Meet Zoom Team

We are proud and honored to have so many writers who contribute to Zoom. You'll find their byline at the beginning and bios at the end of each article.

Meet the Rest of Our Zoom Team:

Lydia Wayman (Guest Editor)
Lydia is an autistic writer, speaker, and advocate from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has a B.S. in elementary education and an M.A. in English and nonfiction writing. Lydia is a devoted cat mom, Disney fan, and proud aunt to the best niece and nephew in the world. She believes that people are awesome, not despite their differences, but precisely because of them.

Gretchen McIntire (Guest Editor)
Gretchen is an autistic woman who is challenging herself to “be brave” in her everyday life. From the smallest brave moments to conquering her biggest fears, Gretchen is sharing her journey each month hoping it inspires even one more person to choose to be brave too. Gretchen is the author of the children’s books Really, Really Like Me and The Quiet Bear, a motivational speaker and founder of the Breathe Boston Autism Project. Read more of her essays on Geek Club Books and follow her on Instagram @gretchenmcintire.

Haley Moss, Esq. (Associate Editor)
Haley Moss has joined the Zoom editorial team as an Associate Editor. She has been a valued contributor and Guest Editor of Issue 15 on powerful autistic women and their allies. Haley is a practicing lawyer who graduated from the University of Miami School of Law after receiving a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Florida. She was diagnosed with autism at age 3, and now she is an autism advocate who’s written two books: Middle School: The Stuff Nobody Tells You About and A Freshman Survival Guide for College Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications and she has been featured on national media, and she loves to draw and paint. Follow her journey on her Haley Moss Facebook Page.

Becca Lory Hector, CAS, BCCS (Guest Editor, Columnist)
Becca Lory Hector was diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult and has since become an active autism advocate, consultant, speaker, and author. With a focus on autistic quality of life, her work includes autism/neurodiversity consulting; public speaking engagements; a monthly newsletter, “Monthly Musings”; and a weekly YouTube news show, “Neurodiversity Newsstand." An animal lover with a special affinity for cats, Becca spends most of her free time with her many animals, her husband Antonio Hector, and their Emotional Support Animal (ESA), Sir Walter Underfoot.

Elizabeth Roy (Guest Editor)
Elizabeth is pleased to join the Zoom Autism team as a guest editor. She is a multiply neurodivergent, queer, disabled organizer who these days likes to talk about accessibility, canine behavior, and class culture, and is probably in the middle of reading at least five science fiction  or fantasy novels at any given time.

Robert Watkins (Columnist)
An autistic self-advocate, Neurodiversity Ambassador and public speaker, Robert Watkins reinvented the workplace with and for autistic people. His writings on Autistic.ly focused on increasing awareness, understanding and accommodations for people on the spectrum so that they can contribute their best and lead fulfilling working lives. Robert served on the board of the Atlanta Autism Consortium. He passed away in 2018 but his contribution to the autism community is his legacy.

Megan Amodeo (Columnist)
Megan Amodeo is an autistic stay-at-home mom with 3 beautiful daughters, two on the autism spectrum and one with ADHD. Megan received her Bachelors of Education from Northern Illinois University and has an Illinois Type 10, K-12 degree in special education. She taught At Risk/Special needs Kinder­garten, Self-Contained/Multi-Disabled Early Childhood, and Hearing Itinerant K-8. Her student population included deaf, hard of hearing, autistic, learning disabled, behavior disor­ders, medically fragile, and severely mentally challenged students.

Conner Cummings (Editor-At-Large, Columnist)
Conner Cummings is a professional photographer in the Metro DC area. Conner speaks his written words at local and national conferences, town halls, corporations and churches. As an autistic self-advocate Conner changed a law in the state of Virginia. He is the 2015 Autism Society of America’s ‘Advocate of the Year’. Conner and his mother worked diligently to have Conner’s Law passed which would replace a poorly written child support law that provided a loop hole for adults with special needs and other disabilities over the age of 18. The law passed unanimously in 2015. A week after its passing, at least six families have used Conner’s Law in court and won.  The Virginia House and Senate both voted to give Conner a Commendation Award as a sign of admiration for his advocacy. He is the first autistic individual to receive this honor in VA. The mother and son team are continuing their advocacy by working on taking Conner’s Law state-by-state. Conner also enjoys writing for his popular Facebook page Conquer for Conner.

Sharon Cummings (Editor-At-Large, Columnist, Board Member, Co-Founder)
Sharon Lee Cummings is the co-founder, Editor-At-Large and board member liaison for Zoom where she utilizes her strong business, human resource and marketing skills to effectively work with our Zoom guest editors, advertisers and contributors as well as oversees the day to day operations of Zoom. She also pens the heart-warming column “Cummings & Goings” and coordinates numerous Zoom exclusive interviews. Sharon is also the CEO/President of SLC Inc. where she has received many accolades over the past 22 years including being honored ‘Top Washington Woman’ by Washington Woman’s Magazine. Sharon currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Autism Society of Northern Virginia and the Arc of Northern Virginia and is very active with the National Arc and the National Autism Society.

Sharon is the proud mother of an autistic adult and neurotypical daughter. Her love and dedication for her son led her into public speaking and advocating for autism acceptance and together Conner & Sharon changed a poorly written parental support law for disabled and special needs adults 18 and over. 'Conner’s Law’  was unanimously passed in VA in Spring of 2015. Now this dynamic duo will be going state by state changing the laws as needed!

Jodi Murphy (Publisher, Co-Founder)
Jodi Murphy is the founder and CEO of Geek Club Books, a charity focused on innovative autism storytelling to change perceptions and end the stigma of autism. She is one of the original co-founders of Zoom and now takes on the role of publisher for Zoom’s new platform and direction. Her most important role and her life’s passion is being the mother of two adult children—one who is on the autism spectrum. Her dream is a world where those on the autism spectrum are valued and given every opportunity to shine using their talents and abilities.

Prior to Geek Club Books, Jodi worked as an independent marketing specialist assisting clients in the tech, fitness and lifestyle industries with branding, product launches, public relations and project management. She was a journalist in the luxury lifestyle industry and co-founder of Nesting Newbies, one of the first independent lifestyle digital magazines. Jodi was selected to participate in the second Women’s Startup Lab cohort, an immersive and intensive Silicon Valley program for female entrepreneurs. She’s brought a “startup” mentality and entrepreneurial approach to the building of Geek Club Books’ nonprofit.

Sharon Fuentes (Co-Founder, Consultant, Former Editorial Director and Publisher)
Sharon Fuentes is a co-founder of Zoom, served as the Editorial Director and Publisher from 2014 to 2017 and will continue on as a consultant. She is an award-winning freelance writer and author of The Don't Freak Out Guide to Parenting Kids with Asperger's. She is also the proud mama to her teenage children: Jacob, an autistic self-advocate and current writer for Zoom and Bella, a talented graphic artist with a love for the theatre. When not working on her writing, you can find Sharon speaking at schools, associations and conferences. Find her on Twitter and her Facebook page.