“We don’t care what your disability is. First and foremost, you are a human being.” With these words, Adv. Ziv Magor, Director General of Alumot Or, expresses the guiding philosophy of Alumot Or (“Rays of Light”), an organization that has been promoting and implementing innovative projects and programs in special education schools in Israel since its founding in 2015 by the Rothman Foundation, alongside Robert Singer and Sonia Gomes de Mesquita. The organization’s goal is to leverage, maximize, and expand educational excellence inside and outside the school – in the present as well as in the future. Alumot Or works with student populations with disabilities, youth at risk, and disadvantaged populations.
Magor’s words are especially timely, given that the month of April is World Autism Month, dedicated to greater understanding and advocacy for those with autism and other disabilities. Expanding on this theme, he adds, “All of our programs are based on the wishes and needs of the person, rather than their type of limitation.” To that end, says Magor, Alumot Or designs educational programs that are personalized for the needs of each student. Such programs expand students’ ability to make choices, with the goal of instilling values and a sense of competence and self-respect and strengthening their self-worth so that they feel valued in Israeli society.
Another essential principle at Alumot Or is its emphasis on building programs that prepare students with disabilities for adulthood, providing greater autonomy for independent decision-making. Magor points out that instilling autonomy in children (and adults) with autism and other disabilities must involve members of the entire family, including parents, siblings, and grandparents.
He explains that one of the most important areas for developing independence and autonomy among the students is teaching financial management and a basic familiarity with money. Young adults with disabilities are often vulnerable to economic exploitation from scammers and have difficulty understanding abstract financial concepts.
Together with Discount Bank and the Pa’amonim organization, Alumot Or has developed a curriculum for independent financial management that meets the needs of young adults with disabilities. The curriculum enables access to concepts, knowledge, and skills that allow students and young people with disabilities to actively manage their financial affairs. It separates information into small, results-focused pieces, enabling students to progress gradually until they have a greater understanding of financial basics - earning money, understanding money, saving money, managing money, and spending money.
Alumot Or supports students in special education in sixteen educational centers throughout Israel, nine of which carry the name of the late Benjamin Rothman. All told, the organization assists 1,000 students throughout the country. The organization combines its knowledge and experience from working directly with students with the best in academic research and its expert staff of educators and researchers.
The organization’s activities are led by leading professionals, including its Director General, Adv. Ziv Magor, an expert in the field of human rights for people with disabilities, Dr. Shahar Bar Yehuda, former national autism advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Education, Dr. Mina Raz, Alumot Or’s Transition to Adulthood Specialist, Merav Sadovsky, an expert in the field of knowledge development, and Hillel Hillman, strategic advisor to the Director General, and former director of the Kadoorie Agricultural Youth Village.
Alumot Or has unique expertise in development and specialization in the transition to adulthood and the field of autism and is among the leading organizations in assisting its students in the transition to adulthood. This transition is considered one of the most significant stages of human development in the lives of young people as they move from the school environment to an environment that includes work and independent living.
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