Special needs

Diaspora youth mark Disability Awareness Month in inclusive race at Israeli rehabilitation village

The annual event brought together visiting students involved in fundraising efforts with residents of the village, rehabilitation patients, staff, and volunteers.

PARTICIPANTS IN Adi Negev-Nahalat Eran's Disability Awareness Month inclusive race, December 31, 2025.
FROM LEFT: Nadav Fattal, Asaf, David Fattal, Orel, and Assaf Fattal.

Grapevine, November 14, 2025: A Woman of valor

 Celebrations for the start of the new school year at Gabrieli Carmel School in Tel Aviv, September 1, 2022

Back to school: How to prepare children with special needs for the new year - opinion

 The author's son Danny, at home in happier times.

Reporter's Notebook: Perfect time to panic: Separated from my special-needs son during the war


Grapevine: Special needs at center

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

 Producer Lawrence Bender in Los Angeles, 2016.

An educational model to emulate: Serving the special-needs population at the ulpana in Ofra

When we first visited Ulpana Ofra some 30 years ago with the program, we noted how the staff showed great personal interest in the students.

 THE SEWING room where special-needs students learn life skills and create products.

How one teenager in northern Israel learned to fight the stigma around autism - opinion

This article is being published in honor of Autism Awareness Day – but for me, every day should be a day of awareness.

 AN ACTIVITY shows how important it is to support the one who seems different, because when we strengthen them, the whole chain stays strong.

Don’t deny the reality of profound autism - comment

PEOPLE LIKE Yotam are not a tiny minority of those on the spectrum but represent at least a quarter of those diagnosed with autism.

 Yotam Rabinovich (center) in Beilinson Hospital with his parents, Ilan (left) and Ilanit, after he sustained a serious injury.

Because we are all equal in emergency - opinion

Two days after the war broke out, I established the Purple Emergency Center – an emergency assistance center for people with disabilities.

 ‘I dream a lot about the future. I see a stronger, more inclusive Israeli society,’ says the writer

Hero to Hero: Rehabilitation program for wounded soldiers celebrates in ceremony

"Hero to Hero is far more than physical rehabilitation. It serves as a bridge between two worlds—wounded soldiers and the heroes of Special in Uniform."

 Riding horses for rehabilitation with the Hero to Hero organization

How Israel's special needs community copes with one year of war

The terrorists took the lives of some Israelis with special needs, and these losses, along with the trauma and dislocations of the war, have caused great suffering in this community.

 BRYAN FRIEDLAND’S paintings, influenced by the war: ‘Tears from Heaven.’

Omer Adam joins IDF special needs band for 'unforgettable' performance

The event, reportedly attended by over 10,500 people, highlighted the talents of the musicians while emphasizing the importance of inclusion.

Israeli singer Omer Adam on stage with the Special in Uniform band in Tel Aviv, September 24, 2024

‘Dies Irae’ - A short story

THE LAST time I remember taking him to the museum was during the summer he turned 18, one of our hardest times.

 I LIKE going to museums at night.

Making Passover accessible: Haggadah for people with disabilities 

A disabilities charity develops interactive digital haggadah to make seder more inclusive.

 David enjoying the model seder with the IssieRoot’s interactive Haggadah

'They wouldn't treat me like I was made of glass': Autistic IDF recruits complete service

"I was excited to join the army like everyone else, that they wouldn't treat me like I was made of glass,” Ori Weiss said.

 The IDF's "Advance" program provides an opportunity for men and women with autism to serve in the military.