News and Knowledge

Sophie Thurschwell wrapped up her internship on Friday, August 16, after two and a half months as an integral member of OAR’s programs and outreach team. Those months were busy and productive ones for her. “The main projects I worked on were confirming the proof of diagnosis for each of the scholarship finalists and recording and editing audio versions of the Sex Ed for Self-Advocates online guide to make the resource more accessible.” She also wrote Community News articles for The OARacle, managed OAR’s social media pages, and reached out to potential blog contributors.

Those busy days were worthwhile both for what she learned about the autism community and the opportunity to take on new tasks. “The insight into what a more formal involvement with the autism community looks like has been the most valuable aspect of the internship. Working at OAR this summer has definitely been an important eye-opener for me,” she explains. “The most interesting experience was finishing the ‘proof of diagnosis’ checklist for the Lisa Higgins Hussman and the Schwallie Family scholarship finalists. Helping finalists and parents to submit the correct documentation taught me a lot about the nature of medical diagnoses.”

Thurschwell went on to say how grateful she is for the “depth of experience OAR offers their interns. Many of the projects I worked on this summer included elements that I had no experience with, but everyone had enough confidence in me to let me try to learn the skills necessary.  For example, prior to recording the audio to the sex ed guide, I had no experience with recording or editing sound files of any sort; now, I feel like I have (at least) a basic understanding of what is needed to produce quality audio recordings.”

This fall, she begins her sophomore year at the University of Michigan where she will major in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience.