Thirty years ago, our son was diagnosed at a child development center with pervasive developmental disorder (autism) and we were told that “he would have to be institutionalized.” Twenty years later, when he was a junior in college, majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Philosophy, I asked how his class in Dante was going. He replied, “Well Dad, we’re making our way through purgatory.”

At five years old, Jacob began his formal education with no support or special services at a community Jewish day school. When it came time for high school, we applied to two local Jewish community schools. He was rejected from both. We were given no explanation—although they continued to send us fundraising letters.

I was the Executive Director of Hillels in my community at the time, and I knew the heads of both schools. I was struck by the callousness of the process. As a Jewish communal professional, I recognized that by rejecting our son, the schools were also isolating and alienating our entire family and, more broadly, fracturing our connection to the Jewish community.

A year after Jacob’s high school rejections, we moved to Atlanta, where he was accepted at the Weber Jewish Community High School. There, he did well in his classes, participated in every annual school........

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