Faith and Spirituality

Erika Abbott

Erika Abbott is an intelligent woman and talented writer. Erika’s disability advocacy started in grade school, where she and some friends, eventually including fellow Speaking and Training Bureau member Aaron Seglin, formed the Disabled Posse. The idea, Erika explained, is “when you’re a kid, you are fearless,” and younger kids are more likely to ask questions. But, “by middle school, that’s where the intimidation starts. Everyone’s scared of the things they don’t know.” With Aaron as her voice when she struggled to speak for herself, Erika and the Disabled Posse worked to educate other kids in their school about what it was like to live with a disability, especially at such a young age, and inspire change through their work.

While those days in suburban New Jersey have long passed, Erika’s mission has not. Erika currently lives in Los Angeles and is actively involved in the Jewish community. Because the town she grew up in had such a small number of Jewish families, Erika actively sought friends who shared similarities, which led to some lifelong friendships. [continue reading…]

Justin Borses

Justin Borses is a 21-year-old “valley kid from California” who lives with Cerebral Palsy. Currently, he is a student at California State University at Northridge (CSUN), majoring in broadcasting and journalism, but he’s secretly a theatre kid at heart. Justin is a major extrovert and thrives on conversation and interaction with others, which makes his job as a sports broadcaster the perfect fit!

Justin has had Cerebral Palsy his whole life. Growing up, his parents enrolled him in equine therapy, not only to help his motor skills, but to give him an emotional outlet as well. From this, Justin learned he likes his feet to be “firmly planted on the ground,” so horseback riding most likely isn’t in his future! [continue reading…]

Idan Degani, a special education student, communicating with his teacher via iPad

Ignacio Estrada, the educational consultant and motivator, once said: “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” The Torah put it even more forcefully, “train a youth in his own way, he will not swerve from it even in old age.” (Proverbs 22:6) In 2015, Athena Fund found that while many special education students had iPads, their teachers did not. Therefore, Athena Fund initiated the “Digital Toolbox for Every Special Education Teacher” program, where each teacher receives an iPad along with techno-pedagogical training, a projector, wireless internet for the classroom, and more.

Athena Fund is an Israeli nonprofit dedicated to empowering Israeli teachers by providing them with advanced technological tools and training. Established in 2006, the Fund has several programs: “Digital Toolbox for Every Teacher in Israel” (launched in 2007 and extended to kindergarten teachers in 2012), “Digital Toolbox for Every Science Teacher” (launched 2014), “Digital Toolbox for Every Special Education Teacher” (launched 2015), and “Digital Toolbox for Every English Teacher” (launched 2018). [continue reading…]

The mission of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles is to assist youth in reaching their full potential through innovative, impactful programs. For over 100 years, JBBBSLA has been offering one-to-one mentoring for Jewish youth who could benefit from an additional positive adult role model. In addition, JBBBSLA offers a Jewish and secular residential camp for youth in Greater Los Angeles. Once program participants reach high school, they are eligible to participate in college guidance services and apply for scholarships to help them reach their higher educational goals.

RespectAbility recently had the opportunity to partner with Teen Talk App, one of JBBBSLA’s newer programs. Teen Talk App provides a free, anonymous, safe place for teens to request support from trained peers and learn from others with similar experiences. The free app is available to download on iOS and Android devices for teens 13-19. The app is used by teens in over 100 countries and averages about 150 daily active users. [continue reading…]

“The Jack and Shirley Silver Center for Special Needs builds and nurtures an inclusive and accepting community where individuals with disabilities and their families have opportunities to make meaningful connections to each other and their communities. We serve as a catalyst and leader for transforming the ways in which the community at large understands and interacts with people with different abilities.” [continue reading…]

Shlomo Meyers

Shlomo Meyers was born in Manhasset, New York on December 6, 1985 with Down Syndrome. He is the middle child in a family of seven children. Meyers currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Danielle. He has been working at Maimonides Academy in Los Angeles since 2014.

Meyers describes himself as a kind, respectful person. Growing up, Judaism was a major component of his life. He is “proud to be a Jewish person, even if it’s hard to be a Jewish person sometimes.” He joked, “especially when we get to Yom Kippur!” He began to read the Torah at the age of five as he says it helps to be a Jewish person and read the Torah. Aside from this, his favorite Jewish holiday is Hanukkah, although Purim comes in a close second! [continue reading…]

Francesco Hayez painting of the destruction of the Jewish temple

Saturday night began the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av. This is a fast day, and traditionally requires a great deal of mourning. When determining our individual observance, however, we must remember core Jewish values. Judaism emphasizes the wellbeing of individuals and their safety. One should not put themselves in a position of harm because they are trying to follow religious traditions. Judaism recognizes this with the concept of Pikuach Nefesh, the saving of a life. [continue reading…]

“The Jewish Los Angeles Special Needs Trust (JLA Trust) provides professional trustee services to people with physical, mental, cognitive, and developmental disabilities with affordable pooled special needs trusts so beneficiaries of legal settlements and inheritances do not lose their essential government benefits.  Our person-centered services support people surviving on these benefits (often SSI and/or Medi-Cal), helping them to use their funds to pursue hobbies, get better medical care, or even go on vacation.”

Two weeks ago, I had the absolute joy and privilege to attend a webinar entitled “How Nonprofits Work.” It was the second of seven free, phenomenal webinars being put together by Joshua Steinberg. This “Leaders of the Future” series, which concludes on July 20, is providing incredible content to introduce aspiring Jewish lay leaders with disabilities, like me, to the topics and skills we need to lead as volunteers and professionals in nonprofit organizations. As of yesterday, the series had had fantastic sessions on individual giving and making an organization or individual truly shine on social media. Yesterday’s session, which demystified the sometimes daunting world of foundations, was so informative that I’m going to write about it for next week. Remember, if you’ve missed any of these webinars, they are available for free on the RespectAbility website, now and forever. [continue reading…]