Are you interested in helping OCASG help you? Maybe you want more social activities. Perhaps you want help with a project like affordable housing, finding a job, applying for SSI, or self-determination. Please attend this OCASG Online meeting and start getting more involved. Meet Peggy Pocher, OCASG Volunteer Coordinator. Judi will also share more informatoin about OCASG Initiatives.
Peggy Pocher, OCASG Board Member and Volunteer Coordinator
Peggy was raised in New York and Connecticut and studied at Fairfield University. She holds a degree in Communications and worked in the publishing and market research industries for over 15 years. She relocated to Southern California in 1987, married and became a mother and changed her focus to family. She has held numerous volunteer positions in the school setting. In 2000, she set herself on a new journey and became an avid fitness enthusiast. She pursued an educational path in fitness, earning many national certifications in different areas including anatomy, physiology and kinesiology. She is a nationally certified personal and group fitness trainer, Pilates instructor and the founder and President of Fit4Life, LLC. She has over 20 years experience training and teaching fitness to people from age 2-92. She now specializes in fitness for people over age 50.
Peggy’s family includes her husband, Chuck and her three (now grown) sons, Chad, Kyle and Zack. Zack, now 23, was officially diagnosed with Asperger’s when he was 13 years old, although the family’s path to navigating Zack’s journey started when he was much younger (6). Just as family life and fitness was Peggy’s lifeline in changing her trajectory, finding OCASG in 2018 has been a lifeline in helping Zack transition into adulthood.
In her spare time, Peggy enjoys hiking, paddleboarding, cycling and meditation. She is excited to join the OCASG Board of Directors and eager to help make a difference in the lives of those affected by Autism.
Judi Uttal, President, Orange County Asperger's Support GroupJudi Uttal is president of the Orange County Asperger’s Support Group (OCASG) a nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life for individuals and families dealing with high-functioning autism. For the last nineteen years, OCASG has offered an array of educational, social and support programs that have helped hundreds of families.
One of OCASG's important initiatives is the Neurodiversity@Work Orange County project. Neurodiversity@Work is a worldwide movement where companies are eliminating barriers to hiring individuals on the Autism Spectrum. Judi, working with the Thompson Policy Group Orange County Transition Initiative which is leveraging business-to-business marketing techniques to increase the active hiring of people with ASD in Orange County. To help drive this action, Ms. Uttal has created a OC-Autism@Work LinkedIn group. Additionally, Judi, with the assistance of Zavikon's Rebecca Beam (CEO) And Hilary Kokenka (COO) established OCASG Career Club, a holistic program that focuses on providing training and support to enable college-graduates with ASD preemployment, during employment, and postemployment services designed to enable short and long-term career success.
Judi has retired from a successful career as a high technology marketing executive. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Math/Computer Science from UCLA (where she graduated Cum Laude) and an MBA from the Tepper School of Management, Carnegie Mellon University (where she graduated at the top of her class). Judi is married and is the mother of a 30-year-old son with High-Functioning Autism who graduated with a BA in Cinema and Television from California State University, Fullerton.