This past semester, Green Bridge Growers had the great opportunity to serve as a placement for Erica Mitchell, a senior Psychology major at the University of Notre Dame. Erica came to us from the Autism Psychology course co-taught by Dr. Joshua Diehl of Notre Dame and Kristin Weir, Clinical Director of the Ansari Center for Autism Services at Logan Center. Although this course traditionally places its practicum students with the families of young students with autism, we were delighted to serve as the first placement for this course involving adults with autism. And Erica was a perfect match for us! Over the fall semester, Erica served more than 40 hours with us, and was very involved in working with our trainees Matt, Tim, and Chris in all aspects of managing the workflow for our aquaponic greenhouse.
In addition to being a big fan of the Notre Dame football team, Erica hails from Denver and is a huge fan of the Denver Broncos. Many afternoons you could hear her and the guys talking football or comparing notes after the weekend games, always with a lot of friendly rivalry.
Matt, Tim, and Chris took time out recently to do a little interview with Erica to highlight her time with us and to share her great passion to work in the future with people with disabilities. Here’s the flow of their conversation:
Matt: How do you know about Green Bridge Growers?
Erica: I know about Green Bridge Growers from the class that I’m taking at Notre Dame called Autism, and as a part of my class, I’m working here with you guys.
Matt: How did you get interested in autism awareness?
Erica: I became interested in autism when I worked at Camp Christopher outside of Cleveland a few summers ago. During that summer, I got to work with kids and adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities, and I really loved the chance to work with those individuals.
Tim: What are your hobbies and interests?
Erica: Some of my hobbies include really doing anything outside. I love skiing and biking and hiking, a lot of the things I get to do when I’m home in Colorado.
Matt: How does it feel to live at different altitudes from South Bend to Denver?
Erica: Well, South Bend is obviously a lot closer to sea level, versus Denver, which is a mile above sea level, so when I’m home I notice that if I’ve been here in South Bend for a while and I go home and try to go for a run or do exercise, it’s a lot harder there than it is here.
Chris: What is it about autism that particularly interests you?
Erica: I am interested in general in working with individuals with multiple developmental disabilities, but one thing that’s particularly interesting about working with individuals with autism is that it is such a wide spectrum, so you really can’t make assumptions about anyone with this diagnosis; you never know what their different challenges and strengths will be, and every individual and every interaction is unique.
Thanks to Matt, Tim, and Chris for the great interview questions! It was tremendous having you with us this semester, Erica! We all did a lot of learning together and we are very grateful to you for the creativity and energy you brought to Green Bridge Growers!
In addition to being a big fan of the Notre Dame football team, Erica hails from Denver and is a huge fan of the Denver Broncos. Many afternoons you could hear her and the guys talking football or comparing notes after the weekend games, always with a lot of friendly rivalry.
Matt, Tim, and Chris took time out recently to do a little interview with Erica to highlight her time with us and to share her great passion to work in the future with people with disabilities. Here’s the flow of their conversation:
Matt: How do you know about Green Bridge Growers?
Erica: I know about Green Bridge Growers from the class that I’m taking at Notre Dame called Autism, and as a part of my class, I’m working here with you guys.
Matt: How did you get interested in autism awareness?
Erica: I became interested in autism when I worked at Camp Christopher outside of Cleveland a few summers ago. During that summer, I got to work with kids and adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities, and I really loved the chance to work with those individuals.
Tim: What are your hobbies and interests?
Erica: Some of my hobbies include really doing anything outside. I love skiing and biking and hiking, a lot of the things I get to do when I’m home in Colorado.
Matt: How does it feel to live at different altitudes from South Bend to Denver?
Erica: Well, South Bend is obviously a lot closer to sea level, versus Denver, which is a mile above sea level, so when I’m home I notice that if I’ve been here in South Bend for a while and I go home and try to go for a run or do exercise, it’s a lot harder there than it is here.
Chris: What is it about autism that particularly interests you?
Erica: I am interested in general in working with individuals with multiple developmental disabilities, but one thing that’s particularly interesting about working with individuals with autism is that it is such a wide spectrum, so you really can’t make assumptions about anyone with this diagnosis; you never know what their different challenges and strengths will be, and every individual and every interaction is unique.
Thanks to Matt, Tim, and Chris for the great interview questions! It was tremendous having you with us this semester, Erica! We all did a lot of learning together and we are very grateful to you for the creativity and energy you brought to Green Bridge Growers!
RSS Feed
