In his letter to the editor (“The Jewish Community Needs to Provide Support for High-Functioning Individuals on the Spectrum,” February 6, 2025), Max Wisotsky correctly identifies the need for social opportunities for high-functioning neurodiverse adults.
I would broaden Mr. Wisotsky’s point. Our community, baruch Hashem, is able to allocate significant resources to the support of children with cognitive limitations or learning disabilities. However, we must do better at providing support for bright children with behavioral, emotional or social challenges.
I am familiar with cases where multiple day schools failed at providing needed resources to such children, forcing transfer to the local public school district. Both in-district special education programs and out-of-district placements are primarily geared to children of lower academic ability. While the legal requirement for “appropriate” education may be satisfied, the child does not receive a general education oriented to their strengths, and Jewish education outside the home is often abandoned. An important secondary effect is the exclusion of these families from typical social opportunities. Since day-school children and families typically socialize together, families not in that framework may feel stigmatized.
Researchers continue to debate whether the increasing incidence of neurodiversity diagnoses (autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, OCD, etc.) is a result of improved awareness and classification or from external factors affecting society writ large. Regardless, a growing segment of children in our community are not being educated per the advice of Mishlei 22:6, “Educate a child in the manner appropriate for him.” Rabbinic and lay leaders of our community should prioritize this crisis in their allocation of scarce financial and human resources.
