Congregation Beth El Hosts Panel Discussion About Inclusive Employment Kol Habirah Staff

FEATURES: JEWISH DISABILITIES AWARENESS AND INCLUSION

Growing Up with Gregory

By Jessica Hilfer

Being the sister of a brother with disabilities is not difficult, but having the correct attitude about the situation–– that is the real challenge.

Gregory, my brother, is without a doubt my hero.

Gregory was born three years before me, but many of his significant milestones took place simultaneously with mine. My parents told me that I was the first one to actually walk, and a few weeks later Gregory took his first real steps off the wall. I think our roles have definitely reversed; now he inspires me to be courageous and to take chances.

I do not remember when I made my first discovery that my brother was “different.” One of the hardest parts for me growing up was that he had this undiagnosed condition. We still don’t have a name for it. He has a physical condition called hydrocephalus, which basically means he has special shunts in his head that prevent swelling from fluid in his brain. In terms of his mental condition, though, we don’t know what he has: he is non-verbal, and we don’t know what he understands or doesn’t understand.

I like when he squeezes my hand and holds it up to his cheek. This is how he says, "I love you"

I never knew how to explain all of this to my friends when I was younger. If his condition had a name, then I could just say one sentence and people would understand. Now that I am an adult and can reflect on my childhood years, I feel grateful that his condition comes free of a diagnosis. I get to share about my brother with people by telling them about him as a human being; he’s not just another person with a generic condition.

Gregory doesn’t communicate with words. He makes many interesting noises, similar to the babbling of a baby. There are a few distinct babbles my family and I have heard repeatedly over the years, our favorite being “Ed is home.” Ed is my Dad, and Gregory is his biggest fan. He will follow my Dad around the house wherever he goes, even to the bathroom! Gregory is also a big jokester; he knows exactly what to do to push people’s buttons. He enjoys sliding on our dining room chairs across the room and sitting directly in front of the TV. He also knows how to change the channel, and has an advanced understanding of how our television operates. He also enjoys pulling my hair, as most big brothers enjoy doing. I like when he squeezes my hand and holds it up to his cheek. This is how he says, “I love you.”

He communicates in other ways, too. His favorite activity is anything and everything that involves the car. When he decides it’s a good time for a car ride he will put on his socks, shoes and coat all by himself. Then he finds my father’s coat and brings it to him, and does his best puppy-eyed face. I have a lot of memories of car rides with Gregory growing up. We always had our assigned seats: he sat behind the passenger seat and I sat behind the driver. My favorite part of road trips was sharing my pillow with Gregory when we were both tired. I would place my pillow in the middle of the two seats and rest my head halfway, leaving just enough space for his to fit. He would eventually put his head down too, and I would excitedly whisper to my parents to look at how adorable we were.

I remember “sneaking” into his bedroom when we were both younger. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, back when I did not sleep in, I used to climb over his gate (a safety precaution for when he woke up early) and just hang out with my big brother. I don’t even remember what we would do, but I felt pretty rebellious climbing over that gate.

A very special moment I will always remember is when we had a bar mitzvah for Gregory. On Friday night, the rabbi of our shul led a small service and said a few remarks about Gregory. Gregory decided to sit right on the feet of Mrs.

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Congregation Beth El Hosts Panel Discussion About Inclusive Employment

By Kol HaBirah Staff

BETHESDA (Md.) –– There was a lot of activity at Congregation Beth El on the morning of Sunday February 13. There must have been 500 children in the Hebrew school, with many of their parents as well, connecting with their Jewish tradition. In addition to this usual gathering, however, a panel discussion on inclusive employment was taking place in a separate room.

The first speaker was Ken Karbeling, the general manager of America Reprographics, Inc., a Rockville-based company that offers a variety of reprographic solutions including traditional copying, scanning and printing as well as a variety of online tools. He talked about his company’s collaboration with The Ivymount School, a Rockville school that strives to help children, students and young adults with disabilities achieve their highest level of development and independence, and have the students work at his company.

Karbeling went ahead with his decision to have Ivymount students work at his company despite the initial skepticism of co-workers with concerns ranging from liability issues to the disruptive noises the students might make. He soon found the arrangement to be beneficial not just for the students, but for his employees as well. The staff developed a sense of pride after showing the students how to perform tasks like making FedEx tubes, and they came to appreciate the presence of the students. They appreciated being addressed by name and they marveled at the dedication, focus and progress of the students. Ken said that he wouldn’t have previously described his staff as “kind, gentle, patient and nurturing,” but that is indeed the affect that this experience had on them.

Ken Karbeling, Justice Bernstein, Lisa Handelman, and a few of the other panelists fielding questions.

As for the students, they developed both “soft skills and hard skills,” learning how to conduct themselves in a professional environment and developing expertise in a variety of tasks such as data entry and filing, as well as bonding with the employees.

Karbeling has worked with 30-45 Ivymount students over the years and while he says he is not sure we “are making a huge difference,” he is quietly setting the standard for other small businesses to follow. He has met with other like-minded businesses about expanding this idea; he believes it is important for others to follow suit and invites anyone interested to visit his office and observe the work environment.

The next speaker was the impressive Justice Richard Bernstein. Justice Bernstein is the first blind Judge to be elected to the Michigan Supreme Court. He is also a marathon runner, a triathlete and former Michiganian of the Year and a National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductee, according to an article by Marci Ruderman in Congregation Beth El’s “The Scroll.” He had an impressive air about him; you could sense he had a heightened awareness of his surroundings, and he was articulate and polished. He had declined to be the sole speaker, and instead asked that a few others–– including Ken and Lisa Handelman, Community Disability Inclusion Specialist for the Jewish Federation–– join him as part of a panel discussion.

During the discussion, Justice Bernstein stressed the importance of working extremely hard to earn your position and to avoid complaining or feeling entitled to your specific circumstance. He talked about how he would work 15-hour days to earn his position and he utilizes one additional clerk to help him memorize his cases so that he can adequately defend the law to the best of his ability. He exclaimed that it was his duty to make sure that the others on the court didn’t feel delayed or inhibited by his presence. After all, if they didn’t end up valuing his opinion, he wouldn’t be able to appropri-

Ken Karbeling talking about his inclusion employment practices to the crowd

ately represent the law, which would not be fair to his constituents.

Justice Bernstein wrapped up by talking about an initiative he has been working on in Israel to help the IDF incorporate people with various disabilities. Other organizations can learn much from his strategic implementation of the initiative. He coordinated joint marathon-type events to demonstrate that folks with disabilities are in fact highly capable, and he started with the Israeli Air Force–– the premier division of the IDF–– so that others would follow suit.

This event was an inspiring reminder of how far people can go and how much can be done to both learn from and help others continue to fulfill their potential.

Ken Karbeling, General Manager of America Reprographics, Inc., can be reached at ken@amerepro.com and Nancy Frasche, CESP, Student Employment Coordinator of The Ivymount School and Programs can be reached at nfrasche@ ivymount.org. They thank Andrea Glazer, Development Director of Congregation Beth El, and Lisa Handelman for arranging this event.