People of the Book, People with Learnng Disabilities: A Disconnect

This Shabbat, Professor Neil Gillman was the invited speaker at my synagogue. Several of his statements and ideas resonated with me, but I want to focus on his statement, "Jews are good with words." Yes, I thought, that sounds familiar, we are often called "the people of the book."

As a special educator, I hear those words and wonder about those individuals who have difficulties reading or listening to words. How included do they feel when we use these phrases? Do these phrases make them feel alienated, left out, different, excluded?

But then Dr. Gillman went on to say that words aren't enough. He used the story of the golden calf to suport his premise. Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. The people remained at the bottom, waiting for their leader. But it took a long time for Moses to return and the people were impatient. They needed something more concrete to touch and see, and hence the golden calf was created.

How many of our students similarly are learners who need more than words? How many need to use pictures, graphs and charts to help them remember? How many learn by touching and manipulating materials? And how many are impulsive, acting before thinking things through and considering the options and consequences of their actions?

Maybe we really aren't so different from our ancesters.