In the Talmud, a person who is both deaf and mute is called a cherish. For centuries, such individuals were grouped with minors and people with limited mental capacity, based on the historical belief that they lacked the maturity for full legal responsibility.

Additionally, yeridos ha’doros holds that each subsequent generation since Sinai is spiritually and intellectually inferior to the previous, becoming ever more removed from the spiritual summit reached at Mount Sinai.

Historically, those with intellectual disabilities were often sent away to residential homes, separated from their families—an unfortunate practice that still persists in some extreme Jewish communities, where individuals with intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome continue to be isolated.

In more mainstream communities, however, attitudes have evolved. People with different abilities are now welcomed and included, with nearly every school offering........

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