Local Student Surmounts Autism Challenges to be Youth Russian Ambassador

As a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Joshua Yarrington spent much of his time wrapped up in his own world. This summer, he's traveling around the world to Russia as part of a study abroad program. 

"I just kind of felt secure in my own world," Yarrington said of his experiences with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. "I wasn't very active. I didn't know people very well." 

But after moving every few years due to his father's military service, Yarrington has had many chances to meet and interact with new people. And after falling in love with Russia at an early age, and studying Russian for the last three years, he's ready to explore a country on the other side of the globe. 

Yarrington is traveling to Russia with the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program. He applied for the program with the recommendation of his Russian teacher at C. D. Hylton High School in the Dale City area, where Yarrington is a sophomore. Out of the seven that applied to the program, two are going to Russia, and one is going to Tajikistan to learn Persian.

Yarrington's father introduced him to Russian culture after he returned from a stint in the military with the nuclear disarmament program. 

"He came back and he told us a bunch of stories about the Russian people and culture, and got me really interested," Yarrington said. 

Yarrington studied Russian online until he got to high school. He loves how different the Russian language is from the more common languages studied in high schools in the United States.

"You don't know very many people who know Russian," he said. 

He'll stay in Kazan, Russia, with a host family, and attend the university there, roughly 500 miles east of Moscow. He doesn't know yet which host family he'll get, and won't find out until a few days before he leaves on June 20. 

When not working on his studies, Yarrington loves watching shows like Animal Planet, listening to music, and reading, including informational books about the desert or rainforest. He's on the school rowing team, and is reparing a Lake Ridge Marina trail for his Eagle Scout project.

To learn more about Yarrington and his trip to Russia, see this announcement. Proud of your own child or student and interested in posting your own announcement? Find out more here.