BBI-Israel Lecture Series
The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI): Centers of Innovation on Disability in collaboration with the Winnick Center for Jewish Studies Hillel at Syracuse University hosted a luncheon lecture series on disability policy in Israel over the 2007-2008 academic year that aimed to further the partnership and exchange of experts to advance the agenda for people with disabilities in both the U.S. and Israel.
- Closing the Accessibility Gap: The Israeli Experience
by Dr. Shira Yalon-Chamovitz - Autism Research from Underlying Mechanisms to Participation
by Dr. Eynat Gal - Services to People with Disabilities by David B. Marcu
- Disability Services in Israel by Naomi Stuchiner
- Rehabilitation Services in Israel by Dr. Eliashar
- Disability and Israel by Dr. Rimmerman
Closing the Accessibility Gap: The Israeli Experience
May 12 , 2008:
Dr. Shira Yalon-Chamovitz
, O.T.R., is a leading expert in accessibility and social participation of people with intellectual disabilities. She currently holds two appointments, as Director of the Tel Aviv office of the Syracuse University, Burton Blatt Institute, and as Head of Occupational Therapy at Ono Academic College. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Yalon-Chamovitz was on the faculty of the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tel Aviv University, as well as a visiting scholar at the University of Washington, Seattle. She also regularly lectures at the School of Occupational Therapy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dr. Yalon-Chamovitz is the national advisor on intellectual disability for the Israeli Commission on Equal Rights for People with Disabilities, and for the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor.
Dr. Yalon-Chamovitz received her undergraduate and M.Sc. degrees in Occupational Therapy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut. She was formerly Director of Ancillary Services for Jerusalem Elwyn. Dr. Yalon-Chamovitz has published articles and book chapters on her research into multiple intelligences, accessibility, virtual reality, and other topics concerning adults with intellectual disabilities, and has given lectures and workshops on these subjects worldwide.
Autism Research from Underlying Mechanisms to Participation
April 8, 2008:
Dr. Eynat Gal is a faculty member of Social Welfare and Health Studies in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Haifa and works at the Research Institute for Health and Medical Professions, Ono Academic College in Israel.
Dr. Gal completed her bachelor and master degrees in occupational therapy (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and her Ph.D. at the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia (2006) where she specialized in sensory processing and autism. She was a post-doctoral fellow at Bar Ilan (2006) and Boston (2007) Universities. Dr. Gal has had many years of clinical experience as an occupational therapist with children with ASD and other developmental disabilities.
Her research focuses on investigation of underlying mechanisms that stand at the base of Autistic behaviours such as sensory and social deficits, as well as functional aspects of Autism and other developmental disabilities. Dr. Gal won the Best Autism Dissertation award at the 2006 International Meeting for Autism Research. She also developed an instrument for assessing sensory processing disorders, and recently developed virtual reality technology for vocational assessment to enable people with disabilities to participate in jobs according to their abilities.
(Left-to-right) Lecture speaker - Dr. Eynat Gal, and BBI Chairman - Dr. Peter Blanck.
Services to People with Disabilities in Israel
February 5, 2008:
David B. Marcu, Executive Director of Israel Elwyn, presented the topic,Services to People with Disabilities in Israel. Israel Elwyn is a social services organization in Israel that serves more than 1,700 children and adults with special needs. As a result of Israel Elwyn's philosophy that everyone deserves a chance to be an inclusive participant in society, hundreds of adults, teenagers, and children with disabilities have been mainstreamed from a residential campus into jobs and independent living within society at large.
David B. Marcu holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Temple University, and a Master of Arts degree in Talmud and Rabbinics from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Marcu is a member of the Disabilities Division of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Israel; a Board of Directors member on The Israel Council on Social Welfare; and a Board of Directors member on the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services. In 2007, Marcu was awarded the Bernie Rosenthal Executive Director Award by the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services.
David Marcu addresses disability professionals at the
Burton Blatt lecture held in Hillel’s Lender Auditorium.
Disability Services in Israel
October 31, 2007:
Naomi Stuchiner, President and CEO of Beit Issie Shapiro International, presented the topic,Disability Services in Israel. Beit Issie Shapiro is one of the leading international community services agencies that provides services to children and adults with special needs, and advocates for their full inclusion in society. Ms. Stuchiner continues to carry out the mission of her father, the late Issie Shapiro, which is to provide resources meeting the needs of people with disabilities in Israel and around the world.
Rehabilitation Services in Israel
October 8, 2007:
Dr. Shlomo Eliashar addressed the topic of Rehabilitation Services in Israel. Dr. Eliashar is the Director for Rehabilitation Services Administration in Israel’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services.
Eliashar earned his Ph.D. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in neuro-psychology, following undergraduate studies in biology, psychology and social work. Eliashar has worked as an army psychologist and teaching & research assistant before entering the Rehabilitation Services Administration in 1982, where he has held several positions. Eliashar`s fields of interest are dual diagnosis and co-morbidity of ADHD with psychiatric disorders and low intellectual functioning, on which he has published several papers.
Israel’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services provides services promoting individuals’ personal and socioeconomic well-being, and rehabilitates the needy, disabled, elderly, the ill, children, teenagers, and the working poor. Services for the unemployed and their families are provided in order to aid them in achieving economic self-sufficiency. The ministry delivers these services through its own agencies, as well as through local authorities, public institutions, and an extensive network of volunteers.
Disability and Israel
October 8, 2007:
Dr. Arie Rimmerman, Ph.D., DSW, Richard Crossman Chair for Social Welfare & Planning and Distinguished Faculty member, School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Health Studies at the University of Hafia in Israel addressed the topic of Disability and Israel.
Rimmerman is noted for his work in the field of disability research. Rimmerman's research has focused on the areas of employment, civil and social participation, stress and coping, and quality of life. Published in a variety of journals, Rimmerman regularly participates in open forums and presentations on his research and has contributed to the Burton Blatt Institute's Distance Learning Series. Rimmerman also holds several important positions in addition of his faculty responsibilities. Rimmerman has been a board member of the National Institute for People with Disabilities since 2001 and a chairperson on the Aging Committee, Social Security Council since 2000.
