Tag Archives: dyslexia

A Picture Worth Much More than 1,000 Words

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Artwork by Jennifer Levine

When Jennifer Levine was given the opportunity to participate in a three-year Leadership Institute for supplementary school education directors, she felt both honored and hesitant.   A joint program of Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, and funded by UJA-Federation of New York, this Institute had the potential to strengthen her professional skills and provide an important cohort for her in the Jewish community.  It also, however, had the potential to bring back familiar feelings of frustration from other Jewish conferences she had attended.

 

Jennifer Levine, a prominent Education Director at Temple Emanu-El in Closter, New Jersey, has Dyslexia.  The frontal learning experiences typical of conferences, where an expert in the field lectures to a large group of people, doesn’t work for her.  And while in the past she may have agreed to the Leadership Institute and suffered in silence as she desperately tried to retain any semblance of meaning from the lectures, this time Jennifer struck a deal.  She met with Dr. Evie Rotstein, the Director of the Leadership Institute, and said that if she is to participate, she needs to be true to herself and to her commitment to multi-sensory education.  Forward-thinking, open-minded and intrigued, Dr. Rotstein agreed.

Jennifer arrived at the Institute’s two-week conference, armed with her drop-cloth, easel, paints and brushes and she set herself up at the back of the room.  Every day, from 8:30-5:30, Jennifer painted.  She put her brushes down during small group discussions, a format that works for her as a learner, to better immerse herself with her community of peers.  She became, as far as we know, the first individual to paint a Jewish conference.

Professor Norman Cohen presented a text study on Jacob and Esau in a lecture entitled, “An Essential Ingredient for Leadership: Making the Bible Come Alive through Midrash”.  Listening to such a wonderfully creative teacher unpack an extremely dense text, under normal circumstances, would have been extremely difficult for Jennifer.  Through painting, however, she was able to stay connected and engaged with Professor Cohen’s seminar and come away with a product that represented the main concepts of his teachings.  Through this process Jennifer was able to identify the big ideas from each lecture during the packed two-week program.  She was able to integrate it into her body, whereas in the past it would have gone in one ear and out the other. “Capturing the feeling of the main idea had a tremendous impact on me as a learner,” Jennifer said.   Now, she is able to refer back to the paintings, and those lectures come back to life.

At one point during the conference, everyone was asked to sit with paper and markers to illustrate their choice of texts.  As Jennifer got to work, she experienced a personal breakthrough.  Because of her Dyslexia and the struggles she needs to overcome on a daily basis, “I often feel inferior to my colleagues in an academic setting,” she says.  “And in this moment, I look at my colleagues and everyone around me is drawing stick figures!  Developmentally, I was way ahead of them!  It was such a pure moment of understanding multiple intelligences.  To have that experience as an adult learner will have a deep, deep impact on my work with students.  To be in that moment as a learner and have that experience – it was mind-blowing.”

Reflecting on the experience as a whole, Jennifer is incredibly grateful to the Leadership Institute for their open-mindedness and for trusting her enough to grant her unusual request.  Jennifer admits that at first she was nervous about what the other participants would think.  But using every opportunity in her own life to better understand her students, she gained a newfound appreciation for what children must feel like when they perceive themselves to be different from their peers.  Being allowed to learn in the ways that work best for her, however, Jennifer reports that she got so much nurturance and encouragement from the community, she understands on a whole new level the importance of multi-sensory education in every classroom.  “It is essential that students who may struggle in one area are given the opportunity to shine in another,” Jennifer says. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

In her role as Education Director, Jennifer has cultivated a professional relationship with Matan in order to best meet the needs of all of her students.  The surprise for all of us, though, was the extent to which this partnership has benefited Jennifer as an individual.  “I have always been frustrated attending conferences and professional development programs.  In the past, I have agreed to participate in the usual ways, all the while assuming there was something wrong with me because I was overwhelmed by the information.  My work with Matan has made me much more aware of my own needs.  So when this conference opportunity came around, I thought I might as well ask!”

The final 45 minutes of each conference day were reserved for group reflection.  As is typical at the end of a long day of intense learning, participants were exhausted.  What Jennifer observed about herself, though, was that she was energized.  “I remember that feeling of being exhausted from all the work it took to just listen.  But this time, my body was active and alert and I was engaged in a creative process.  For me, that was the biggest take-away from this experience.  If our teaching style can actually give our students energy, we’re doing something right.”

