H ASC
by Malki Lowinger
owinger
g
Y
echiel was born normal and healthy,
and matured
atured beautifully. When he
was eighteen
ghteen months old, something
began nagging
ing at Yechiel’s mother. His
speech was slightly
li h l delayed,
d l d andd he
h
was a bit restless. It was not a major
concern, but it bothered her enough to get
her son evaluated.
Yechiel’s evaluation indicated that he
would benefit from Early Intervention.
If therapists would work with him a few
times a week, chances were good that
he would progress well and eventually
catch up with his peers. Therapists began
working with him in his home several
times a week. When Yechiel turned three
and was no longer eligible for Early
Intervention services, Yechiel’s mother
enrolled him in HASC’s pre-school, Gan
Ezra. “He received Occupational and
Speech Therapy,” she said. “It made a
world of a difference.”
Yechiel began speaking and responding
appropriately. His teachers and therapists
provided the expertise and individualized
attention that enabled him to succeed.
“With three teachers in a class of twelve
children,” his mother says, “they gave him
plenty of attention. He loved school and
couldn’t wait to go back every morning.”
Today, Yechiel is five years old and
is enrolled in a mainstream Brooklyn
yeshiva. His pre1A Rebbe is quite pleased
with him as a student; he has no idea that
Yechiel ever required special services.
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Elul 5768
PILLARS OF THE JEWISH WORLD
YYESHIVAS
ESHIVAS CHEVRON
CHEVRON
A World Called
Yechiel’s mother looks back upon the two
years he spent at HASC as the source of
his hatzlacha. “If I would have put him
into a regular playgroup he would have
really had a hard time adjusting,” she said.
“Boruch Hashem, I found out that I could
sendd him
I
hi to HASC as an alternative.
l
i
feel that he is now much better prepared
to face the world.”
Yechiel’s story is just one of the
multitude of success stories experienced
by children who benefit from the services
of HASC’s Gan Ezra programs in Boro
Park under the direction of Mrs. Julie BenZvi and in Monsey under the direction of
Mrs. Marcy Glicksman.
What is HASC?
The world of HASC (Hebrew
Academy for Special Children) is an
all encompassing network of services
that provides assistance and support
to families from birth through life.
HASC provides a rich array of services
commencing with Early Intervention
Services, SEIT and Related Services,
center based preschool programs, school
age programs, after school programs,
professional staff development, parent
support groups and prevocational training
in a favorable learning environment. The
adult programs encompassed by HASC
Center, include service coordination/case
management, day habilitation, residential
habilitation, pre-vocational training, work
readiness, supportive employment and
individual residential alternatives (IRA).
Lastly, the renowned summer program,
Camp HASC.
According to Rabbi Shlomo Stern,
Executive Director of HASC, “Having
so many individuals with special needs
under our stewardship is indeed a task
k seriously
i l andd we are proudd off our
we take
staff who strive for excellence in every
aspect of our operation. One common
denominator that permeates and unifies
all of our programs is that special spirit
of love and care. HASC is a place where
miracles occur daily.”
Saraleh’s Story
Saraleh’s mother knew that her
daughter would need to attend a special
school because of her many medical
needs. She just never imagined that she
would also become a part of an extended
‘family’. Four year old Saraleh attended
the Gan Ezra pre-school of HASC, She
received a full spectrum of innovative
therapies and services, music therapy,
bilingual speech, occupational, and
physical therapy, nursing care, as well
as bilingual special education. She also
received unlimited doses of love and
affection.
“We were like a family,” says
Saraleh’s mom. “Everyone worked as a
team, trying to achieve the best possible
outcome for our child.” Because of her
medical needs, Saraleh’s time was divided
between school and hospital stays. That
didn’t stop the Gan Ezra staff from
being there for her. “They thought about
The HASC School Age
Program services
special-needs children
from the ages of five
to twenty-one with a
wide range of issues
and disabilities ... Yet
it appears that they
all have one thing in
common: the wide,
ear-to-ear grin that
is the trademark of
everyone who lives in
the world of HASC
5
potential. The happy faces of the students
are the trademark of the students at
HASC. For the children, HASC is a place
to actualize their potential; for the parents
it’s a blessing.
