Ella's Pages

Ella’s Knafaim Shell Krembo youth movement put up an end of year event at a horseback riding stable. Ella enjoyed it a lot. Brought back memories of Dayton (the horse she used to ride in Boston)

It’s hard to believe.. But… Ella is 10!

Gone through a whole lot. And still the sweetest girl in the world.

Ella continues to make tons of progress. Her cognitive impairment however becomes clearer as she get older.  Meaning, for example, that it is clear that math is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for her.  Reading is going better and it seems like she will be able to read although fluency is still a ways away.  She loves books and that is her first choice of activity.  She tells herself the stories mostly and needs someone to point her to the reading but she can do it!  Physically she is walking all over the place and very independent in our house.  We have a large penthouse apartment all on one floor which is perfect for her. There are no stairs or level changes to deal with.  She is almost completely independent in the bathroom which after almost 10 years is a big deal.  Otherwise, there are a lot of medical appointments for me to deal with as she needs follow up for orthopedics, neurosurgery, craniofacial surgery, endocrinology (she has precocious puberty), dermatology, ear-nose-throat (a new discovered problem is a structural hearing deficiency) etc.  Sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed with all the appointments and all the things I need to remember to do.  This is still new territory for me in Israel – finding the right doctors, dealing with a different kind of bureaucracy.  In any case, the medical care is very good here, excellent in fact.  Everything is covered b/c Israel has universal health care.

Ella sings from the minute she gets up in the morning and throughout the day. Her physical therapist is American so they sing together throughout their sessions, folk songs mostly, Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchel. Ella knows all the words.  She’s in her choir at school.  The report from the choir teacher is that her participation is improving all the time.  She certainly knows the songs.  She has a whole repertoire of her own and siting and singing or standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror has become one of her activities.

Wonderful note Ella got from her music teacher Iris at the end of the year

Today I went to the pool with Ella at our community pool (Galei Ron) after seeing her in action at her school Bet Izzi Shapira, where she had swimming lessons throughout the school year 2 times a week. She was totally amazing in the water. Floating on her back, turning over onto her stomach. On her back she can float all by herself and get out of the float position as well. On her stomach she needs something that she can push up on to take a breath of air. But she is so into it. Diving, making bubbles while completely submerged. She stands by the wall and independently splashes, dunks, dives and then moves away from the wall which scares me because the pool is rather deep. I mean she can only stand up within a meter from the wall without the water being over her head. But then she bounces off the bottom like most kids do to take in air. Completely amazing. I never thought I would see this day! and here she is swimming almost by herself!

Ella made tremendous progress with swimming. She is now almost completely independent on her back in the water.

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Our greatest concern with the move to Israel was what we would find here for Ella, of course.  What services, schools, etc.  We were pretty sure we’d find less than what we had in the Boston area.  Etan came a couple months ahead of time for  a week-long reconnaissance trip, found a special needs school that seemed like it would work for us and looked pretty good.  So we made the move which was a ton of work that lasted about 3-4 months (two months preparation and two months getting things set up here).  We rented out our house in Newton Center.Unfortunately the end of the period culminated with me getting sick with mononucleosis.  I’m probably one of the oldest people in history to get it and it put quite a damper on things for awhile.

To make a long story short, Ella has totally blossomed here and we are really happy with what we have found.  While the regular school system leaves a lot to be desired, the Israeli special needs system is great.  I would need a couple of hours (which I don’t have) to write about all the progress Ella has made and all the super services we have found since we came here. I won’t bore you with the details but there are a few things I’ve learned that I thought I might share with the group:

• The “integrated” model doesn’t work for all special needs kids.  For many, a special needs school is probably a better option as I think it has been for Ella

• For a child that can handle it, socializing between children is very, very important and this requires some “categorizing” of children, in other words putting children together in programs with other children with similar needs and abilities.  Labeling is kind of a no-no in the States, but it has been helpful for Ella.  She goes to an after-school program that she loves with children with similar cognitive abilities (she’s categorized having “mild retardation”).

• Although have a single family home, with land around it may be the American dream (as it is the Israeli dream) our one-floor, smallish (by American standards) apartment has allowed Ella so much more independence and a chance to really make strides with gross motor skills and confidence building

• Don’t be afraid of change; you never know what you will find

Since things have worked out okay and well, frankly, really pretty well for Ella, we have decided to stay on at least for another year.  We still have plenty of issues going the foremost of which in my mind is the amount of physical help Ella still needs when she is at home (i.e., getting dressed, taking shower, playing, etc) which leaves so little time for me and Etan to socialize and have our own lives, hobbies and interests, outside of our work.  I still feel I need a support group and haven’t had time to join one!

The most amazing progress Ella has made, in short, is in the reading/language category.   She now speaks both Hebrew and English although it is kind of difficult to understand her.  We have a private teacher that comes 2 times a week to work with her on reading and she is doing great.  Next year she will be in a totally accessible school for children at her cognitive level and above.  We are looking forward to that.    Etan and I were so impressed by resources available at this public special needs school that we were in shock after the first visit and are so pleased that they have room for Ella for next year.