Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1
22 Kislev 5762

In This Issue:
1. Where We Are Now
2. Spotlight on East Brunswick, NJ
3. What is Asperger's Syndrome? How Does it Affect Jewish Learning?
4. Meet Our New Board Members

MATAN is proud to provide ongoing services in Manhattan to Central Synagogue and Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, as well as to the East Brunswick Jewish community and Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Georgia. These sites represent a full range of services that MATAN provides, from individual child assessment and instruction, to working with teachers, to developing brand new programs for children with special needs. MATAN will be conducting sessions at the Judith A. Kaye Jewish Educators' Annual Conference in Woodbridge, Connecticut, to be held in January.

Co-founder Meredith Englander represented MATAN on a panel at this year's General Assembly in Washington, DC. The session was titled "Transforming Communities through Innovation and Entrepreneurship". MATAN also holds the distinction of being one of 20 national semi-finalists for the Covenant Foundation Grant.

Through a generous anonymous donation and classroom space provided by East Brunswick Jewish Center, a new program is emerging for Jewish children with learning differences in Central New Jersey.

Created and facilitated by MATAN, the program will be a Hebrew school class for up to six 10-12 year-old children with various learning differences, including Asperger's Syndrome. Prior to the creation of this program, these children were not able to attend religious school. The MATAN curriculum focuses on basic Judaism as well as social skills enhancement in a Jewish, non-denominational, framework.

The class is scheduled to begin on January 2, 2002 and will meet once each week for an hour and a half. Plans are underway for a second MATAN class in East Brunswick for younger children.

Do you know a child who might benefit from these classes? Please call us at 212-284-6774.

Asperger's Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder that is named for Hans Asperger, a Viennese physician who in 1944 first described the behavior patterns that now constitute the syndrome. Children with Asperger's Syndrome are characterized by severe impairment in social interaction and by the development of restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior. They have a great deal of difficulty understanding nonverbal cues, such as body language, and they are often overly sensitive to sights, smells, tastes, and sounds.

Asperger's Syndrome is one of several different types of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (P.D.D.), the most common of which is Autism. Like Autism, Asperger's Syndrome can range from mild to severe. However, children with Asperger's do not have the significant delays in language development, cognitive development, self-help skills, and curiosity about the environment that often characterize children with Autism. Children with Asperger's often excel in subjects such as math and science, and have an excellent rote memory.

Parents who have tried to enroll their children in "regular" supplemental Hebrew school programs have noted various difficulties that prevent successful completion of the program. Specifically, they find the typical classroom to be over-stimulating for their children with Asperger's. They also point out that the average Hebrew school teacher does not usually know how to work with a child who has a learning difference, and is often at a disadvantage to do so considering their large class sizes. Hebrew school classes that meet more than once a week, often for 2 hours at a time, are overwhelming for a child with Asperger's after a full day of school.

Click here to learn more about Asperger's Syndrome.

MATAN is thrilled to welcome Marilyn Forman Chandler and Michelle Kraus to our Board of Directors. Their expertise and dedication have already served to enhance MATAN as an organization. With their ongoing involvement we look forward to a year of continued growth and development.

Marilyn Forman Chandler, a native of Long Island, New York, has been involved in Jewish Professional Leadership since the early 1980's. She assumed her first professional role in the field in 1982 as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, New York. Marilyn served in that capacity for six years before beginning her current position as Executive Director of the Greensboro Jewish Federation. In this position, she has facilitated the growth of what has become one of the largest per capita giving annual campaigns and one of the largest per capita endowment funds in North America. Marilyn was a recipient of a Woman of Achievement Award (1994) from the city of Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women and the Louis Kraft Award (1985) for exceptional promise in the field of Jewish communal service.

Michelle Kraus is a native New Yorker who holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University. She is currently the Director of the Clinical Department of The Family Center, located in lower Manhattan. Michelle has extensive experience working with families affected by HIV/AIDS and cancer, providing mental health services and assisting them with making custody plans for their children. She has also provided play therapy for children in the areas of grief and loss. Michelle is looking forward to serving on the board of MATAN, and is a strong supporter of this new and important resource for the Jewish community and children with special needs.

from the staff and board of MATAN: The Gift of Jewish Learning for Every Child

Please consider MATAN for your end-of-year charitable donations.

To learn more about MATAN, call us at 212-284-6774