"It’s all in the attitude!” rallies my Monday morning Zumba instructor, as we attempt to imitate her lithe and lively movements after a weekend of double desserts and double dishes. But attitudes can be hard to change. Take disabilities, for instance. Many people are fearful, nervous and curious of people with disabilities.
The generic lessons on “Vahavata l’reiacha kamocha. Love your neighbor as yourself” that are a mainstay of every Jewish school, teach children to treat everyone respectfully, but does it change attitudes?
At the Macks Center for Jewish Education we offer B’More Inclusive Experiences to educate, sensitize and heighten people’s consciousness to the presence and preferences of people in our personal worlds who have a disability. It’s a creative process that tailor-makes each program to meet the needs of the target audience. The group’s age level, Jewish background and the context of the lesson are carefully considered. Culling from a constellation of sources, we choose stimulating activities, reflections and discussions to craft an experience that will impact that particular group’s understanding and appreciation of people with disabilities.
I have to be careful, though, because sometimes my message can be innocently misconstrued by a daydreaming participant, like the time one eight year old wrote in his reflection which was shaped like a snowflake because, like people, every snowflake is different, “I learned that I am a snowflake.”
But usually the message hits home. How do I know? Because I get letters like these that came from Bais Yaakov’s Middle Schoolers:
“Your lesson helped me realize that kids with disabilities are pretty much the same as me, but they just have a little trouble doing some things, or look different.”
“I really enjoyed that you came to speak to us. It gave me a whole new way to look at disabilities.”
“You inspired me by telling us that even if someone has a disability you should not treat them differently. I really enjoyed when we all got into a circle and every circle got bigger until we all spread out and we all had a lot of room. Thank you for coming and inspiring me.”
“When we did the activities, I thought I knew exactly why we are doing it, after, though, I realize I didn’t know because the activities weren’t at all to show what types of disabilities people have, but that anyone with a disability is really a very normal person with a struggle. I took home a lot from your workshop.”
“You came to show me the real definition of disability, which shows people with disabilities are not much different than people without.”
“I used to stay away from people with disabilities; I was scared of them… Whenever I had to confront someone with a disability it made me really uncomfortable… You taught me that they may be bad at reading but amazing at dance…Most importantly, you taught me how to be a better person.”
“In a fun and creative method, your point hit home. The engaging games and activities that you brought in helped me visualize it better.”
While I hope my message is impactful, years of coordinating professional development workshops for local Jewish teachers has taught me nothing if not,
In order to effect change, you need to FOLLOW UP.
If we want to effect behavior in the playground,
on the basketball court and
at birthday parties…
If we want to influence the next generation of
Parents,
Synagogue board members and
Jewish community professionals,
then we need to incorporate a variety of sessions that impart a sensitive, yet empowering attitude toward people with disabilities. This link (Middle & High School) and this link (Elementary) include a host of age-appropriate ideas for incorporating these lessons into your school curriculum, along with appropriate pesukim, verses, that ground these ideas in our Jewish tradition, like
“A human being mints many coins from the same mold and that are all identical. Bu the Holy One, Blessed be G-d, strikes us all from the mold of the first human and each one of us is unique.”
(Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5)
This spring we hope to launch a new research project to measure the effects of intentionally disability awareness experiences on the attitudes of middle schoolers in local Jewish schools. Schools that would like to participate can email me
As a professional with passion I am always excited to speak to you about how to create the right experience for
your students,
your board members or
your staff for 11 ½ months a year. You’ve got to understand, Pesach preparations usurp all my passion and creativity during the last 2 weeks of April – of course, with a positive attitude!
To book a B’More Inclusive Experience for your class, staff or bunk, or to participate in the Baltimore disAbility Awareness research project, contact
Yael Zelinger yzelinger@cjebaltimore.org
