We never had a plan for how or when we would tell R that he was on the autism spectrum. It was not something we spent a lot of time considering because it almost seemed beside the point. R was [...]

I have always considered myself to be an “out of the box” kind of person. As a very young child I was constantly in the midst of engaging, creative and active play. I never really sat down. I was [...]

Like many people who are committed to inclusion, I like to share success stories. I like to talk about synagogues working to make their buildings more accessible or share stories about rabbis who [...]

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like you to take a minute and think about the different communities in which you participate. Consider your book group, your synagogue or your child’s school. Think [...]

Professor Ze’ev Maghen, chairperson of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University, in his book: John Lennon and the Jews (2011) imagines a scene of two lovers about to be [...]

My older sister Laura—and favorite person on this earth—has Down syndrome. She is blessed, and has truly blessed my family, with the most wonderful life. Laura met her boyfriend Darryl (who also [...]

Many buildings are only partially accessible and making needed renovations can be a long-term project. However, there is often much we can do in the short term to make the most of a partially [...]

While in rabbinical school, I spent a year as the student rabbi at Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf in Arleta, CA. It was a deliberate choice on the part of the rabbi in charge of student [...]

A Twitter chat is where a group of Twitter users “meet” at a pre-determined time to discuss a certain topic, using a designated hashtag (#) for each tweet contributed. One or more moderators will [...]

When my children were born, they each represented perfection to me: ten fingers and ten toes, good APGAR scores and a wail that was music to my ears. However, it did not take long for the initial [...]