Marlo Payne Thurman, Ph.D.

Marlo began her career in 1992 as a private practice school psychologist. Through the years she held positions with  various group homes, mental health centers, hospital clinics, and schools in conjunction with providing assessment, advocacy, consultation, and counseling services within her practice to thousands of clients. For ten years she also owned and ran a special needs private school that made  national headlines for successfully serving twice-exceptional students. Then, after her school closed, she returned to school herself and received a Ph.D. in Special Education. Her first book, Autism is the Future, came out of that course of study.  From there, she helped to design an autism certificate program at the University of Northern Colorado where she was also teaching. Soon after completing that program, she decided to continue her professional studies and began coursework for her Doctorate in Original Medicine, a “hobby” degree in the field of Naturopathy. She completed these studies in 2023 with her second book, Naturopathic Wisdom: A Common-Sense Approach for Struggling Children and Teens coming out in June of 2024. Then, in 2019, as the Founder of the US Autism Association was moving into retirement, Marlo agreed to take over as President and Board Chairman for the US Autism Association. Always dividing her time between her private practice, continued learning and writing, and charity work, Marlo brings 30 plus years of insight and leadership to the US Autism Association. Marlo lives in northern Colorado where she is an avid outdoor enthusiast, gardener, and mother of two neuro-divergent adult children.