Vanessa Yoder discovered her career interest in working with children with disabilities during a year in the Service Adventure program.  While living and serving in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she thoroughly enjoyed her work as an assistant to a special education teacher.

The Service Adventure experience was part of what motivated Vanessa to volunteer for ADNet as a Student Associate in the 2009-10 school year. She also brings to ADNet the experience of several summers working at a day camp with children who have autism.

Vanessa (in blue shirt) hangs out with a group of her students in Albuquerque

“I have had the opportunity to work with five different autistic children, all of whom I have fallen in love with,” Vanessa writes. “My observations of how these children have been treated by the other children has really impressed upon me how important it is for children to be made aware of what autism is and why children who have it behave differently,” she adds.  “I think it is especially important for children in churches to be loving towards children with autism since that may determine whether or not a family continues to attend church.”

Vanessa is a native of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and a member of Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Belleville. She is beginning her senior year at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where she is majoring in elementary and special education. She plans to focus her work for ADNet on helping people to better understand children who have autism.

Vanessa's contributions to ADNet will coordinate with an honors research project at Geneva College. She would like to explore ways of building understanding of autism among groups of children so that they are more capable of being loving and inclusive towards their peers who live with autism.

“I really desire for children to be able to show Christ's love towards others, regardless of their disabilities,” Vanessa comments. ADNet looks forward to the gifts she will bring this year to developing additional resources to welcome individuals with autism within faith communities.

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