Advancing Special Needs Programs: Start Where the Funder Is At

By Michelle K. Wolf
Published on April 26, 2013

Disability Rights Are Civil Rights

By Michelle K. Wolf
Published on February 14, 2013

Not your grandmother’s Alzheimer’s

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on May 8, 2008

Carol Kirsch is among the 5 percent to 10 percent of individuals with early onset Alzheimer's, those who develop symptoms before the age of 65. And she is one of the growing number who are being diagnosed at an early stage of the disease.

Yes, I have Tay-Sachs Disease

By Eric Pastor
Published on November 29, 2007

First person account of living with Tay-Sachs disease.

Club Kung Fu teaches special kids lots more than skill

By Nathan Sobol
Published on November 1, 2007

Club Kung Fu is a martial arts program for Jewish special-needs children ages 9-15 that is designed to improve self-discipline, self-esteem and physical fitness. Right now, about eight boys meet weekly, but the program is expanding, thanks to a Cutting Edge grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles.

Botox Treatments Aid Stroke Survivors

By Steve Ditlea
Published on February 16, 2006

Better known for cosmetic enhancement, Botox injections immobilize key muscles in stricken arms or legs, allowing physical therapy and exercise to extend range of motion and flexibility. Effects wear off, so the Botox is reinjected every three months for a year or more.

Groups Celebrate Seders With a Cause

By Gaby Wenig
Published on April 8, 2004

At Jewish Family Service's Freedom Seder, participants read from a haggadah that was just a little bit different. Instead of reading of the four sons, those at the Freedom Seder read about the "four community members."

"The wise community member asks, 'How can we, as individuals, and a community, address domestic violence?'"

Making Dyslexia Funny

By Adam Wills
Published on August 7, 2003

T he Fonz was the ultimate of cool on "Happy Days," but in real life Henry Winkler struggled through school. Winkler and his parents -- who called him stupid and lazy -- didn't know that he was dyslexic until he was diagnosed at age 30.

Planning a Special Bar/Bat Mitzvah

By Becca Hornstein
Published on August 10, 2000

In 1987, when Joel Hornstein stood before over 200 congregants, family members and friends to recite his Bar Mitzvah Torah portion in English and Hebrew, he had only been able to speak for a few years. No one expected a child with autism, or any other significant disability, to undertake the rigorous training in a foreign language needed to prepare for this significant Jewish rite of passage. Jewish special education was almost nonexistent. Yet Joel's family wanted to provide him with the opportunity to declare his value and dignity before God and their community, and celebrate his journey out of the solitude of autism.

From Best Boy to Best Man

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on December 4, 1997

Two decades ago, filmmaker Ira Wohl sat at the Passover table andthought about his cousin, Philly. For his first 50 years, thedevelopmentally disabled Philly had lived at home with his parents inQueens, never venturing into the world. Wohl now wondered how Phillywould survive once his ailing parents were gone.