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26 Friday, December 16, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Learning Disabled Get Equal Chance at Jewish Education at UHS
Editor's Note: United He-
brew Schools, the Jewish
Welfare Federation's after-
noon communal system. is
reaching out to serve chil-
dren with special needs. Be-
low are reports on two of
I
AL KLINE
•
DALGLEISH
CADILLAC
6160 CASS AVE.
TR 5-0300
the special classes currently
scheduled at United Hebrew
Schools.
Nine years ago Beverly
Mitchell and her late hus-
band Richard decided their
son, who was deaf, was en-
titled to a Jewish education.
The result of their interest
was - a class for deaf and
hard-of-hearing children
which now meets every Sun-
day at the man United He-
brew Schools building.
"The success rate has
been phenomenal," said
Brynah Leib, • a former
teacher at the Detroit Day
School for the Deaf, who has
been teaching the special
UHS class for four years.
"Almost all of the boys
have been Bar Mitzvah, and
several students have been
confirmed. -
Mrs. Leib currently has
three students in her class,
which allows her to give
each much individual atten-
tion:' Becky Goldberg, 10,
and Mark Levinson, are
profoundly deaf. Becky's
seven-year-old sister Amy,
is hearing-impaired.
This is Amy's first year in
WINTER BALL
DINNER DANCE
at
BETH ACHIM
(Wasserman Hall)
Saturday, December 31, 1977 9:00 P.M.
Dancing to the Music of
Hal Gordon
and his Orchestra, with featured Vocalist
Full Course Sit-down Dinner
Reserved Tables Available
Continental Breakfast
Set-ups furnished (B. Y. O. B.)
Tickets $22 5 ° per person
Presented by
BETH ACHIM MEN'S CLUB
For tickets, call Beth Achim office:
352-8670
Chairman -
Donald Davis
Coordinated by
Maynard M. Feldman
In the World Zionist Congress Elections:
VOTE FOR THE
BUILDERS OF ISRAEL! •
VOTE LABOR ZIONIST
VOTE SLATE
2
• THE 29TH WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS WILL
DETERMINE THE CHARACTER AND DIREC-
TION OF THE WORLD ZIONIST MOVEMENT.
WE MUST THEREFORE REASSERT THE
VITALITY OF THE LABOR ZIONIST IDEA FOR
THE LEADERSHIP OF THE WORLD ZIONIST
ORGANIZATION AND FOR THE SOCIETY
OF ISRAEL.
_
.
• LABOR ZIONISM FIRED THE IMAGINATION
OF MANKIND.
It rebuilt a desolate land,
. It instituted the advanced social forms of
of the Kibbutz and the Moshay.
it built and supports a great labor move-
ment—the Histadrut and its sister
movement. Na . amat.
•
IN THE DIASPORA.
* We support the Jerusalem Program.
* We call for democracy in the conduct of
Jewish communal affairs.
* We fight for the protection of Jewish
rights everywhere.
* We continue our practical support for
Jewish education and culture.
"Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth," says
teacher Brynah Leib as she helps Mark Levinson, 11, with
his Hebrew reading at a special United Hebrew Schools
class for deaf and hearing-impaired children. Becky Gold-
berg, 10, awaits her turn to read.
the class, so she works qui-
etly on her own with a
"Bible Activity Funbook -
while Mrs. Leib works with
Becky and Mark.
"This is their first year
doing Hebrew vocabulary,"
Mrs. Leib said, "and they
already know several
words: 'abba' (father),
`ima' (mother), `morah'
(teacher) and 'shalom.' We
also go to visit the syna-
gogue a lot so they know
words like `shul' and
First Becky reads the He-
brew alphabet, followed by
Mark. They sound the let-
ters carefully: "k000-ff,"
"meh'mm." Mrs. Leib oc-
casionally lends a helping
hand: "It's 'nun,' Mark, put
your tongue on the top of
your mouth like this to
make the sound, nnn. -
"The sounds are very im-
portant," she said. "The
children have to be under-
stood by others, so we go
over the alphabet very of-
ten."
After the alphabet the
children ready—slowly-
from a Hebrew primer, then
continue reading by them-
selves while Mrs. Leib
works with Amy.
They discuss several
Bible stories, including
Noah's Ark, one of Amy's
favorites. She tells the story
animatedly, using sweeping
hand gestures to illustrate
• LABOR ZIONISM IS FIRMLY COMMITTED TO
THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF
ISRAEL, ENSURING SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR
ALL ITS CITIZENS.
• Through urban and agricultural
cooperatives.
* Through an enlightened labor movement.
* Through the support of religious pluralism.
OUR BONDS WITH THE AMERICAN LABOR
MOVEMENT AND OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH
TRUE PROGRESSIVE ELEMENTS EVERY-
WHERE DEPEND ON THE FORCE OF THIS
COMMITMENT.
