CIOP

In House Author's Corner

with Darya Jones

 

“Where There Is Difference, Let There Be Understanding”

 

Darya wrote this wonderful article about her experience being on the spectrum with Asperger’s syndrome. It has been published by Santa Monica Daily Press, Live Your Life Consultants, and the Los Angeles Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue. In addition, the organization Autism Speaks shared it on their Facebook page (where Darya got over 300 comments, 1,600 “likes,” and 131 “shares”), their Instagram (which received 1,800 “likes”) and their Twitter. And as a result of publishing this article , a member of Autism Speaks’ board has asked Darya to help draft legislation that will help the autism community.

A last note about the miracles of technology:

Darya posted the article on her Linked-In page. The next morning she received a Linked-In alert from a woman at Harvard Divinity (where Darya is applying to graduate school), who is a Harvard alum and works at Harvard, who said she loved Darya’s article and said “We have to get you into Harvard Divinity School.” It’s a small world with social media!

 

Darya Jones has been coming to the Church in Ocean Park since 2011. Craig Hamilton and Claudia Landis knew that she was interested in religion, and they thought Darya would like their interfaith church. She began attending and has stayed since. Thanks to her friendship with Janet, social justice was no longer an abstract idea, but the beginning of a life-long passion. Darya joined the Committee for Racial Justice, attended the Methodist Church Annual Conferences every year, and learned about the human rights abuses in the Philippines. She is now on the Board of the church, and on the Trustees. Currently, she is an intern with the Committee for Racial Justice.