in supporting persons with disabilities began when she was a senior in high school. At that time, she accepted her first job as a camp counselor working with people with a wide-range of disabilities. Currently, she serves as the president and CEO of the Judson Center, a human service agency serving people in five counties in southeastern Michigan. Services include but are not limited to providing group-home care, independent living services, supported employment, community living supports, and respite care services. Marn is a certified social worker in the state of Michigan and a member of this year's class of Leadership Oakland.

Mary Spence, Ph.D., has worked as both a clinical and school psychologist over the last 22 years, and currently works as a school psychologist in the Ann Arbor area, with a special interest in Theory of Mind. With her initial training in Communications with a strong theater emphasis, dramatic approaches to intervention have always appealed to her. She is most interested in increasing awareness of accurate diagnostic practices and the use of effective methods to assist individuals with ASD and their families live meaningful and productive lives within their communities.