Bex Gardner. Owner & Coach, comes to A Life of my Own with a holistic, collaborative approach created from a unique and varied background.

With a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy, which has its roots in purposeful, meaningful work to increase independence starting exactly from wherever the client is currently in this process. And she brings a client-focus and client-driven approach to this work.

Having a deep Social justice / Neurodiversity core belief system brings a focus of self-determination and self-advocacy. This was further developed during work at Bellevue College’s Disability Resource Center while determining individualized college accommodations for students with disabilities, so that they may have equal access to courses and materials.

Operating from a strengths-based educational model brings emphasis in student empowerment and nurturing their belief in their own self-efficacy. This was developed / enhanced while working with Sara Gardner (no relation, autistic creator of the current Neurodiversity Navigators program), and from working in and around the Autism Spectrum Navigators program at Bellevue College since its conception. Becky was adjunct faculty for the Executive Functioning course, and co-taught other courses including Self-Advocacy.

Having experience working through her own disability / executive functioning deficits, and having two neurodivergent adult children, brings an understanding of the day-to-day events and the efforts that go with these experiences (for clients, and for parents).

A Life of my Own is the natural culmination of this prior work and life experience.

Bex is excited to offer her skills and experience to a wider group of young adults to improve their understanding of what ”adulting” looks like, and to assist with increasing knowledge then action in necessary areas - leading to in(ter)dependence – and their feeling of having “A Life of My Own”.

Hi 😊, my name is Jacob Williams. Some things to know about me, I have worked with the neurodiverse population for over nine years, ranging in age from four and up. Some examples; in college I worked with Oregon DOHS for two years as a care giver for a child has with a rare form of autism. We worked on things like motor skills and safety, such as crawling, walking up stairs, and getting down stairs safely.

After graduation I worked for a neurodiverse school in Federal Way that helped teenagers work in community service jobs and build life skills such as going to the grocery store.

Finally, for the past five years I have worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital on the Pediatric Behavioral Medicine unit where I coach children in mental/emotional crises.

Why have I chosen to work in these fields?

Simple, I am neurodivergent (big time ADHD) and understand that most of society is not geared towards neurodiverse thinking. I want to help change this.

I believe neurodiversity to be a strength, and want to help others realize this as well. This starts with self-investment: helping find one’s creative abilities, to grow their own self-esteem, and become more comfortable understanding who they are.

An example is my story of using my ADHD strength:

While in college I learned how to channel my ADHD into what I was focusing on. Before my incoming thoughts were something like 20%- helpful, 70%- not pertinent, and 10%- annoying. I was able to get my incoming thoughts to be 70%-helpful, 20%-not pertinent, and 10%-annoying. Once I figured out how to channel my ADHD thoughts, I found the best way to apply them was in creating study guides/study rooms.

Using the study rooms at my university’s library, where all the walls were white boards, I let loose. When I started to receive top grades in difficult classes other students began to ask me what I was doing. I would invite them to my study sessions and before I knew it, I had made a group of friends that would study with me for the remainder of my junior and senior years. All of whom also started to receive better grades (mostly A’s). This was all possible because of my neurodivergent brain.

What do I do for fun?

When not at work one can find me writing, drawing, creating voice memos, playing Dungeons & Dragons, enjoying video games with my friends, talking with my family, and enjoying the outdoors - be that rain or sun as a true Seattleite does :P.

One important aspect of myself is that I love to be by myself. Being alone with my thoughts is incredibly important to me.

My parents use to tell stories where I would be alone in my room for the majority of the day playing with my action figures and beanie babies - only coming out if I needed to use the restroom or if it was lunch or dinner time.

As an adult this has stuck, but instead of playing with action figures or beanie babies, I enjoy writing, drawing, and being creative.

I come to A Life of my Own all wrapped up in a swirling ball of positive energy.

Diagnosed as ADHD when she was 15, and then (thanks to some of her really persistent students who kept pointing things out to her!) realizing shortly after college that she's also autistic, Jesse did not always have the best experiences in school as a young neurodivergent kid. Focus and reading have always been difficult for her, but luckily she had Bex as her mom to advocate for her.

Away from that support in college, however, she had trouble getting the right accommodations, and with people not understanding her barriers or thinking she just wasn't trying hard enough. Jesse quickly realized that was what they were most passionate about: supporting other neurodivergent people. In college, it became her mission to ensure that other neurodivergent students coming up after her would have the support and access to the things that she lacked during her years in school.

Not liking what she had already seen and experienced in the education and mental health fields, she finally decided that the blueprint didn't already exist, and that she'd eventually have to create it herself if she wanted to most effectively support neurodivergent people with the unique barriers we have. She worked through school with that goal in mind.

After graduation, Jesse joined Bellevue College's Neurodiversity Navigators (formerly Autism Spectrum Navigators) program as a peer mentor in 2016, and quickly became a key member of the team. Two years later, she became Program Manager and led the team of peer mentors in their work with students. It was incredibly rewarding to be part of a team that was breaking down some of the ableism in higher education that she had once been on the receiving end of. She loved to see students thrive with the right support, and after years of working alongside them, achieve their full potential while being their true selves. She was part of a wonderful team that made so much difference in students' lives, and enjoyed working under her professional idol and mentor, Sara Gardner (no relation) immensely.

Wanting to continue to work towards her goal of supporting people in all the ways that she’d needed support growing up (including outside of school), she realized that her mom, Bex, had already been doing that work over at A Life of My Own. Of course, the blueprint was right there all along! Jesse made the jump in September 2023 and has been enjoying working with a few clients at first, and doing mostly administrative support for ALOMO. Being friends with Marc and Jacob for years before becoming coworkers, she's loved joining a new team full of wonderful humans, and hearing all of their innovative ideas for supporting clients. The flexibility of coaching and the ability to tailor what we do to fit each client and perfectly meet them where they're at has been so fulfilling. After almost a decade, it finally feels like they're achieving that goal they initially set for themself.

In their free time, Jesse spends as much time as possible outside with their partner and their dog, Basil. Other interests include — but are definitely not limited to!: DOGS and other animals, plants, watching basketball, Pokemon, learning about all things related to neurodiversity, and a ton of other interests that come and go and sometimes get picked back up again later :)

Hello! My name is Marc Delgado, and I am one of the coaches here at A Life of My Own. I have a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Seattle University and have dedicated most of my adult life to helping at-risk youth.

I am passionate about creating equitable opportunities for neurodivergent students through the work that I do here at ALOMO.

My strengths lie in my ability to actively listen to students.

When I am not coaching, a lot of my time is geared towards hobbies and activities that I can do with my group of friends. I have been hosting a continual Dungeons and Dragons campaign for three years now as a dungeon master and play my fair share of videogames!

When I am not online, I enjoy reading Steven King novels at my local coffee shop, spending time with my family, and listening to the latest indie rock/ indie folk album.

I look forward to seeing students to work collaboratively through their obstacles to help them build a life of their own!