For more information about Temple Emanu-El, please visit www.templeemanu-el.com.

To learn more about Matan and addressing the needs of all students, visit www.matankids.org.

 

The King’s Speech

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Written by Matan Executive Director Dori Frumin Kirshner, this article was originally published in the New Jersey Jewish Standard.

If you have not yet seen the film “The King’s Speech,” don’t wait any longer.  I think it should be a requirement.  Without divulging more details than necessary, “The King’s Speech” depicts the real life experience of King George VI, who struggled with a significant speech impediment during the time before he became king.  His wife finds him a speech therapist who labors with the future King for years.  The film succeeds in bringing to the screen the tremendous conflict between this potential personal agony and his predestined duty.

Before viewing the film, I was not aware that any of Britain’s Royalty had struggled with anything more than infidelity.  It makes perfect sense, though, that some percentage of a dynasty would face certain challenges.  The Learning Disabilities Association of America reports that at least 15% of the population has some form of a learning disability.  The CDC’s research tells us that 1 in 110 individuals – and 1 in 70 boys – is diagnosed with Autism.

ADHD, dyslexia, and Asperger’s, all part of our 21st Century lexicon, have been part of the human story long before we had terms with which to label them.  Early on in the Book of Shemot (Exodus), God tells Moses that he is charged with leading the Jewish people out of Egypt.  In turn, Moses (loosely translated) responds, “God, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t speak so well.  I have a stutter and being a public figure might not be the right job for me.”  God tells Moses, “Yes, I am aware of that because I created you this way.”  In other words, God was remarking, “I see all that you are capable of, not simply the things you struggle with.”  Because God recognized Moses’ unique abilities and did not define him by his disability, that is how the Jewish people came to view him as well.

Moses and King George VI demonstrate that learning differences and challenges need not be obstacles to achievement and success.  But what was it that allowed these two great leaders in history to overcome their struggles?  As it turns out, their formula for success is neither complicated nor expensive and can be summed up by 3 main components.  Each leader required:

  1. the unconditional support of his family
  2. an adept champion or therapist who was ready and able to intervene
  3. his own willingness to accept his imperfections without permanently diminishing his determination.  Even royal and Biblical icons are not  perfect.  None of us is.

And yet, all too often in Jewish education, we turn away children – and potential future leaders – because of learning differences.  What would our history be if Moses had been denied his role or King George had not reigned because of an impediment?  What kind of community are we if children who learn differently are met with rejection or indifference?  If at least 15% of people struggle with some sort of learning issue, can the Jewish community afford the price of apathy?  What will become of these 150,000 American Jewish school-age children and their families?

Every time we fail to meet these students and families with the integrity, professionalism and support necessary, we’re essentially saying, “You’re not worthy of a Jewish education.”  In fact, it is our failure, not theirs.  And, it is indefensible.

To be sure, this kind of inclusion demands support – financial, human, educational, and more.  Yet, those are mere details once the greatest impediment to change is no longer an issue – that of attitude.  In the world of special education, and religious special education in particular, the keys to success are built on creating an environment where parents, teachers, counselors and clergy embrace all learners with support and encouragement.  Qualified and compassionate educators who are sensitized to different learning styles will create unique curricula and develop unbreakable bonds with children while meeting individual needs.  If we actually truly believe we are all created in the image of God, this should not be so hard to implement.

Whether the story is told by Spinoza or Spielberg, on the pulpit or the Big Screen, about leaders of religions or nations, Jewish or gentile, every person has the right to learn.  Our job is to ensure that even those who learn differently can do just that.  If it necessitates removing obstacles or building bridges, changing curricula or sensitizing teachers, our past models and frankly demands that we provide opportunities to learn – math and holidays, Hebrew and English, piano and Bar Mitzvah – for all people.  With the proper support, determination and belief, individuals with special needs will surpass your expectations.  The real question is, can we surpass theirs?

February is the month where Oscar nominations are announced and Jewish Disabilities Awareness is addressed.  While I am not a movie critic, “The King’s Speech” gets two thumbs up and is worthy of an Oscar nod.  One for being a great movie, the second for reminding us that education is not only for the “typical” and elite – but for ALL who want it.

Dori Frumin Kirshner is the Executive Director of Matan: For Every Child.  For Every Community.  The Gift of Jewish Learning.