Jewish Disabilities Month

During the course of normal conversation, the topic usually turns to where we live and what we do for a living.

For some that is an easy question to answer, but for those of us who provide services to people with exceptional needs, the answer is not as straightforward.

This prompts them to ask the next logical question – what is an exceptional need?

I prefer to explain that people with exceptional needs also can be viewed through the lens of people with extra-ordinary needs. They are individuals with complicated needs related to severe and persistent mental illness or developmental disabilities who want to live their lives as independently as possible.

For people with extra-ordinary needs and their families, challenges such as academic and professional success can be elusive without outside support from services such as case management and counseling.

February has been named Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month by the Jewish Special Education International Consortium. This is the time to make our whole community aware of the unique challenges that children and adults with exceptional needs face on a daily basis.

These questions include: Will my child be able to achieve academic or professional success or support him or herself? Who will look after my loved one when I am gone?

Who will make important decisions about where they should live, work, and socialize? Who will pay all the bills, take them to their medical appointments, and grocery shopping every week?

Many of us take these tasks for granted. We go through our lives without having to worry about not being able to achieve the simple goal of everyday independence.

People with exceptional needs are not always that lucky. They often rely on the kindness and generosity of loved ones and strangers to help them with their most simple and most complicated needs.

That is not to say that these extra-ordinary children and adults do not enjoy life and feel successful in their pursuits.

Equal access

The goal of Jewish Disabilities Month is to bring awareness to the fact that children and adults with any form of disability deserve to have equal access to any and all opportunities that you and I do.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you or a loved one does have challenges, like the ones described here, it is important to know that Milwaukee is filled with many agencies that can help.

People who face challenges with mental illness and developmental disabilities often need assistance connecting with medical service providers who understand their specific needs, physicians, therapists, psychiatrists, and pharmacists who have the patience and understanding to offer instructions and guidance to someone with extra-ordinary needs.

Professional case managers can help you and your loved one connect with those types of service providers. There are government entitlements such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid (Title XIX), para-transportation services, and vocational assistance programs that can help people with exceptional needs live independent and fulfilling lives in their community.

Another overlooked aspect in the lives of adults and children with exceptional needs is the desire to have a rich and exciting social life, filled with friends, activities, and adventures some of us take for granted.

You can speak with your child’s school, a professional counselor, case manager, or a spiritual leader about special activities in the community that encourage participation of people who may need adaptive services such as wheelchair access, a sign language interpreter, or a Braille translation of liturgy.

Sometimes people who struggle with mental illness prefer to be in an environment where there is not as much physical stimulation but might like to share one-on-one time with a special friend or family member.

They might like to be involved in a book or movie club where people who share similar emotional experiences also can share in fun and stimulating conversations.

The most important thing we all need to remember is that you or a professional must speak with your loved one about what they are interested in both personally and professionally, now and in their future.

Those of us who do not face these types of challenges daily may take for granted that we have choices about where we go, when we go, how we get there and who we to go with. People with exceptional needs do not always have those freedoms, and they should.

As part of Jewish Disabilities Month, we should all strive to ensure that we create an inclusive community where everyone has access to choices of services and activities they want to take part in.

S. Michele Cohen is vice president of the exceptional needs division at Jewish Family Services.