frontlines

'The Dyslexia Song '

Israel Trip

Brothers find comfort knowing
famous people are dyslexic, too.

I

JNF Contest Marks
'New Year Of Trees'

Barbara Lewis
Contributing Writer

T

he Dyslexia Song" tells dyslexic kids not to be
ashamed.
Steven Spielberg has it. So does Whoopi Goldberg,
Orlando Bloom and Henry Winkler (aka The Fonz). So did
Leonardo DaVinci, Galileo, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.
"It" is dyslexia, a neurologic condition that makes it dif-
ficult for people to read, write and spell but that doesn't affect
intelligence. It can take many forms in addition to the one
that's best known, where people often see letters and words
backwards.
Last summer, after Caleb Kleinfeldt, 9, and his brother
Adin, 11, learned they were dyslexic, their mother, Nancy,
helped them research the condition.
"We started finding lots of accomplished people who
were dyslexic, and it reminded me of Adam Sandler's 'The
Hanukkah Song,"' said Kleinfeldt, 40, of Huntington Woods,
referring to a popular song that lists celebrities who are
Jewish. So the boys wrote their own version of it, called "The
Dyslexia Song," and then made the song into a music video
they posted on YouTube.
Kleinfeldt said disconnecting dyslexia from intelligence is
important. Often children and their parents are needlessly
embarrassed when they're diagnosed with dyslexia, she said.
"It was important to us that our children learned to be
advocates for themselves" when it came to their educational
needs, Kleinfeldt said.
"We have to stop thinking of dyslexia as a disability,"
Kleinfeldt said. "It's just a matter of the brain being wired a
little differently:' When teachers know how to deal with it,
there's nothing dyslexic children can't do, she said.
Caleb said he hoped the video would show dyslexic chil-
dren that they can succeed. He also hopes it will make them
less shy about admitting they have dyslexia.

JN CONTENTS

Caleb and Adin Kleinfeldt put a positive spin on dyslexia
with their YouTube song.

Caleb is in fourth grade at Eton Academy in Birmingham,
a school for children with special learning needs. Adin, in
sixth grade at Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield, had
always done well in school but struggled with reading and
spelling, his mother said.
His teachers have been "beyond supportive," said
Kleinfeldt, because she and her husband, Nate, an ophthal-
mologist, have been very open about their son's needs.
After the Detroit Free Press ran an article about Caleb and
Adin's efforts in mid-December, the number of views of their
video on YouTube more than doubled.
"We've had heartfelt emails from so many people who saw
it," Kleinfeldt said. "After the article came out, several of the
boys' friends have confided that they are also dyslexic:' Of the
20 children in Adin's class, she said, there are at least three
who are dyslexic.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, 1 in
10 Americans have dyslexia. Kleinfeldt says other surveys
make it as many as 1 in 5.

❑

Eton Academy and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit are co-hosting a screening of The Big Picture:
Rethinking Dyslexia, with its director, James Redford (son
of actor Robert) at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills. Tickets are $10. For more
information, contact Eton Academy at (248) 642-1150.

theJEWISHNEWS.com

Jan. 9-15, 2014 I 8-14 Shevat 5774 I Vol. CXLIV, No. 23

Around Town
14
Arts/Entertainment ...33
22
Business
20
Business Memos
16
Calendar
Here's To
13
Home
30
Israel
5,18, 24
5
Letters
Life Cycles
40
42
Marketplace
JN Archives
6
Metro
8
Obituaries
46

Out & About
35
Points Of View
18
Sports
39
Staff Box/Phone List... 6
Synagogue List
28
Torah Portion
27
World
24

Columnists

Danny Raskin
Robert Sklar

38
18

Shabbat And Holiday Lights

Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 10, 5:01 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan. 11, 6:07 p.m.

Tu B'Shevat: Thursday, Jan.16

Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 17, 5:09 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan. 18, 6:15 p.m.

Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

Cover page design: Michelle Sheridan.
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T

u b'Shevat, known as the
"New Year of the Trees"
or the Jewish Arbor Day,
begins at sundown on Wednesday,
Jan. 15. The holiday is often
marked by the planting of sap-
lings.
In Israel, Jewish National Fund
has been responsible for populat-
ing this arid country with forests.
Generations of Jewish families
have collected coins in JNF's blue
„
pushke" boxes to contribute to the
effort.
Since it was established in 1901,
JNF has planted more than 240 mil-
lion trees all over the State of Israel,
providing luscious belts of green
covering more than 250,000 acres.
JNF national forest development
work creates "green lungs" around
congested towns and cities, and
provides recreation and respite for
all Israelis.
While the forests of Israel belong
to the people, JNF ensures their
environmental soundness and is
focusing on diversification, planting
trees indigenous to the Middle East,
such as native oaks, carob, redbud,
almond, pear, hawthorn, cypress
and the exotic Atlantic cedar.
In honor of Tu b'Shevat, JNF
is running a contest. Buy a tree
($18 minimum) and your name
is entered to win a grand prize of
a trip to Israel for two on El Al
Airlines and two free nights at the
Carton Tel Aviv. Ten runner-up
prizes also will be awarded. Go to
jnf. org. The contest runs through
11:59 p.m. Jan. 16.

❑

For Tu b'Shevat prayer, go to page 26.

January 9 • 2014

3