More students with disabilities study for bar and bat mitzvahs

From the Chicago Tribune:
A growing number of Jewish children with developmental disabilities are preparing for their bar or bat mitzvahs with the help of synagogues and religious schools that are adapting curriculum for their needs.

The rite of passage allows these young people to take their places as full members of the Jewish community.

Religious leaders say the presence of a disability should not bar a person from participating in the mainstream of Jewish life. “We don’t say ‘no,’ we say ‘how,’” said one.