by Debra Rubin
NJJN Bureau Chief/Middlesex

February 3, 2009

The Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County has launched a program that aims to make special education consultancy services available to every area synagogue religious school.

The effort kicked off Jan. 18 with a professional development conference for school administrators and teachers.

That will be followed by more personalized services to local educators.

“Phase two will be implemented in the months to come, when we will begin working with individual teachers at the direction of the principals,” said Eliot Spack, a member of the conference’s steering committee. “Maybe we will have more than one consultant available for congregational Hebrew schools that request them.”

Spack said the conference was an outgrowth of a meeting convened last year “to brainstorm” about what needed to be focused on in Jewish education. They decided to focus on “how best to educate special-needs children,” said Spack, an Edison resident and former executive director of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education. “All of the clergy and principals acknowledged close to 20 percent of their students had some type of learning disability. They wanted some type of customized plan for these children.”

(According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one out of nine children under the age of 18 receives special education services.)

Spack said the set goal was not to create a resource room where students with learning issues would be separated, but rather to integrate them so they can learn with the other students and yet not have their presence be disruptive in the classroom.

At the opening conference, held at the East Brunswick Jewish Center, educators were given tips for adapting their curricula and other approaches for integrating special-needs children in their programs.

Day school educators were also invited to the professional day, according to Gabriela Sadote Sleppin, director of the federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council.

The program, attended by more than 50 educators, was conducted by Wendy Dratler, a Montville special education consultant and former director of the Center for Special Education at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.

‘Pay more attention’

Dratler’s keynote address highlighted the need for sensitivity when dealing with special-needs children. She spoke of a “team cooperation” approach encompassing parents, principals, and teachers.

Some parents may be reluctant to get involved because they have difficulty acknowledging their children’s challenges, said Dratler.

The issue of approaches to learning-disabled children has become more prominent as reported rates of autism have risen sharply in recent years, especially in New Jersey, said Dratler. Others problems, such as attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity, have also become more prominent, forcing schools to come to grips with how best to help students learn.

Dratler said the state’s high average of such children is probably skewed because of its reputation for generosity in providing for special-needs children. “New York and New Jersey happen to have the best special education,” she said.

Dratler said many perceived behavioral problems are actually learning disabilities. She went through a list of tools — special chairs, squeeze balls, and even music — that can be employed to engage a child.

Among Dratler’s suggestions was zeroing in on three manageable goals. For example, a teacher focusing on the blessings on the Shabbat candles could have the child learn to read the prayer in transliterated English, progress to learning its melody, and then go on to singing the prayer in Hebrew.

Dratler acknowledged that one of the most problematic issues in religious school is whether special-needs children can or should master Hebrew. In most cases, she said, such children can handle Hebrew instruction, although a certain amount of sensitivity is required.

“Some brains are just not wired to do it,” she said.

Often children who can’t manage Hebrew feel they are letting their families down.

“I say to them, ‘You know Hashem says it’s okay to read in transliteration as long as you get the words out,’” said Dratler. “I can see their shoulders go down and the anxiety pour out.’”

Those attending the event found the day instructive. Ruth Schechter, a teacher at Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick and Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, said Dratler’s message “will help me pay a little more attention to students with special needs. I think that in itself is good.”

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