To mark World Autism Awareness Day earlier this month, more than 100 eleventh graders from AMIT Kfar Ganim embarked on a week-long field trip known as the Masa Yisraeli (Israel Journey), together with a class of students with special needs on the autism spectrum. Together, the boys hiked on the country’s trails, volunteered at daycare facilities for the elderly in Beer Sheva, experienced an uplifting Shabbat in Jerusalem, and participated in discussion groups which focus on personal empowerment and the solidification of the students’ personal connection to the Jewish people and to the land of Israel.
The underlying philosophy is that the participation of students with disabilities on the trip has a positive effect on them and on all students. Personal acquaintance breaks down walls of stigmas and prejudices, and educates values that will affect the behavior of all the students. In addition, the students with disabilities expand their knowledge and support circles and acquire social skills. Like the other members of the group, they undergo a series of empowering, intense, and formative experiences through encounters with people, sites, hikes, and discussion groups that connect them to the people of Israel and the country.
The facilitator of the trip Ido Bar Sela commented, “When I began leading this amazing and unique group from AMIT Kfar Ganim, I learned that I could integrate the mainstream students together with the autistic students so effortlessly, it was almost as if I had a magic wand. It was amazing to see in our discussion groups how the feeling was one of complete equality. We sat in one circle, everyone was given equal opportunity to speak, the students accepted each other and simply opened their hearts for those who are a bit different than themselves”.
