News and Knowledge

Sasha Grossman started her internship with OAR’s Hire Autism initiative at the end of May. She headed back to Virginia Tech in mid-August where she is a sophomore majoring in political science and minoring in Spanish. Having volunteered with the Best Buddies program throughout high school and being involved in Special Olympics, she explains that interning with Hire Autism seemed like a wonderful opportunity to take her “passion of helping people with disabilities to the next level.”

During her two and a half months at OAR, Grossman worked on the development of the Hire Autism Facebook page, did research regarding social media, and helped with website upkeep. In addition to enjoying her coworkers immensely, she says she appreciated gaining a deeper understanding of what it’s like to work in a professional setting. She was also delighted to discover that one of her peers from the Best Buddies program reached out to Hire Autism to help with his job search. “It was wonderful to see that someone that I actually know personally is being positively impacted by Hire Autism and that I was helpful in that process.”

Siff, who recently returned to George Washington University for her junior year, is continuing her internship with OAR this fall. She most appreciated the chance to learn how a nonprofit works. More specifically, she explained, she now better understands autism research and what it entails. Her projects included writing articles for “The OARacle” and the College Central website and maintaining OAR’s social media and blog. She also worked on creating a web page for the upcoming sexuality education guide. What Siff will take away from her summer at OAR, she says, is “seeing firsthand how individuals in the autism community are affected and how we can help them.”

Grzesiak, now back at The College of William & Mary for her junior year, says that one of her favorite jobs during her internship was writing profiles of people who are a part of OAR in some way. “Whether it was a success story like one of our scholarship winners or highlighting the hard work of an autism mom to be an advocate for her child, I had a part in sharing their stories in the hopes that someone will read them and be inspired.” In addition to those case studies, she wrote articles for “The OARacle” and College Central and worked on social media.

She came away from the internship having learned what a tremendous impact even little things can have on people. “While working on case stories, I have gotten to see how OAR’s resources have made children’s lives better, inspired siblings and parents to become advocates for their loved ones, and kick-started research that wouldn’t have otherwise been conducted.”