The Best Bar Mitzvah Boy

October 20, 2017January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Todd Drezner www.lovinglamppostsmovie.com Dov and Sam | Photo © Brad Alpernin [image: Two white Jewish pre-teen boys, wearing suit jackets and ties at their Bar Mitzvah service, posing together and smiling for the camera.] We told our son Sam that there is no applause at Bar Mitzvah services. But when he finished his speech, a wave of clapping and cheering burst forth from the crowd—a genuine display of emotion that no religious custom could have stopped. There was a lot of feeling behind that applause. Love, certainly. Appreciation of a job well done. But also amazement. It’s probably safe to say that not everyone in attendance had expected to see what they’d just seen. And here is where the story gets interesting. But first some background. A Jewish boy becomes a Bar Mitzvah when he turns 13 (a Jewish girl becomes a Bat Mitzvah). Traditionally, the Bar Mitzvah leads…

Disability

How Telling Your Autistic Kid Santa Isn’t Real May Not Go As Planned

December 21, 2012January 31, 2022 by TPGA Editors

Photo © operabug | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Crying East Asian toddler being held up to encounter a cheerful waving white man dressed as Santa Claus.] Kate Foreword from the author: This essay contains large Christmas spoilers, and may offend some people with deeply held theistic beliefs. If this is you, I recommend that you stop reading now, and if you read it anyway and are offended, then please do not complain. I was two months shy of ten when I learned the truth about Santa Claus. I was in fourth grade, and a year or two earlier, my voracious reading had convinced me that there was no way for it to be true. But then my best friend, told me that she had, in fact, stayed up until midnight the last Christmas Eve and seen him with her very own eyes put the presents under their tree. It never occurred…

Disability

Healing

September 24, 2012January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

Kate When I was a fifteen years old, my psychiatrist told me that in ten years’ time, there would be a machine that would scan my brain and tell the doctors exactly what medicine to give me to make me normal, to make me whole. That was thirteen years ago, and though I have not yet heard of any such machine, I’ve realized that I never needed it. What I needed was acceptance. What I needed was love. These are the things that made me realize that I had, in fact, been whole all along. Sometimes, I feel as if my life were a long, cold winter, and that spring took a very long time coming. Like many autistic adults, I did not have an easy time of it growing up. Even in adulthood, I struggled with loneliness, employment, and a host of other issues. Though I was almost…

Disability

Religion and Autism

June 10, 2011January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

These two essays were originally published in the Autism Society’s magazine, the Autism Advocate. While the references here are for the Christian and Jewish faiths, many of the tips could be applied to other religions. We’ve had several posts in the last year about autism and religion, but we are always seeking to add diversity to our knowledge base. If you have an experience you’d like to share about faith, community or religion, we’d love to hear from you please contact us. -The Editors The Christian Perspective By Terri Connolly The church experience is often one of generational tradition for many families. Other families recognize their need for a place of spiritual refuge and nurturing for the first time in their lives when they have children or at other trying times. Christ’s example of “agape,” or unconditional love, is paramount to our understanding of the role of acceptance in…