Yoni’s Story
her all the time, called constantly, and
came to the hospital to visit. I’ll always
remember one young therapist who came
to Manhattan by subway late at night all
by herself just to visit my Saraleh. Not
because she had to. Just because she
missed her and wanted to be with her.”
Saraleh’s mother wasn’t surprised that
when her daughter finally began speaking at
the age of four, the first words that came out
of her mouth were not the names of family
members but the names of her teachers at
Gan Ezra. “Whenever Saraleh came back
to school after an extended absence,” she
remembers, “they would sing and dance
for her. They would prop her up on pillows
just to make her comfortable. There’s no
question that coming to Gan Ezra was the
highlight of her day.”
To what do we attribute this
extraordinary success? Who were the
trailblazers who launched this vast and
growing movement? And finally, from
6
Elul 5768
where do the people of HASC derive their
incredible commitment, caring, and love?
Rabbi Mordecai and Mrs. Blanche
Kahn, OBM
Think back four or five decades. If
you’re old enough to remember, you may
recall that the world was very different
then in terms of how we perceived people
with special needs. In those days, the
special needs population was rarely
visible; most remained hidden in their
homes or in institutions. Today, people
with developmental disabilities are fully
integrated in our society.
How did this major transformation
occur? The pioneers of this movement
in the Orthodox Jewish community were
no doubt the founders of HASC, Rabbi
Mordechai and Mrs. Blanche Kahn,
OBM, who founded HASC in 1963 with
just four children in a one room school
house.
With tremendous vision and
tenacity, they dedicated themselves to
PILLARS OF THE JEWISH WORLD
these children and to the constant influx
of special needs children into the HASC
program. Thus, special education, as we
know it today has evolved. Mrs. Kahn
was HASC’s first teacher and educational
director. Rabbi Kahn worked on the
school’s development and its growth. Many
committed professionals who began their
career at HASC and learned its cutting edge
techniques, went on to become leaders in
the field of special education. It became
a badge of pride in the community to be
associated with HASC.
From the time a child is born, the HASC
Early Intervention program is there to
help families access services as necessary.
The team of professionals involved in the
EI program provides evaluations, service
coordination and all necessary therapeutic
interventions a child might need. Should
a child continue to require intervention
when s/he turns three, HASC is there
to assist families in the transition to the
next phase of SEIT and Related Services.
Should a child require more intensive
intervention, HASC provides center based
EI and preschool programs.
At the HASC preschool program you
will find enthusiastic young children who
are busy finger painting and coloring,
rolling dough and cutting cookies for
Shabbos. According to Dr. Shoshana
Rybak, Director of Psychological Services,
the children in Gan Ezra engage in the same
typical activities as children in mainstream
yeshivah preschools.
It’s a beautiful September morning
and the HASC school age program is
abuzz with activity.
A group of students is on its way
out with their teachers to visit the local
Pathmark supermarket. This is not your
ordinary shopping expedition, of course.
They’ll be learning essential life skills,
math and counting skills, and social skills
during this short trip. Meanwhile, another
Rabbi and Mrs. Isaacs weren’t just
worried, they were terrified. Their seven
year old son, Yoni, would be attending
Camp HASC in the summer, and they
couldn’t imagine that things would work
out okay. “Yoni has many complicated
medical issues,” explains Rabbi Isaacs.
“His situation is very unique. And even
though we know that HASC has other
medically fragile campers, caring for Yoni
is a twenty four hour job.”
