by Sydney Zilch, Temple Sholom in Broomall As a girl who loves to work with children, I was very excited to participate in the TAP program. Throughout the year, we’ve learned a lot about working with children, and while I don’t typically work with disabled children at my two jobs where I work with kids, many of the lessons we’ve learned at TAP about working with disabled children apply to working with any kid. For example, patience. When you’re working with a child, sometimes it will take them a while to answer. You have to be patient and wait for [...]

by Lauren Oblon, Old York Road Temple-Beth Am To me, being a TAP teen has taught me valuable skills and newfound understandings when working with children specifically with physical and learning differences. I have gotten the opportunity to learn and communicate with many different types of kids throughout this program, and have come to gain certain techniques in the teaching process of these children. I have spent two years as a teen assistant at my synagogue as I am learning more strategies as a result of becoming a Tap teen. This year I have been assisting the fifth grade, along [...]

by Logan Kowit, Tiferet Bet Israel Some things I have learned about people with disabilities is that when you are working with someone who has special needs, you need to be very careful about how you act, talk, and present yourself. The way that you act can have a very positive or very negative affect on the child. They might think that if you are doing something that you shouldn't be doing that they can do it too, or they can be frightened by the way you act and the child won’t feel comfortable around you at all. The way [...]