Emma, top, draws paper dolls as her creative outlet.To relax, Jamie, below, plays sports.
Photos: Michael E. Ach
Navigating childhood and adolescence is hard enough. Living with autism or a disability often makes it even harder. And it’s not just the children with the disabilities who struggle. The entire family faces the daily challenges.
Gifts to UJA-Federation help support programs that open doors, ease barriers, and educate the community about special-needs issues affecting their friends and neighbors.
Emma Davis, 9, struggles with speech and language problems and developmental delays. If you ask when she last celebrated her birthday, she’ll tell you “yesterday” although it was nine months ago. The passage of time is too abstract a concept for Emma to describe. For her, any day in the past is “yesterday.”
But Emma’s creativity, especially drawing, helps her express herself. So does the Build-a-Friendship: Social Skills and More program at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation. For the last four years, Emma has spent an hour each Sunday attending the program.
There she finds peers and a supportive special-education teacher and psychologist. Together, they talk about feelings, bullying, using words to resolve conflicts, and techniques to manage anger.
“Build-a-Friendship has helped her a lot,” says Maria Davis, Emma’s mother. “It’s helped Emma be more open and engaged. It helped her feel comfortable in all situations and dealing with issues at the playground.”
The Choices Jamie Faces
Jamie, who asked that we use his first name only, is 19, graduating from high school and living with Asperger’s syndrome. He now faces many choices about the next steps in his life. For many young adults with Asperger’s, the transition to young adulthood can be difficult, as their challenges with social skills are compounded by aging out of the services they have depended on.
Jamie is searching to find the right continuing-education program and the right job. The decisions Jamie makes now are critical for greater independence in the future. With guidance from the Compass Project, a program of the Jewish Child Care Association of New York, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation, Jamie has taken advantage of vocational testing in Westchester to suggest what future occupations and educational options might be best suited for him.
The Compass Project serves Jewish high school teens and college students with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities by offering workshops, seminars, counseling, and career assessments.
“We’re looking to use the Compass Project more in the future,” says Wendy, Jamie’s mom. “It’s a good resource for us, and we’re glad we made the connection.” ♦
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