In 2009, the Jewish Special Education International Consortium established February as Jewish Disabilities Awareness and Inclusion month. Over the past 13 years, JDAIM has become a unified national initiative, during the month of February, to raise disability awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide.
I am—quite proudly—a product of the “Sesame Street” generation. Long before Elmo and Abby Cadabby made the scene, the twin cultural landmarks of “Sesame Street” and “Free to Be You and Me” underscored my parents’ message to me: All children want the same things—to feel safe, happy, and loved.
In 2017—two years after first appearing in digital form and more than seven years after research and preparation began—the character Julia first appeared on “Sesame Street.” Part of an initiative to “See Amazing in All Children,” Julia is a character with autism. She was brought on to reflect the reality that “Sesame Street” creators saw in their lives and their families, and also to reinforce one of their key messages: that all children have something to contribute—unique perspectives and talents that help make the world a richer and more interesting place.
The idea of seeing amazing in all children is nothing new to educators, who are trained to do that in the classroom and beyond. It is also a lesson we instill in our students, specifically those at our Aaron Milken Center. Ask any AMC graduate of the last 10 years, and they will be able to tell you about Nika. Nika was a student—now graduate—of Beit Issie Shapiro, Israel’s leading developer and provider of innovative therapies and state-of-the-art services for children and adults across the entire range of disabilities, impacting over half a million people annually. Our youngest learners have been partners with Beit Issie Shapiro for over 10 years, and Wise has been honored for our incredible fundraising efforts. Similarly, our Wise School students have a long-standing partnership with the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled, one of the world pioneers in the field of sport rehabilitation.
Through these partnerships and others, our students see all of the different ways that they—and children around the world—can be amazing. They see the ways that our differences make us special, and make the world a better and more interesting place to be.
— Rabbi Sari Laufer