/-
Above:
Yudi Hochheiser works
under the supervision of
teacher Shawna
Kleiman.
Opposite:
Manis Davidovich reads
his workbook.
One of Dr. Rosenfeld's more
radical ideas is the notion of
opening P'tach to children
with handicaps other than
learning disabilities. Other
board members believe that
P'tach already has its hands
full servicing learning
disabled children, given its
limited financial resources.
But Dr. Rosenfeld believes the
idea is worthy of closer
examination.
Children with emotional or
mental impairments that af-
fect their ability to learn are
being denied an important
part of their Jewish education
because there is no place for
them in the day school
milieu, Dr. Rosenfeld says.
Since these types of han-
dicaps are covered under state
and federal guidelines for
special education in the
public schools, Dr. Rosenfeld
believes that P'tach should
reexamine its goals.
He cites the credo from the
national organization: "to en-
sure the right of every Jewish
child to a full day school
;education."
He believes that the first
step is an accurate assess-
ment of the community's
needs. A strategic planning
committee has been ap-
pointed to "look at P'tach
from front to back." This
group, comprised of represen-
tatives from the other
Detroit-area day schools as
well as interested parents and
professionals, will spend the
next several months studying
issues such as funding, com-
munity needs, expansion to
other day schools and public
attitudes.
As both a mental health
professional and a parent
with children in the P'tach
program, Dr. Rosenfeld sees
community attitudes as a ma-
jor obstacle to P'tach
expansion.
He believes that many
children are not receiving ap-
propriate special education
services because of the stigma
attached to having a han-
dicap such as a learning
disability. This is especially
true in the Jewish communi-
ty, he says, where success is
often viewed in terms of
academic achievement.
It is estimated that as much
as 10 percent of the total
population has some kind of
learning disability, according
to Helene Gruber, executive
director of the Learning
Disabilities Association of
Michigan.
P'tach enrollment does not
reflect those statistics. Out of
the 600 students who attend
both branches of Yeshiva
Beth Yehudah, only 25
children, less than five per-
cent, are enrolled in P'tach.
Where are the rest of the
Jewish children with learn-
ing disabilities? Other in-
stitutions, such as the Agen-
cy for Jewish Education in
Southfield and Temple Beth
El in Birmingham, also offer
special education programs,
but their numbers, too, fall far
below the estimated 10
percent.
Many Jewish youngsters at-
tend public schools because
their parents either cannot
afford or do not desire a
yeshiva education for their
children. Others attend
regular yeshiva classes and
receive private tutoring to
compensate for their learning
problems. Plus, not all
children who have learning
disabilities require special
education.
But Dr. Rosenfeld suspects
that there are many children
who need help but are not
receiving it because their
parents fear the stigma.
Students with learning
disabilities are usually not
severely handicapped and
•
may appear to function in a
normal classroom setting. But
Dr. Rosenfeld cautions, "If a
youngster is not identified,
that child will fail. The trade-
off for the future sacrifices the
present."
Youngsters with learning
disabilities, although they
may have average or above-
average intelligence, are often
unable to learn basic skills
like reading or mathematics
because of difficulties with in-
formation processing or recep-
tive and expressive languge
functions. If these problems
are ignored, the children will
suffer from repeated
academic failure and loss of
self-esteem.
"It's an issue that the Or-
thodox world has to come to
terms with," he said. "I don't
Many children are
not receiving
appropriate
special education
services because
of the stigma
attached to having
a learning
disability.
want to judge other parents,
but we see the consequences
of not attending to the needs
of these children."
In a continuing effort to
"hammer away at the corn-
munity," Dr. Rosenfeld has
established a new board posi-
tion, vice president for com-
munity education and sup-
port, filled by Mrs. Etta Lan-
dy, a psychotherapist who
practices in Troy and Oak
Park. It will be her challenge
to educate the community
about P'tach, and learning
disabilities in general.
Mrs. Landy agrees that
denial and lack of knowledge
is widespread among the
Jewish community. "Many
parents and teachers think
that a (learning disabled)
child is just slow or dumb,"
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
45