jews in the d

continued from page 12

“Having kids speak for the fi rst time and
seeing parents crying tears of joy is be-
yond rewarding. It really shows what a
diff erence we can make.”

— CASEY DISKIN

school year, between 20 and 25 teens
participate in a madrichim training
program, allowing them to assist stu-
dents with special needs with social
and academic skills in area Sunday and
Hebrew school programs. According
to program director Ellen Maiseloff,
so far three former madrichim subse-
quently took jobs with Opening the
Doors.

GAINING DIRECTION
Lexie Sittsamer, 24, has no idea what
career path she would have chosen
if she hadn’t volunteered through
the Opening the Doors program,
Friendship Circle and her middle
school and high school.
“Working with individuals with
special needs is truly my passion and
something I really enjoy, and the inter-
actions and relationships built with
the kids and families are long-lasting,”
said Sittsamer, a Farmington Hills
native currently living in Milwaukee.
In Wisconsin, she works as a behav-
ior tech, providing Applied Behavior
Analysis (ABA) therapy to kids on the
autism spectrum. She also works at a
nearby Hebrew school, supporting stu-
dents with special needs.
Blumstein said that on a “semi-reg-
ular basis,” he hears from some of his
former volunteers who are excited to
tell him they have chosen to pursue a
career in areas such as ABA, speech,
occupational therapy or special edu-
cation because of their experiences
through Friendship Circle.
Following national trends, a growing
number of young Jewish adults are
choosing to work as behavior analysts,
with some earning graduate-level cer-
tification as board-certified behavior
analysts and providing ABA services
to individuals on the autism spectrum.
Simply defined, ABA is based on the
idea that a desired behavior can be
taught through a system of rewards
and consequences.

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December 13 • 2018

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The demand for behavior analysts
has skyrocketed over the last several
years. According to Burning Glass
Technologies, a software company
that collects and analyzes labor mar-
ket data, the need for behavior ana-
lysts and assistant behavior analysts
increased approximately 800 percent
from 2010 to 2017; with Michigan
being among the states with the high-
est demand.
In 2012, Michigan enacted legis-
lation generally requiring insurance
companies to provide coverage for
ABA therapy to children up to age 18
with an autism diagnosis.
“The need has never been higher,”
said Casey Diskin, director of ABA
therapy at Oxford Recovery Center in
Troy and Brighton. “In terms of special
education in Michigan, our state is so
far behind other states. We have a lot
of students who leave school tempo-
rarily because their needs are not being
met. We have good educators, but they
are underpaid and overworked and
many of them are tired of not being
able to do everything they can to help
these kids.”
As a result, teachers are leaving the
school systems for better paying jobs,
greater flexibility and the opportunity
to work one on one and make more
of an impact than they could if they
remained in the school system.
Laurie Polen of West Bloomfield
is a board-certified behavior analyst
with Autism Home Support Services.
She previously spent 10 years teaching
in an autism classroom but wanted a
change that would allow her greater
flexibility and autonomy while still
being able to work with autistic chil-
dren.
What Polen, 38, especially likes
about ABA is that she can help families
address challenges at home or in the
community on a more direct level. For
example, if a child has issues surround-
ing eating or mealtime, she is able to

Volunteer Jessica Borin is with Allie Jacobs. Being a Friendship Circle volunteer influenced her
decision to choose occupational therapy as a career.

work with that child in his or her nat-
ural setting.
Diskin said she isn’t surprised that
a growing number of young Jewish
students and professionals are headed
down these career paths.
“I think the Jewish community is
very supportive of the special-needs
community. Beyond these organiza-
tions that provide incredible support
and services, so many kids do volun-
teer work for mitzvah projects; and
they get the opportunity to know indi-
viduals with special needs, and they
find it incredibly rewarding,” she said.
Diskin also ended up in the field
after volunteering with a group of
campers with special needs at Camp
Tanuga (owned by her family)
through the Bear Hug Foundation.
“It was always my favorite week at
camp,” recalled Diskin, a 32-year-old
Huntington Woods resident. Diskin
was 15 when she started volunteering,
never realizing she would develop a
passion for working with kids with
special needs that would turn into a
fulfilling career.
“Having kids speak for the first time
and seeing the parents crying tears
of joy is beyond rewarding. It really
shows what a difference we can make,”
said Diskin, who was proud to report
that three kids receiving ABA therapy
at the Oxford Recovery Center each
recently uttered their first words.

Career satisfaction was a huge rea-
son Jacob Singer, who studied pre-med
as an undergraduate
and attended medical
school briefly, decided
to go into social work.
Singer, 25, will
graduate with a mas-
ter’s degree in social
Jacob Singer
work this month from
U-M. He also credits his
Friendship Circle volunteer experience
— starting at age 11 — with the reason
he decided to pursue a job in that field.
“I loved what I got out of it. It was
fun hanging out with great kids and
it didn’t seem like volunteer work,
which led me to the field of social
work and the desire to work with kids,”
said Singer, after a recent lunch with
Blumstein, whom he calls his mentor.
Blumstein said that even if past vol-
unteers don’t go into the field directly,
some take their experiences and apply
what they know about the special-
needs community to their chosen
career paths and find ways to make
other fields more inclusive to those
with disabilities.
“When you introduce others to an
opportunity where they can have a
real experience and real contact with
another human being,” he said, “it
has a very deep impact. That is an
integral aspect of being a part of a
community.” ■