Home News About Us Programs Success Stories Get Involved Support Segula Contact US   Serving the Educational needs of Jewish children with special needs   SEGULA's Success - In their own words   " I remember when Zalman was about four years old. We were living in Columbus, Ohio at the time. Zalman was in an educational program at Ohio State University. I dropped him off one day and stuck around a little to observe. Parents were allowed to observe the class through a one-way mirror. I remember the tears coming from my eyes as I watched Zalman interact with his classmates. Although he was unable to move around very much without assistance, he was the ONLY child in his class able to communicate! I looked at the other children, many with more profound disabilites than Zalman, and, with tears in my eyes asking the question, "is this all there is going to be for this child?" Right around that time I attended one of Zalman's IEP's. We sat around this large conference table, my wife and I, many esteemed professionals from various disciplines, talking about Zalman, making "plans for him". The physical therapist questioned getting an electric wheelchair for him doubting he would ever be able to navigate on his own. She also doubted how well he would do in a manual wheelchair not believing he could ever move himself around. The speech therapsist expressed her belief that he would never be able to do much more than "parrot" - repeat things he had heard from others without being able to express thoughts of his own. B"H, that was then. I can rather safely say that just about everything "they" said Zalman would ever do - he's doing - and the surface has just been scratched. Being the parent of a disabled child, you quickly learn that your child's future lies in the hands of the Almighty - not in the hands of professionals. Don't get me wrong, Zalman wouldn't be where he is today had it not been for hours and hours of attention from professionals - but the professions are not neviim - none of us are. Thank G-d for SEGULA! When we returned to Cleveland, we weren't quite sure what the best choices for Zalman were going to be. Fortunately, Zalman was able to be one of the first three "SEGULA Kids". Although he receives his various therapies outside of school, in the classroom, he is able to interact with other children his age, with a Rebbe, and pretty well "hold his own" in the classroom. My goodness, in Columbus he would come home knowing more about Presidents' Day than he would about the aseres hadibros. SEGULA was an experiment that surpassed anyone's expecations. Most of all, as far as I am concerned, it the acceptance Zalman receives from his peers. I give Mosdos Ohr Hatorah much of the credit, but it is Zalman's classmates that never cease to inspire me. Zalman has not been "mascoted" or treated really any differently than the other talmidim. His classmates treat him with the covod one would expect to receive from another classmate. If he's absent, he gets phone call after phone call. He has friends come to the house and play and really most of the "ammenities" of an "abled" child. I cannot express enough gratitude for SEGULA. If you want to see a miracle at work - ask me - Zalman and I will show you. "Without SEGULA, our son would not be where he is today. Your exceptional devotion, help and love for him is above and beyond the call of duty. You bring a smile to his face everyday when he walks through the doors of the Hebrew Academy." Dear Freddy, We are so happy that you are in our class. You remind us how important it is to share and be nice to each other. You make our class a special place to be. Love, Your friends in Solomon Schechter Day School News  About Us  Educational Programs  Success Stories  Get Involved  Support SEGULA  Contact Us   SEGULA can be e-mailed at: "contact @ segula.org"   © 2002-5, SEGULA  --  SEGULA is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") and all contributions to it are deductible as charitable contributions as provided in IRC section 170.