Jewish Disabilities Awareness Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAAIM)

By DR GARY SMITH DVM, DR STEVEN MANDEL, LEAH SMITH, and HEIDI MANDEL

February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness Acceptance and Inclusion Month, which encourages us to listen and learn from people with disabilities and advocate for their rights and inclusion in society. JDAAIM respects the principles of Kavod HaBriyot, honoring the dignity of all God’s creations.

What is a disability? It is a health condition, disorder, or disease that creates a limitation or restriction in daily living. Disabilities can be physical, intellectual, and psychological. They can also be temporary and permanent. Some disabilities can be “invisible,” meaning that they are not obvious to anyone other than the people experiencing them. Invisible disabilities create an additional hurdle for those needing help, because of stigmas against certain kinds of disabilities, and the fact that those suffering often carry the full responsibility of seeking help.

As life in America gets more and more complicated, there is a growing crisis in our Jewish community. For example, 88% percent of families have one or more family members with some form of mental disability including loneliness, anxiety, depression, addiction, and suicide.

Jewish Family Service (JFS) and Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs strongly support JDAAIM and encourage our growing vibrant community to come together in support of the necessary programs that raise awareness and champion the rights of all people to be included without limitation. We are striving to build awareness to not only seek out help but to facilitate people with disabilities to become productive and valued members of our community.

As a community we can make a difference, JFS and Jewish Federation of Cincinnati provide extraordinary local programs that the community does not fully use.

You and the people you love may be able to benefit from these services without realizing it. Examples of the kinds of disabilities that JFS can help with include disease related, loss of limb, difficulty walking, substance abuse, anxiety, behavioral challenges, and many others.

Additional ways you can help people with disabilities, including those with invisible disabilities who you may not realize are suffering, include offering accommodations to aid in comfort and productivity, and using non-judgmental language when discussing persons with disabilities. For example, using terms such as “accessible parking” instead of handicapped parking.

Laws exist to prevent discrimination including the American Disability Act which has 5 principals: patient autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, justice, and veracity. The ADA states “the equal access of people with disabilities to employment opportunities and to public education”, and “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability”.

Because the impacts of mental illness and physical disabilities are growing faster than our community can respond, we are challenging our community to be at the forefront of the solution. With the help and expertise of the JFS counseling center and Jewish National Fund (JNF) on an international basis, it is our hope that we as a community can have a weekly column in the Israelite written by community members to impact disability awareness.

Everyone should have an opportunity to succeed in life.

DR GARY SMITH DVM – Past chair of the Imagine life committee-A mental Wellness Initiative
Past international vice President and Foundation chair of Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs
Board of Jewish Family Service

DR STEVEN MANDEL – MD, FAAN, FACOEM, CHCQM
VP of Community Outreach, NY Metro Region FJMC

LEAH SMITH — MSW, LSW

HEIDI MANDEL – PhD, DPM, LMSW