Mrs. Isaacs says she wakes up several
group of youngsters with special needs
times in middle of the night to arrange
is ‘working out’ in the school gym. This
Yoni’s feeding tubes and to change his
looks nothing like your typical school gym
diaper. She also needs to give special
as it is equipped with high tech machinery
attention to a rare skin condition that Yoni
and equipment. Therapists work one on
has, and to watch for signs of a seizure
one with youngsters on improving their
coming on. What teenage counselor is
muscle tone and in teaching them how to
going to want to do all that?
use adaptive equipment,
But the staff at Camp HASC remained
At the school age site, there exists a
undaunted. They were determined to give
newly formed class for children on the
Yoni the summer of his dreams. And
autistic spectrum as well as a class of
even though they knew that, because of
higher functioning older students where
his condition, he has limited mobility and
the ‘smartboard’ computer screen is in
barely responds, on some level he would
use. In another class, the bilingual teacher
be enjoying this summer and he would
is reviewing the Yomim Tovim with
thrive.
the children while the music teacher is
Yoni’s parents met with
singing Rosh Hashana songs
his counselors for hours
with the class. Outdoors,
before camp started. They
Menachem is grinning from
explained the many details
ear to ear. His teacher has
of caring for their young
brought him here to enjoy
son. And while they were
the sunshine and to use the
truly impressed by these
school’s new ‘wheelchair
young counselors, the Isaacs
swing’ that works like a
were still not convinced.
regular playground swing but
“As loving as you could be,”
can accommodate a child and
Rabbi Isaacs, “there’s
his wheelchair. “The swing
A dedicated and says
so much to remember. How
was donated to HASC by the
they know how to hold
eighth graders of the Yeshiva
caring team of will
him, what’s bothering him,
of South Shore,” says Mrs.
how to change him. All
Mandel, Principal of the
outstanding
these concerns were running
HASC School Age Program.
The HASC School Age
psychologists, through our minds.”
To allay their fears,
Program services children
social workers, the Isaacs Family rented a
with special needs from
bungalow just a few miles
the ages of five to twenty
one with a wide range of registered nurses, down the road from the
camp. In case they were
challenges. From the children
therapists,
needed, they would be
who are medically frail
(receiving tube feedings), to
counselors, and nearby. When they dropped
off Yoni on the first day of
the gregarious young adults
who are being trained in
teachers make camp, they were certain the
phone would ring in a matter
various vocations, each child
up its highly
of hours. It didn’t. Not that
receives the individualized
day or the next or the next.
attention and services that
qualified staff “Finally,” says Rabbi Isaacs,
s/he needs to reach their
“the counselor called us a few days later,
telling us that Yoni was ‘amazing’ and that
everything was working out quite well.
For us, this was nothing less than a nais
from shomayim.”
According to Rabbi Isaacs, “the
counselors are the true heroes of HASC.
The doctors and nurses are amazing,
of course, but it’s these young men and
women who have to get up in middle of
the night to care for him. They are the nuts
and bolts of what HASC is all about.”
The camp experience did wonders for
the whole Isaacs Family, allowing them
a priceless opportunity to breathe. “For
those seven weeks,” says Rabbi Isaacs,
“we were able to recharge our batteries
and gather our strength for the coming
year.”
But what really “boggled the
mind,” according to Rabbi Isaacs, was the
reaction of the counselors when they came
to pick up Yoni at the end of the summer.
“Of course, we thanked them over and
over again,” says Rabbi Isaacs. “But they
just looked at us and said, ‘We want to
thank you for giving us the privilege of
taking care of your child.’”
For the children, for the staff and for
the parents, Camp HASC continues to be
the place we call “Heaven on Earth.”
Benji’s Story
What happens when a young man or
woman ‘graduates’ from the HASC School
Age Program at twenty one? Where do
we go from here? A vibrant division of
the HASC network of services is HASC
Center Inc, which includes over two dozen
adult residences, several Day Habilitation
programs, vocational, pre-vocational and
work-readiness programs. This vast array
of services allows close to five hundred
adults with special needs live normal and
productive lives.
Mr. Shmuel Kahn, Executive Director,
of HASC Center, says that the residences
typically house any where from two to five
adults, who live in regular houses and are
supervised twenty four hours a day by a
professional staff. The residences are located
in Crown Heights, Flatbush and Boro Park,
and residents are encouraged to interact with
the community. “They go to shul, are invited
for Shabbos, and shop in the local stores,” he
says. “Boruch Hashem, our community is
very accepting. There’s a greater awareness
that these people do not need to be isolated
or shunned. There’s a wonderful and ever
growing sensitivity.”
