Woman Is First Openly Autistic Person to Practice Law in Florida: Reports

A stock photo shows the scales of justice (Vladimir Cetinski/iStock)

A Florida woman has become the first person in the state of Florida to openly have autism and practice law, it was reported.

Haley Moss was diagnosed with autism at age 3, and doctors had said she might not even be able to work a minimum wage job or live on her own, according to The Associated Press on Feb. 16.

The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Moss, 24, of Parkland, passed the Florida Bar weeks ago and graduated from the University of Miami’s School of Law.

She officially became a lawyer in January, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Lisa Walsh administered the oath to Moss at a swearing-in ceremony.

“I’m very passionate about things I enjoy and I love to write,” Moss told AP. “That’s also part of why I went to law school, and I love to be able to help others, so even with writing, I love that I’m able to express myself completely and what I can say has the ability to help someone else.”

Moss was offered a job by law firm Zumpano Patricios.

“As a core value, we wanted to be the first firm to bring in an openly autistic lawyer and make the point that if you align people to their strengths then given the chance, they excel,” said Joseph Zumpano, co-founder and managing shareholder of the company, reported KDVR.

“To our knowledge, Haley is the first lawyer that we know of in a substantial law firm in the state of Florida that is openly autistic. There may be others but we haven’t found them,” Zumpano continued.

Moss and her new boss said they will encourage autistic people to never give up on their dreams.

“My advice for people with disabilities and people with autism that are looking for jobs or anything is don’t place limits on yourself and knowing what you’re good at helps a lot, too,” Moss said.

“If you’re an autistic individual or a family with an autistic family member, don’t let anybody else’s perceptions of your limitations dictate your own,” Zumpano continued.

He added, “There’s hope for everybody.”

Stress Exposure During Pregnancy Observed in Mothers of Children With Autism

Stress during pregnancy has been linked to several conditions such as autism, according to the University of Missouri.

“Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine have observed a variant of a stress-sensitive gene and exposure to stress during pregnancy among two groups of mothers of children with autism. The researchers believe the finding could be a step toward helping identify women who have greater risks for having children with autism when exposed to stressors during a specific time window during pregnancy,” the school said in a release in 2016.

David Beversdorf, M.D., who was involved in the study, said that stress was a factor.

“Previous research has shown that environmental influences such as stress can play an important role in the development of the condition,” he stated.

He added: “We know that some mothers who experience significant levels of stress don’t have children with autism, but others do. To help understand why, we studied a gene that is known to affect stress and found a link between it and the development of autism with exposure to stress.”