By Zivia Avelin
TAP has been a really cool experience for me for many reasons. The first thing you should know is I am dyslexic. So I have experienced learning disabilities and being a learning disabled student. But I wanted to know more about what it’s like to have other disabilities and how to go about teaching a neurodiverse student.
TAP has helped me satisfy that curiosity, here I have learned how overstimulation works, ways to accommodate different learning abilities and styles, and most importantly to listen to people about what they need and how to best support them. That last is the most important because it goes beyond being a one on one, beyond even having friends with disabilities, being able to really listen to other people is a life skill and an important one. TAP has also connected me with a group of other neurodiverse Jewish teenagers. I look forward to TAP meetings because I will learn new things and get to catch-up with my friends.
Zivia Avelin is a teen assistant at Germantown Jewish Centre.