Twenty seven year old Benji is a
thriving member of a HASC residence with
a very busy schedule. He wakes up early
every morning and goes to daven at his
neighborhood shul. Then he goes to work at
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To the Most Devoted Staff at Hasc,
I just wanted to write a letter of
thanks for all that you have done for
our daughter, Avigail.
It’s confusing, its hard, its tough…
When Avigail first started HASC
Sometimes the bumpy road just gets
she barely spoke and was just learn-
too rough…
ing to walk. Her therapist worked
And without a helping hand,
with her and never gave up on her.
Who knows where we would land?!!
When Avigail was ready to give up
they pushed harder and today Avigail
With so much warmth and determina-
is walking beautifully and has began
tion,
to jump.
You pull us through every frustration,
Avigail is who she is today because
You deserve so much admiration,
of HASC and the warm teachers,
For your truly unmatched dedication!
by HASC counselors who help them deal
with the ups and downs of daily life.
With much appreciation,
A Pillar of Chesed in Our Community
therapists & staff and for that we
want to thank you.
The A. Family
Sincerely
Charlotte & Robert
a cell phone factory, disassembling broken
phones and salvaging the parts. Considering
the fact that Benji is mechanically inclined,
he is particularly suited for this type of
work. In the evening he eats dinner and then
joins his fellow residents in community/
recreational activities. Recently, he enjoyed
a few marvelous days on vacation in Niagara
Falls.
It wasn’t always like this. Before he
came to HASC Center, Benji lived with his
parents and did absolutely nothing all day.
Because in addition to his developmental
delay he was also obsessive compulsive, he
did not really function well. At the time,
Benji was not receiving any services, and
his condition deteriorated. By the time he
got to HASC he was basically paralyzed
with inactivity.
“We took him in,” says Dr. Wakslak,
Clinical Director of HASC Center, “and
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Elul 5768
HASC services close to two thousand
individuals daily in their educational and
various treatment facilities. It has grown
into a multi-service educational
organization and diagnostic
treatment center. From those
children who may benefit from
just a few months of speech
therapy to the children who are
burdened with overwhelming
disabilities we know that every
neshama is here for a specific
purpose. According to Suzy
Slater, Director of Clinical and
Educational Services, “Since
its inception, we at HASC have
To the best of
been following the mesorah of
their ability, our ‘chanoch l’naar al pi darko’.
HASC, the forerunner of
consumers are Jewish Special Education has
been and continues to be the
living a regular pivotal organization where
and innovation
lifestyle. As much creativity,
are demonstrated daily in
with the selfless
as possible, we conjunction
chesed and commitment of
give them choices. its staff.” The HASC mission
continues to be lavishing
They decide where extraordinary amounts of
personal care and attention to
to go on trips and the special needs children and
their families by providing an
what to wear. They ideal environment conducive
growth – blazing a path for
feel empowered” for
a better day every day!
we developed an intensive
program for him. Our team
would meet on a weekly
basis and the Supportive
Employment coordinator tried
many different job possibilities
before striking the right one
for Benji. We recognized his
limitations and set parameters
and involved his parents in the
process. It took a while, but
gradually he learned how to
keep to a schedule, how to be
timely, how to be productive.
Basically we enabled him to
become a productive member
of the community.”
Residents like Benji are
called “consumers”, and the
goal of an agency like HASC
Center is to provide them with
as much self-determination as
possible. “To the best of their
ability, our consumers are
living a regular lifestyle. As
much as possible, we give them
choices. They decide where to
go on trips and what to wear.
They feel empowered.”
Benji is not the only one
who has discovered a new
lease on life because of HASC Center.
Shulamis and Yankie are two HASC
consumers who are married. When the
HASC staff determined that they were ready
for such a bold step, they counseled them
and worked with them all along the way.
As one of three HASC couples, Shulamis
and Yankie live in a four room apartment.
Yankie has a full time job and Shulamis is
a ‘homemaker’. Every day they are visited
PILLARS OF THE JEWISH WORLD
HASC
Executive Office 718-686-5912
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hasc.net
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