• THE LABOR ZIONIST MOVEMENT PLEDGES
FULL SUPPORT TO THE DEMOCRATICALLY
ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, PAR-
TICULARLY AS THAT GOVERNMENT SEEKS
THE PEACE WHICH ISRAEL SO RICHLY
DESERVES.
For dynamic leaderihip in the
World Zionist Movement:
VOTE FOR THE
BUILDERS OF ISRAEL!
VOTE LABOR ZIONIST
VOTE SLATE
2
Labor Zionist Alliance, Pioneer Women,
Friends of Labor Israel,
Friends of Pioneer Women, Habonim/Dror
the narrative.
Later on Mrs. Leib dis-
cusses the holiday of Ha-
nuka with the children. She
tells them, simply, so they
will comprehend, the story
of the celebration, and they
talk about the menora and
the dreidel. The following
week she will teach them
.the blessings for the can-
dles.
Both the children and Mrs.
Leib understand sign lan-
guage but Mrs. Leib does all
her teaching orally, even
though lip-reading is harder
for the children to under-
stand.
"This is a totally oral pro-
gram, - Mrs. Leib said. "We
want the children to under-
stand the synagogue serv-
ices, to be able to integrate
into the hearing world:"
The future of the class for
the deaf, which has had a
maximum of seven students
at one time, is uncertain.
"We'll keep the class as
long as there's a need," said
UHS Superintendent Jay
Stern. "If there are other
students who need our serv-
ices, they will be welcomed.
But if there aren't, we'll
also be happy because it
means our job is done."
* * *
A special class for the
learning disabled had been
discussed many times in the
past before one was started
in October, said Rabbi Sid-
ney Green, prirlcipal of
UHS' Bnai David branch.
"It's estimated that 10
percent of the children in
any school have a learning
disability," Rabbi Green
said. "If there were all
these children with prob-
lems—maybe 20 in a school
of 200—where were they,
why weren't we dealing
with them? -
Rabbi Green said many
learning disabled children
never enroll in Hebrew
School. - For one thing, par-
ents who realize their child
will have trouble in a regu-
lar class are often embar-
rassed to ask if there is a
special program for the
learning disabled so they
never contact_ us, - he said.
"In addition, many par-
ents are told by the special-
ists who work with their
children in the secular
schools that the child
shouldn't take on any extra
load in addition to regular
schoolwork. In theory, I ab-
solutely agree. But they just
don't realize the importance
of Jewish education."
Rabbi Green said the few
learning-disabled children
who did enroll in regular
UHS classes failed to keep
pace with the other children
their age. Most eventually
caused behavior problems
for their teachers.
The present class of six
boys was organized after
talks with teachers about
students who weren't learn-
ing. The class is so small
partly because they wanted
all the students to be about
the same age, he said.
The 11 and 12-year-old
boys in the special class
meet twice a week at Bnai
David. Teacher Hartly Har-
ris is working on two main
subjects: the Bar Mitzva
service and the haggada.
"Most of them will be
having a Bar Mitzva next
year," he said. "We're not
teaching the Haftara-
they'll have special tutoring
for that. But we want them
to be able to understand the
Saturday morning service
and to be able to read the
blessings and Haftara, not
just recite them from mem-
ory. We're learning the
notes to the chants and
some of them seem to find
chanting easier than read-
ing.
"We're starting on the_
haggada so long before
Passover because we want
them to be able to do more
than recite the- Four Ques-
tions. We want them to be
able to lead the seder."
Starting at the beginning
of the haggada, Hans and
his students go over the
meanings of the items on
the seder plate; then each
student reads the kidush.
Rabbi Green hopes to
have more speical classes in
the future. "Teachers have
brought several students to
my attention, but we
wouldn't accommodate
them because they were too
young to fit in with • the
present class, - he said.
"Maybe in a year or so
we'll be able to have 'a
special 'aleph' class so we
can help children with
learning problems from the
beginning, before they
waste four years in a regu-
lar class.
"And I'd like to see sepa-
rate classes for different
problems," he said. "Maybe
one class for slow learners,
another for those with read-
ing problems. Now Hart-
ley's task is very difficult,
even though there are only
six in the class, because
their problems are so differ-
ent.
"Our goal is to have them
go on to Hebrew high school___,)
after their Bar Mitzva," he
said. "Right now they have
no motivitation to enjoy He-
brew school. Their attitude
is so bad there's no chance
they'll go on.
"These children have a
right to more than toler-
ation from a teacher for
whom they are a problem.
They have a right to a real
education. -
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Arson Suspected
ADELPHIA, N.J. (JTA)—
State authorities are in-
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stroyed a dormitory build-
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last week.
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